So I bought a Palm 65qt rotomolder cooler because I'm not spending $500 on a Yeti and the 30 day warranty on RTIC scares me, and because I'm too dumb to buy a Pelican.

Palm claims to have been in the cooler business for something like 30 years and has a 10 year warranty on their coolers. Go read the website. So I bought one because why not. Well, here's why not.























Fit and finish is garbage for a brand new $200 cooler. I really like the design of the handles and latches (best idea short of pelican latches), and the drain plug is functional  (but not attached and nothing to write home about), but it looks like hammered dog shit for a brand new product. The lid either has a dent or is deformed, lines aren't straight, there's black marks all over, and scratches/ scuffs galore. Also, you can't tell from the picture, but the thing doesn't sit flat. it rocks back and forth on every surface I set it on.

So as I'm looking at it, I knock on the side and wonder if the great insulation and ice keeping is going to make up for the poor appearance. So I take it into the garage and put a flashlight in it.







Well fuck me. Is there anything even in there? I shoot Palm an email asking what's up and they tell me that it's normal, they use a translucent polyurethane foam (the fuck?) and that it's impossible I received a bad cooler. Despite the fact that you can't see the light through the lid unless you hold the light directly to it (and by the way, when I do that, I see tons of hot spots where they missed insulating it), I am going to ice it down tomorrow morning and see if I can't instantly tell through the sides whether or not there us insulation. I'm not holding my breath.

TL;DR version: probably shouldn't buy a Palm cooler no matter how cheap it is.

Update 1pm on Nov 14:

So I want to start this by saying I hope I didn't offend anyone at Palm with this review. But if I did, oh well. I'm giving your cooler a fair shake, so if you're thay confident in your lantern cooler then you have nothing to worry about. Maybe take the email privileges away from whoever wrote me the following though.











DAY 1 ICE TEST

I went to check them after roughly a day. Plenty of water in the bottom of both, hard to tell how much since I didn't drain them dry and they are different sizes but I would guess roughly the same amount of ice and water. I shot both the sides and the tops of each cooler- the sides above and below the ice line were within a few tenths of a degree of eachother, but the lids were very different. Almost 5 degrees warmer on the Palm which would indicate the thicker insulation in the Palm lid. Now the sides of the palm are only 1.5" thick at the top (thickest part, they taper down a little below the lid) and the lid is roughly 2.75" thick- I'm guessing the nearly double thickness is why you can't see the light through certain spots in the lid (where there isn't insulation missing or whatever causes the lighter and darker spots when you put a light in it). It isn't scientific but while the lid as a whole is about 5 degrees warmer, there are definitely spots that are cooler- about a two or three degree spread where I remember the light spots being. Not sure what causes that although I would guess it's something to do with a non uniform application of insulation.

Another thing to note is that the Coleman had a slight vapor lock while the Palm didn't. I turned the palm onto it's lid while the latches were locked and water started pouring out in a couple different spots- one of the corners and all along the hinges. Not sure if that's by design or a poor gasket, but I did re inspect the gasket and it seemed that it had been compressed in spots but not in others- maybe because the lid is warped, which is kind of what it looks like when you look at it. Or maybe the cooler surface that the lid sits on isn't completely flat. When I open it again tomorrow I'll set a level on it and see.

BTW I'm not cutting it open. If it doesn't compete it will just be a disappointment and I'll keep it since I doubt Palm is going to let me return it.

So I am now pretty sure there is insulation in there. What I didn't really think about was that the walls are significantly thinner than that of the competition- less insulation, more light gets through. This thing isn't as thick as a Pelican or Yeti or RTIC which i believe all claim 2+ inches insulation in the sides and 3+ in the top. The over 2 inches claim that Palm makes is pretty thin, because the walls on the sides aren't even 2" thick, and the top is about 2.75, so if there is more than 2", there is just barely more in the lid only. And maybe the bottom because I didnt measure it.

all i see is holes and broken links.

Why not ozark trail at Walmart?  Lots of good reviews

Crappy workmanship.  Can't imagine how bad those handles would dig into my hands.  I bought a 45qt Pelican and am very happy with it.  It's a big heavy bulky beast though.  And then you fill it up with stuff.  $250 from Amazon.

Because the website is consistently out of stock and I can't ever seem to find them in Houston area stores

Should have got a pelican

Ironic username is ironic.

Should have got the RTIC when it was on sale.

Return it if you're not satisfied.

30 day warranty wasn't enough for me. I've read a lot of guys have trouble with their Yeti's between 3-12 months, mostly lids warping. So the thought is that if your cooler will have a failure, it will be after one month but before a couple seasons. 30 day warranty doesn't help there. Also it doesn't say a lot about how much Rtic thinks of their product. It's a fuckin cooler not a computer or car or something with a ton of moving parts.

