This will be the first post in a proposed series that I will be doing to help you ham ‘n’ eggers out there with tailgating.  User submissions will be more than welcomed and if you’d like to contribute a few things, stories, pictures, etc. please shoot us an email to ‘dannyfordisgod -at- gmail -dot- com’ and we will consider putting you in a future segment. Topics we’ll cover are coolers, flags/poles, music/radios, games, accessories, grilling, water coolers, and other things.

For this inaugural post we’ll be talking coolers of all shapes, sizes, and purposes. More after the jump.

Simply for beer consumption

There are some key factors that I looked at when considering your average weekend warrior beer cooler: Price range, storage space, drainage, look, and portability.

It seems in the overall best bang for your buck when ordering directly from the company sans sales, deals, bargains, etc. is Coleman.  Coleman is pretty much heads above the rest with Igloo coming in second, but that’s for when you’re scowering the internet and finding good deals, not necessarily going through and buying direct from the Igloo website. In fact, if you’re unsure about two products and have a hard time deciding which one to get, Coleman is usually a tougher, more reliable product that is usually easy to fix.

I own a 54 quart steel belted cooler that they make (except mine is in a red).  I’m pretty rough on it but it does well for a few cases of beer and sliding around in the bed of my truck for a few days.  I’m pretty rough on it and as a result some of the fittings come loose but it’s nothing a screwdriver can’t fix.  It’s also got some big dents and gashes in it but it hasn’t affected the overall job of the cooler: keeping my beer cold and keeping me happy. They also make the same kind of cooler in stainless steel, but I liked the look of the one I got a little better. It’s pretty expensive there, but I got mine on sale for around a $100 at the Coleman outlet store in Commerce a few years back.  Bass Pro has Coleman coolers for cheap too. These all include the drainage nozzle at the bottom on one of the sides. Bass Pro also sells brackets for coolers that I might look into for my truck bed, but really, coolers are meant to be abused and easy to fix. That’s why you pay so much money in the first place. The lone review on those brackets though is one 1/5 stars, but it was written buy a guy named “merlin” who is probably a resident of Snellville, GA and tried that shit with a monster 150 quart marine cooler or something like that.

Coleman has also starting making a party stacker cooler series that comes in 25 quarts (one case) and 33 quarts (two cases). I’ve bought some of the 25 quart coolers and I’m kind of looking forward to these as they’ll stack easily inside the cab of my truck so when I go into the game I don’t have to worry about some of my beers walking off or the regular cooler leaking in my car.These coolers don’t have any drainage other than cracking the lid and manually draining them.  They’re also great for you folks with OCD out there so you can neatly arrange the cans and know exactly how much ice you’ll need. Although if it’s a cooler for just yourself that you are looking for, Igloo tends to be the way to go.  I’m personally not a fan of flimsy coolers that are collapsible and so forth because there’s just too much to worry about.  Igloo has durable 12 can (and less) coolers that are pretty durable. Igloo has coolers that rival Coleman’s stackers but they are really awkward to carry and I’m sure that some of you can attest to the fact that the motherfuckers feel the need (kneed?) to bang you in the knees (nees?) every chance they get when they’re packed to the brim. These smaller coolers also don’t have drainage spigots.

Full frontal assault tailgating

When you’re doing it big, you’re going to need the big boy coolers.  The two person, heavy-ass wide load mothers that are usually described as “marine coolers.”  These babies are usually used on fishing boats, but all I’ve ever really used them for is drinking, carrying meat for grilling, and hauling meat from the deer processing plant.  I’m sure the Charleston crowd will chime in with their differences but seriously dude, I’m not trying to get fish guts/scales on my beer.

This category was determined on capacity, insulation, drainage, and overall weight when packed to the brim. Right off the bat, on of the best deals I’ve found is the Igloo 100 quart.  The reason I like this one so much is that it has a quick access hatch on the lid of the cooler as well as a super secure threaded drainage spigot.  Oh yeah, and it’s one of the cheapest 100 quart coolers I’ve found around.  Now of course, it’d probably be best to just go out to a store and buy one of these rather than order one off the internet. Another good one is this style of 128 quart Igloo cooler because of the handles and the room inside.  I’ve found a certain Coleman cooler though, that is only about $170 with free shipping via amazon.  No hatch though. The best I’ve found through searching high and low if the 120 quart Igloo All-Terrain cooler.  This is probably the on marine style cooler that is absolutely worth it, though my only question is if it’s wheels can lock. I doubt that they can and those wheels don’t look like they’re ready for the anger that I’m about to bring it’s way.

Now this is just craziness

I’ve found some down right stupid and awesome coolers throughout this search. The first item I came across was this little baby that’s simply called the “Picnic Plus Cooladio… Radio… Cooler… Chair… MEGA… STRAVAGANZA… BLOWOUT… TANK!”

I also found this Coleman cooler.  it has a radio w/ mp3 jack.  You can sit on it.  It can carry 40+ beers.  It’s sturdier.  Hmm.

I saved the last for you millionaire folks (no seriously, if there is a millionaire that reads this and spends his/her money with wanton disregard for anything, Block-C needs one of these bad boys tricked out in a personalized scheme.  KTHXBYEZ).  Feast you eyes up the Cooler Croozer.  For a mere $1900, you too can own one of these beauties.  Notice, that’s the stainless steel Coleman we looked at earlier on there.

You could also go with the smaller, electric version for around $400. Some guy has on at Clemson and rides it around.  I’ve seen it and it is pretty bad ass, but not bad ass to warrant me going out to get one for that much.