Top 7 Best Cheap Cooler For Camping – Good Budget Coolers under $100

Are you searching for the best camping cooler for the money under $100? Not sure which model to pick up? Then you NEED to see the list below.

Top Best Camping Cooler Under $100 For The Money – Most Recommended

When you decided to buy a cooler for the camping trip, I’m sure you would be confused and wonder: What is the best cooler for the money that I can get?

By following this article, you’ll get the ANSWER to the questions above.

I myself also asked those kinds of questions when looking for the new camping cooler last month.

I did quite some research for that and bought two coolers (Coleman 62 Quart Xtreme 5 and Igloo 110 Quart Glide PRO Cooler) for the family camping trips.

In this article, I’ll cover the important points below:

  • What is the best cheap camping cooler for the money?
  • Recommend Best-rated Camping Coolers for the money
  • Best Cooler with Wheels: wheeled cooler vs. rolling cooler – which is better?

Hopefully, with the effort I made, you will save time and buy a good cooler from my recommending the best cheap camping cooler reviews for the money.

So what is the best cheap camping cooler for the money?

Before buying the coolers, I took a little time to dive into the discussions about the “buying the new camping cooler” topic in some forums such as reddit.com/r/camping/, campingforums.com, campingroadtrip.com, and quora.com.

Finally, I concluded that the best coolers for the money must have these points:

  • Popular brands, Coleman and Igloo are the best brands for quality at a reasonable price.
  • Can keep cold for at least 5 days
  • Nice-looking and durable
  • Long warranty and guaranteed
  • Hard-sided coolers
  • Under $100

Just one more thing about buying a cooler: asking yourself, what storage size do you need?

For my 5-day family ( 2 adults and 3 teenagers) camping trips, I need two coolers, a small one for beverage – 62 quarts, and another bigger one for foods – 100 quarts.

I checked these points above, reviewed and picked out the best-rated cheap camping coolers for the money. Let’s take a look and pick one for your next camping trip.

1. Best-rated camping coolers for the money

There are many cooler brands in the market, but Coleman Xtreme and Igloo MaxCold are outstanding ones.

Not only do they have good quality but also are the best bang for the buck. Why? With just under $100, you have a decent cooler for camping trips.

I saw so many people choose and appreciated these brands. Personally, I bought Coleman 62 Quart Xtreme 5 Wheeled Cooler a year ago and it has served my family excellently until now.

Recently, I’ve just bought an extra cooler – Igloo Glide PRO Cooler (110-Quart, White). You will see my test and review. But, first

We will go through the best-rated camping coolers for the money:

2. Best wheeled cooler for the money

If you are looking for the best-wheeled coolers, Coleman 100 Quart Xtreme 5 Wheeled Cooler and Igloo 100 Quart Glide PRO Cooler are the best in the price range for keeping cold up to 5 days.

As for the Coleman Xtreme series, I have no complaints. They are really good and cheap. I bought Coleman 62 Quart Xtreme a year ago, and I’m very pleased. The Coleman 100 Quart Xtreme is similar to Coleman 62 but its storage size is bigger.

I bought Igloo Glide PRO Cooler (110-Quart, White) a few weeks ago. At first glance, it is nice and solid in the hands.

I tested it at 900F (320C) and:

  • Put ice blocks at 1/3 of storage-size
  • I opened/closed it three times per day and hold 20 seconds per opening.

On the day of the 6th, there were still some small pieces of ice blocks in there. So, if you plan to camping for 5 days, the Igloo 110 Quart Glide PRO Cooler won’t let you down!

#1. Igloo Glide PRO Cooler (110-Quart, White)

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I did test Coleman 62 Quart Xtreme at the same conditions as Igloo Glide PRO Cooler. The result is similar, it means, they both kept cold for approximately up to 6 days.

And I think the result I got was due to the ice blocks I used. You won’t get the result as I do if you use small pieces of ice.

The price of the Coleman 100 Quart Xtreme 5 Wheeled Cooler is lower than Igloo Glide PRO 110-Quart Cooler, in this case, Coleman 100 Quart Xtreme is the best choice for the money!

#2. Coleman 100 Quart Xtreme 5 Wheeled Cooler 

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I didn’t test these coolers with cubed ice, but it is obvious that if you use cubed ice, the coolers may keep cold for under 5 days because cubed ice has a large air-contacting surface.

You can see another article about how to keep your cooler extra cold when camping for 5 days here.

3. Best rolling cooler for the money

I haven’t bought or used rolling coolers before. However, I saw many reviews on youtube.com, and people all said the telescoping handle of these coolers really helps reduce the load. With a telescoping handle, you can easily move a cooler forward or back with one hand.

If you need a small cooler with wheels and a telescoping handle for beverages, here are two good rolling coolers that many campers appreciated and recommended:

#1. Coleman 50 Quart Xtreme 5 Wheeled Cooler

#2. Igloo Ice Cube Maxcold Roller, 60-Quart

The Igloo Ice Cube Maxcold Roller, 70-Quart, and the Coleman 50 Quart Xtreme 5 Wheeled Cooler.

The Iglo has wheels that are smaller than the Coleman. So, the Coleman Xtreme has a little bit more smooth-rolling than Igloo.

4. Best-rated un-wheeled Cooler For The Money

They are coolers with traditional designs. Although they haven’t been built with wheels or telescoping-handle that cause a little bit of difficulty to move, the main role of the cooler is to keep ice cold.

If you like the simple design but still keep cold well, and its cheap price, below are two good coolers for you to consider.

#1. Coleman 120 Quart Coastal Xtreme Series Marine Cooler

#2. Coleman 52 qt. Xtreme Cooler

Rolling cooler vs. Wheeled cooler vs. Un-wheeled cooler: Which is better?

It is really hard to say which is better, it depends on personal choice.

  • If you like cool designs and mobile, the rolling coolers with telescoping-handle are best suited.
  • The wheeled coolers are another good choice for mobile but they don’t telescope handle.
  • The traditional coolers with un-wheeled get the price, they’re the cheapest of them all.

The last words

Hopefully, this article helps you save time when looking for the best cooler for the money for your family camping trips.

Thanks for stopping by.

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