That screen name

Just to jump in here. I have a 30oz Yeti Rambler that's almost 3 years old. 4 days ago it began to show condensation on the outside of the cup. Now this is not supposed to happen unless the vacuum has been lost between the cup walls. I emailed Yeti, I get an email from them the next day advising to send them a picture if possible. I take a picture and even a 360 video of the cup and email it back. Next day I get a phone call telling me that they are sending me a brand new cup, and a prepaid mailer to send the bad one back. Today the new cup arrived via Fedex and the old one is going out Monday.

Morale of the story is you get what you pay for

So I'm gonna test it to give Palm the benefit of the doubt. I pre-cooled both a Coleman Xtreme 120qt and this Palm 65, and just now dropped 40lbs of ice in each one. Not super scientific, and the Coleman is almost twice as big which I would imagine is going to go in Palm's favor, but I know that Coleman holds ice for days so I would hope the Palm can at least match it. If it doesn't have insulation it won't last nearly as long as the Coleman.

I also am going to shoot the exterior of each cooler in different spots with a temp gun to see if we can determine anything from that.

Buy once, cry once.

If you had the Ozark Trail, you could have just thrown it away and bought a new one and not have to go through all the effort since it's only 9 bucks.

Return it and check out Bison coolers if the RTIC warranty scares you.

Sweet Jeebus, no shit, emails, phone calls, pictures, mailing shit back and forth, sounds like some kind of CIA covert operation or FHRC coverup!

coleman has always worked well for me

Thanks OP, I have been watching them in Amazon. It has now been deleted from my list.

So you don't want to spend the big bucks for a Yeti, don't like the warranty on the RTIC, won't spend the time to find or order an Ozark. Where's the beef. You bought what you wanted and now you're not happy with a decision you spent a lot of time making?????

Made in Chicago......

Built like Al Capone's safe.

I have a Pelican too. Made in USA and bomb proof.

OT has a lifetime warranty too. Morale of the story is you get what you pay for

Bought an Ozark Trail 73? qt.  Flew out the back of the Jeep at 70 MPH and rolled down the median a hundred feet.  Little scratched up and dusty, but it didn't open and is in perfect usable condition.  I am very impressed.

But does it hold ice?

Maybe its just me, but the fit and finish of a cooler that is meant to be drug all over God's green earth is not of the upmost importance, as long as it holds ice as described and won't break.  But then again, I also don't carpet pickup beds.

Well you get what you pay for.

Well I didn't expect it to come looking like it fell off a truck or possibly without any good insulation in the sides.

You sound like an old curmudgeon.

I have an email alert with Walmart.com when they come back in stock and I check every time I'm around a Wal-Mart. I'm starting to wonder if they're never going to be back in stock

That bed rug is fuckin awesome man. Actually provides impact protection since it has some cushion, is super durable, was pretty cheap, prevents shit from sliding around, and unlike a spray in if it ever is damaged or worn out I just throw it away and get another. For a truck that doesn't spend every day hauling dirt or rocks (which is 99.9% of trucks on the road) this thing is way better. I wouldn't hesitate putting them in the bed of fleet trucks.

I have a Ozark but it's the only one I've seen. Would like the smaller one. My local TSC just started carrying Orca , any thoughts on those?

Section it with a bandsaw, post pictures.

update in OP with angry email from Palm

Send me a new Pelican or RTIC or whatever and I'll do whatever you want to this one.

So you paid 40% of a Yeti and expected a Yeti?

And besides, its a f'n cooler, who cares if the moulding isnt perfect?

 
Yep.  Looks like someone had sexy time with your cooler before you received it.

First of all, I agree, if it works that's fine.

Don't advertise it to be like a Yeti for half the price and then deliver Feti quality. That's my real issue.

so was there insulation?

Looks like I won't be buying a thing from Palm. I don't understand why companies act like this to customers when it can backfire so easily on them.

What did you think the flashlight would tell you about the cooler?

comany needs to think about the perception of quality instead of insulting customers.

I've got an Orca, it's the tits.

It's currently testing. If their pictures are right, sure there is. Not sure how thick or dense it could be though, since I can see right through it. Hopefully it works great so I can have a cheap good performing cooler, albeit rough from the factory.

OP is cooler engineer, he was doing science.

I know what you're thinking.
What is the boob test going to tell him that the butthole test didn't? He's just being super careful.

Are you really butthurt about that email when you are slandering their product?

OP got verbally bitchslapped on the interwebz...

Correct

Maximum butthurt