Igloo Heavy-Duty 25 Qt BMX Ice Chest Cooler with Cool Riser Technology

Product Information

Being light makes it easy to take these coolers in your car for road trips, as well as on a boat for a day on the lake during camping trips or out on the ocean for when you go to the beach. Being useful in all of these situations earns this brand a 4.5/5 rating in quality. The Orca takes a unique spin on the classic t-shaped latches by making the "t" portion of the grip a whale's tail. The latches are easy to grip onto but pose a challenge to open. They require two hands when opening and closing the cooler. We also found the Orca to be an awkward shape to carry for long distances. Though doable alone, it's best carried with the help of a second pair of hands. For an excellent option that is highly portable, we recommend the Ultralight RTIC 52. Though it can't compete with the Orca's insulation performance, it's a large capacity cooler that is light enough to carry alone.

We liked this cooler and thought it insulated well for the price point. It nearly won our Best Value award, but we were disappointed by the durability issues with the latch and the poor quality of the components and manufacturing. Product SpecsThe YETI Roadie 24 is a significant improvement over the Roadie 20 in every meaningful way. Not only does it allow for four extra quarts of liquid capacity, but it’s a few pounds lighter (Yeti says 10%), and performs better on insulation tests (Yeti says 30% better). When it comes to performance, the BMX 25 fared the worst in all of my tests. But the difference between the worst and best wasn’t that major. It turns out the answer is simple: because it’s the best. In all of our tests, the Tundra was the winner.

The latches are rubber t-handles, which are fairly easy to do and un-do with a single hand. However, I struggled a few times getting the cooler open one-handed as the latches are fairly stiff. For the 2 larger Igloo BMX Ice Chest sizes (52QT and 72QT), replace the overhead carrying handle with gripped swing-up handles that have reinforced stainless steel. We typically recommend that these larger coolers be carried by 2 people (particularly if they are filled up with items). The weather is starting to cool down some here in Texas so the outdoor testing isn’t quite as demanding as if this test were performed in August. Because of this, the ice retention numbers that we found may not exactly coincide with the true numbers that you will experience. There are a lot of variables at play here so we stress that our numbers only be used as a rough guide for what you can expect in similar conditions. The rubber gasket and rubber feet weren’t quite as securely attached, and we felt that both could have been pried off with some effort. This may or may not be an issue with long-term durability, but the slight difference in quality compared to the Yeti was noticeable.It’s also more portable than the Yeti or RTIC. The cooler’s small size is easy to move around with just one person, even when fully loaded. Very few cooler brands are able to save you money, be easy to use and perform for just about any situation at the same time, and that makes Igloo’s BMX Cooler series a priority if that’s what you’re looking for. But if you’re just looking for a decent cooler at an affordable price, then you’re in the right place. Why You Should Trust Me It has a drain on one side, but other than that, the Coleman Steel Belted Cooler doesn’t have much in the way of features. the biggest option is the 72 Quart Cooler, weighing in at 18.7pounds and measuring 32.19″ x 17.34″ x 16.82″ on the outside.

You can also find a 52 quart version and a 72 quart version of the BMX if you’re planning bigger adventures. But the 25 is an ideal size for a single person to carry, and it has capacity for a big picnic, or supplies for an overnight camping trip for two. A really interesting comparison can be made when looking at Yeti’s Tundra series coolers and the Igloo BMX Coolers. Both are essentially targeting similar demographics, but they take a very different approaches in doing so. You know you’ve got a reliable cooler on your hands when it can be useful for just about any situation. That’s the case with Igloo’s BMX series, which, despite its size, is a great option for any occasion, whether it’s a birthday or graduation party with friends and family at someone’s house, a tailgate with friends for a football game, or a fishing and hunting trip in the mountains. We don’t see any Igloo BMX Soft Coolers at this point. Perhaps they are still in the works or perhaps Igloo is going a different route with their higher-quality soft coolers. Igloo BMX Cooler Features From a quality standpoint, this cooler should last for many years of typical use without issue. The extent of maintenance should entail cleaning out the cooler from time to time and also applying some oil to the gasket to keep it from drying out. Plus if you do happen to run into any quality issues, you are dealing with one of the largest cooler companies around in Igloo. Visual Appeal –All in all, this works whether you’re having a party at your friend’s house to watch the big game or you’re going camping with your family for an extended weekend. Just don't expect that you'll get 10-day ice retention like in some other, rotomolded coolers. That won't be possible with this one.

One bonus you may not think about is whether you can sit on your cooler or not. Some models are built to withstand the weight of someone seated on them. The best of all? The BMX cooler is very light, unlike any rotomolded cooler out there. Being lightweight, it's easier to carry and definitely more portable. Actually, the Igloo BMX has been the only blow-molded cooler that made it to our list of best lightweight coolers. That’s where the Igloo BMX cooler comes in. This option was introduced in early 2018 as the latest in Igloo’s lineup of well-performing ice chests that includes the Sportsman, which we previously covered, the IMX ( review here), the Yukon, and the Party Bar, among other unique additions. I didn’t open any of the coolers during this test. While this test doesn’t really equate to real-world usage, it does give us some objective data so we can compare these coolers.

Optional Dry Storage Basket

Depending on which model you go with and the specific application that you plan to put it through, you should anticipate ice life that ranges from around 2 days up to almost a week. Features/Build Quality – The Roadie 20 had a drain spout, which isn’t part of the design for the Roadie 24. What Do Other Reviewers Say? The Igloo BMX 25 (represented by the green line), was consistently lagging behind the other coolers throughout the 96-hour test. It’s an improvement over their previous Roadie 20 in several ways. They’ve removed some features that allow for greater insulation, and it has a taller build that makes it both lighter and more spacious.