GEAR REVIEW: The OtterBox Venture Coolers Are In A Class Of Their Own

OtterBox Venture Coolers

Cass Anderson


It’s high time we discussed how awesome the OtterBox Venture Coolers are. ‘OtterBox, you mean the company that makes waterproof cell phone cases?’ No, I’m talking about the company that used to/still makes waterproof cell phone cases but now makes some of the absolute best coolers on the planet.

I don’t want to name names but I’ll say that I’ve owned/used coolers from pretty much every major retailer in the game. From the most expensive to the most affordable, soft coolers to hard-sided, I’ve tried them all because for some awesome reason these cooler companies love it when I review their products (for better or worse). Recently, I got hands-on with the OtterBox Venture 65 and from the moment the box arrived on my doorstep I knew this was different than the other coolers I’ve got in my garage.

The first thing that struck me about the OtterBox Venture 65 is the weight. With high-end coolers built to keep ice frozen for over a week 99.99% of the time you’re going to find that the coolers are so heavy when they’re filled with ice that they’re practically impossible to pick up. That’s why they are often designed to fit onto a boat/truck or be bolted down. But I was easily able to pick up the OtterBox Venture 65 and that blew me away.

On the OtterBox website, they make two major claims that I was curious about. First, they claim the Venture Coolers (Venture 25, Venture 45, and Venture 65) are bear-resistant. They even went so far as to film a video with a full grown bear attacking a Venture cooler full of food to test this claim. Unfortunately, I don’t have a fully grown Kodiak Bear on hand to test this claim myself so I went about testing their second claim: that it keeps ice frozen for up to 14 days.

So, I went to the ice shack down the street…I’m not kidding, there’s just this little shack a mile from my house that’s a standalone hut that sells ice from an automated machine. So I filled my OtterBox Venture 65 to capacity with ice and have been letting it sit in the garage for 10 days now and the ice is still frozen solid. I live in Florida and it hit 80 degrees mid-way through last week so this isn’t exactly like I was leaving ice outside in sub-zero temperatures in the Northeast…So that claim checks out. Well, it hasn’t been 14 days yet but I’m confident the ice will still be frozen when that time elapses.

The cooler’s bear-resistant and keeps ice frozen, so what?! Well, the Venture Coolers also separate themselves from the competition when it comes to customization thanks to their ‘modular mounting system’. I’m not talking about colors and sizes. Though, the Venture Coolers come in three different colors and three different sizes (25 quart $249, 45 quart $349, and 65 quart $399). I’m talking about all of the add-ons that are built for the OtterBox Venture Coolers.

Check it out:

OtterBox Venture Coolers

OtterBox


OtterBox Venture Coolers

OtterBox


OtterBox Venture Coolers

OtterBox


OtterBox Venture Coolers

Cass Anderson


There are internal dividers which let you create partitions within the cooler. If you want to keep the soda and beer separate you can do that. Or, you can keep the venison separate from the fish. There’s also a waterproof box that you can attach to the outside of the cooler to keep your valuables dry like your keys, wallet, or you can fill that box with matches, a knife, and other tools. There are also cup holder attachments and a dry storage tray that can sit in the cooler and keep food dry above the ice. And, of course, there’s a rugged bottle opener add-on.

It doesn’t stop there. There’s also a side table/cutting board that you can use to eat on, use for cutting, playing cards, holding drinks, or whatever else you want to use it for. There’s also a set of All-Terrain Wheels built specifically for the OtterBox Venture Coolers which enable you to drag the cooler along with ease. You can carry it down the trail, across the beach, or wherever you’re using the cooler. This makes transportation as easy as possible.

OtterBox Venture Coolers

OtterBox


Now for the specs! The OtterBox Venture Coolers are built to ‘true capacity’ meaning that the 25/45/65 quart capacities are true to their name and don’t include the liners. These coolers use two-inch refrigeration grade insulation foam which is the magic that keeps ice frozen for up to 14 days. The Venture 65 is built to hold: 75 pounds of bagged ice, 36 12-ounce cans (at a 2:1 ice-to-beverage ratio). The Venture 45 is built to hold 52 pounds of bagged ice, 25 12-ounce cans at the same 2:1 ice-to-beverage ratio.

OtterBox Venture Coolers

OtterBox


OtterBox Venture Coolers

OtterBox


OtterBox Venture Coolers

OtterBox


These coolers are Injected Molded and not Rotomolded. OtterBox has taken their injection molding expertise from cases and dryboxes and applied it to the cooler game with the Venture Coolers. This leads to the best possible insulation for coolers but it’s not a cheap process.

I’m worried that I’m rambling at this point so I’ll wrap this up by saying that I’ve been blown away by every aspect of the OtterBox Venture 65 so far. The customization has been awesome and the fact that I can pick it up when it’s full of ice without throwing out my back has been a godsend.

If you want to shop through the OtterBox Venture Coolers collection yourself you can just follow that link and head on over to their website! And, in the spirit of full disclosure, the OtterBox Venture 65 was gifted to me for the purposes of reviewing.



 
The BroBible team writes about gear that we think you want. Occasionally, we write about items that are a part of one of our affiliate partnerships and we will get a percentage of the revenue from sales.