Updated Sep. 04, 2024
The Orca cooler delivers near-unbeatable insulation when you're on a days-long camping trip or just want to keep your drinks cool for the afternoon.
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Keeping your drink of choice cool during the summer is a priority during parties (ice-cold probiotic sodas, anyone?). However, in my opinion, the best stress test for a cooler is a multi-day camping excursion. For folks like me who enjoy trekking into the backwoods with little more than a cooler, a tent and a select few essentials, it’s imperative that any perishables stay chilly for days on end. I can say from personal experience that there’s nothing more disappointing than opening up your pricey cooler on day three of a trip only to find a few pieces of ice floating in a pool of lukewarm water. Enter: the Orca cooler.
Orca’s 58-Quart cooler isn’t just a looker with its bright hues and cute orca tail-shaped T-straps. This colorful cooler is also completely leakproof and well-insulated enough to prevent air leakage, making it an excellent pick for camping. Our expert Product Testers chose this attractive option alongside five others as one of the best coolers on the market after extensive testing. Here’s why we love this classy and chilly competitor and its convenient accessories.
The Orca 58-quart cooler has a nice, clean look that distinguishes it from other high-end coolers despite the similarities in size and shape. The ORCA logo is way smaller than most of the competitors and is only printed once on the outside, keeping branding secondary to its charming looks. It also comes in 10 eye-catching hues: black, orange, charcoal, gray, green, lime, red, seafoam, tan and white. All colors are available in seven different sizes, including 20-, 26-, 40-, 58-, 65-, 80- and 140-quart options.
The Orca cooler is proudly made in the USA and boasts a fun little American flag emblem on the front. According to our tests, the behemoth rotomolded interior holds around 46 standard beer cans (or non-alcoholic beer cans) with ice and around 87 without. The exterior boasts a useful cargo net catch-all for snacks, sunscreen and other outdoor essentials. Something particularly nice is that the cargo net is detachable, making it customizable for all sorts of outdoor excursions. Additionally, rubber feet on the underside offer a little lift from the ground. It’s an excellent choice for those who don’t want to trade style for substance!
VIA MERCHANT
The Orca cooler offers incredible ice retention and an external pocket for outdoor essentials, making it a perfect companion for a day at the beach.
Our Product Testing Team tried 12 popular options from familiar retailers, including Lifetime, Yeti and BruTank, for our piece on the best coolers. The team looked at features, performance, and value to thoroughly evaluate each. Over the course of a week, the Product Testing Team:
Our Testing Team taped thermometers to the inside of each cooler and tracked ambient temperature/percentages of remaining ice after 24 hours, 72 hours, and 96 hours. We kept the coolers outdoors in a van during the year’s hottest weekend. Temperatures maxed out around 95 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the temperature inside the van was well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit—a seriously unrelenting stress test. We also considered weight, leakage, drainage, capacity, insulation, maneuverability and accessories.
Overall, the Orca’s performance impressed enough to earn it a place as the best option for ice in our tests for the best coolers. Between the solid seal, heavy-duty rotomolded plastic shell and attachable cargo net, this top performer offers plenty of pluses for any party person.
“The vacuum seal on this was seriously impressive. It not only prevented any and all water leakage, but it also likely contributed to the Orca’s winning performance in the ice retention test,” says Product Tester Annamarie Higley. Despite spending four days exposed to temperatures above 100ºF, the Orca cooler still retained around 5% of its ice. It measured at 50ºF at the conclusion of our tests—far more impressive than any of the others we tested. Now that’s a “cool” cooler!
Like the other coolers we tested, our team rolled the Orca cooler around to check its leakproof capabilities. While the cooler is upside-down, no observable water pools in the hinges. This is in contrast to most of the others, with even the top performers leaking a few droplets from the back. Despite the Testing Team rolling it around with reckless abandon, the Orca cooler remained completely dry throughout the process.
Despite its heavy-duty seal and incredible insulation, the cooler is also lightweight enough for one person to carry when half full. That said, a full cooler likely needs a helping hand to haul around. Additionally, one tester noted that this one requires more core and back strength to lift partly because of its heft and the straps being a touch too long. However, this doesn’t impact the overall performance.
A cargo net pouch sits outside the cooler rather than inside, like the RTIC cooler. We envision it best used for small belongings rather than for food (though it certainly could hold food that doesn’t need to be chilled). Consider this option if you need storage for summer essentials.
“This is the only cooler with external storage—and we love it! It’s perfect for keys, phones, sunscreen, towels and more. Such a simple feature that makes a substantial difference,” says Annamarie. It has a bit of stretch to it, so it can hold more than you’d expect. The front of the pocket is mesh, whereas the backing of the pocket, which butts up to the cooler, is rubber. It’s basic, but sometimes basic is best—we really appreciate this feature.
The drain cap can either be unthreaded partially to drain through the drilled holes or removed all the way to initiate a quicker flow of water. The very end of the cap screw comes fitted with a rubber ring to potentially stop it from fully popping out as easily. Still, we noticed the rubber ring likes to fall into a position where it isn’t actually helping prevent the cap from popping out. However, this configuration drains the fastest of all of the coolers we tested.
The Product Testing Team has a combined decade of experience testing and evaluating products. We use fair and honest testing practices under controlled conditions for each test. Our team has thoroughly evaluated everything from food processors to ceramic cookware in our dedicated Testing Lab. We also put every product through a thorough testing process that ensures accurate, quality results.
Like the Yeti cooler, the Orca cooler uses “T” straps. The tips of the T-straps are shaped like an orca’s tail (aw!)—however, they’re also rather tough to use. The first few times, you’ll need to pull down with pretty much all of your might to get the knob to unlatch from the brackets. That said, they loosen up over time and become easier to secure after a few uses. While tough, the tight straps indicate that this cooler keeps the chill inside instead of letting it leak out any errant cracks and crevices.
This cooler vacuum seals shut occasionally, especially when empty. To fix this, partially unscrew the drain cap to let some air out, and then the lid will lift with ease. We found that this did not happen when the cooler was full of ice.
The Orca cooler is available for purchase on the Orca website and retails for around $400. Outdoor enthusiasts can also find it at many big box stores, including Amazon, Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Those going on multi-day excursions and plan on keeping food chilly for days at a time will appreciate the ice longevity this cooler provides. Plus, it’s cute to boot!
VIA MERCHANT
The Orca cooler offers incredible ice retention and an external pocket for outdoor essentials, making it a perfect companion for a day at the beach.
Originally Published: July 22, 2024
