PILOT OUTDOORS® Reviews
Flexible, Durable, and Made to Hold Ice for Days
"The Pilot Outdoors® Premium Ice Chest Cooler Model 50/80 offers exceptional ice retention, intelligent dual-size capability, and a dry storage section—ideal for hardcore campers and outdoor enthusiasts."
Robert
Verified • USA
Great Cooler for Any Trip
"Really happy with this cooler so far. It keeps ice longer than expected, feels very durable, and the design is super practical for camping or road trips. If you’re thinking about getting a new cooler, this one is definitely worth trying."
Ryan Mitchell
Verified • USA
Love these coolers
"Been running a pilot outdoors cooler from the beginning. We where lucky enough to be a product tester. The long summer days and nights as a bowfishing guide can get brutal. These things handle the abuse and keep the ice. What more can ya ask for."
Tule Creek Hunting Outfitters
Verified • USA
this thing is beast
"Flipping between the 53 qt. and 85 qt. setup takes less than a minute, the drain empties fast, and the motion-activated LED in the lid is genuinely delightful at night. It's a little heavy when it's packed full — but so is a cooler that actually works. This one earns it. Do yourself a favor and stop settling for less."
Denise C.
Verified • USA
Best Cooler I’ve Bought in Years
"I honestly didn’t expect to like this cooler as much as I do. I took it on a weekend camping trip and was surprised by how long the ice lasted — even in pretty hot weather. The separate ice section is such a smart idea because my food stayed dry instead of getting soaked like with my old coolers."
Daniel Brooks
Verified • USA
Great product, Wow
"I love everything about it. Wow wow wow! Very heavy duty, all the features are amazing. But I would like to have an owners manual."
Adam Payne
Verified • USA
Finally, a Heavy-Duty Cooler That Solves the Soggy Food Problem
"I’ve been taking this cooler up to the mountains whenever I head out there to reset, and it’s honestly been a game-changer. It takes a serious beating in the back of the truck and holds up perfectly. The best part by far is the separate ice compartment it actually works. You get all the ice retention of a high-end, heavy-duty cooler, but your food doesn't end up swimming in water after a couple of days. this is a solid buy."
David Harris
Verified • USA
My dad would've loved this thing. I bought it for me. It's for both of us now.
"I landed on the Pilot Outdoors Model 50/80 after a lot of reading. First trip out, I opened it on the boat after four hours in direct Gulf sun — and my sandwiches were dry. My drinks were cold. The separate ice chamber keeps the melt water completely locked away from your food. No slurry. No soggy anything. I just sat there on the water for a second, thinking — yeah, Pop would've gotten a real kick out of this."
Marcus
Verified • USA
North Carolina Our Beach and Camping Cooler
"North Carolina Our Beach and Camping Cooler We alternate between beach weekends and mountain camping, and this cooler handles both. The dry compartment has been huge for keeping the kids' snacks away from the drinks and ice. It's not cheap, but we've already gotten so much use out of it I stopped thinking about the price after the first month. Really well made."
Michelle
Verified • USA
Best Cooler I've Ever Owned
"I'll be honest — I was skeptical before buying this. I've gone through a few coolers over the years and always ended up disappointed. But the Pilot Outdoors 50/80 genuinely surprised me. Took it on a four-day camping trip last month and the ice was still going strong on day three. No soggy sandwiches, no melted mess — the ALWAYS DRY™ chamber kept everything completely dry and fresh. That alone was a game-changer for me. The build quality feels seriously solid. It doesn't feel cheap or flimsy at all — more like something built to last years, not just a season. And the 2-in-1 size design is genius. I used the smaller setting for a solo day hike and switched to the full size for our group cookout. Super convenient. Ordering from the website was smooth, and it arrived well-packaged. Honestly, for what you get, the price feels totally fair. If you're on the fence, I'd say just go for it — you won't regret it."
Maya Carter
Verified • USA
Excellent Cooler for Camping and Outdoor Trips
"I’ve been using the Pilot Outdoors cooler for a few weeks now, and honestly, I’m impressed with the build quality and ice retention. The separate ice compartment is actually very useful because it keeps food dry while still keeping everything cold. It feels extremely durable and well-designed for camping, road trips, and fishing weekends. The cooler is a bit heavy when fully loaded, but that’s expected for a premium rotomolded cooler. Overall, it performs better than many standard coolers I’ve owned before, and the extra features make it stand out. Definitely worth considering if you spend a lot of time outdoors."
Ethan Walker
Verified • USA
Didn't Think It Would Be This Good
"Been using this cooler for about two months now and honestly it's earned a permanent spot in my truck. Took it on a weekend trip with the family packed it with drinks, sandwiches, fruit, the usual. Ice was still going on day three and nothing was soggy. The dry basket is a game changer, keeps everything separated and clean without any fuss. Build feels heavy duty. Latches snap shut tight, lid seals properly, and it doesn't rattle around or feel hollow like cheaper brands. Drain plug is huge empties out in no time which I appreciated more than I expected. Only thing I'd say is give it a good pre-chill before your trip and you'll get even better results. Made a noticeable difference for me."
Easton Reeves
Verified • USA
Good Cooler for Fishing
"Took it out on a fishing trip last weekend. Ice held up the whole day even sitting in the sun on the boat. Kept the catch fresh and the dry compartment made it easy to keep food and bait completely separate. Build feels solid. Took some bumps on the water and in the truck bed without any issues. overall experience is good."
Luke Harper
Verified • USA
Perfect for the Outdoors!
"I recently bought the Pilot Outdoors Cooler, and I’m so impressed! It's the perfect size for day trips and weekend camping. The insulation is fantastic—I kept ice for over 48 hours in the middle of summer! Plus, the rugged design holds up against scratches and bumps, even when I’m tossing it around on hiking trails."
Alvin
Verified • USA
Great cooler
"Super quality, lots of space"
Jason Wroblewski
Verified • USA
Great Cooler, a Little Bulky
"I love my Pilot Outdoors Cooler overall. The build quality is top-notch, and it’s kept my drinks ice-cold for days. The insulation is great, and it holds a lot of gear. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is that it can be a bit heavy and bulky, especially when packed to the brim."
Jason
Verified • USA
Dry food. Cold ice. This cooler delivers.
"I used to think soggy sandwiches were just part of camping. Then I got the Model 50/80. The separate ice chamber keeps your food completely dry day one through day five, no ice slurry, no wet bread, no more of that. It's such an obvious fix that I'm shocked no one nailed it sooner."
Travis M.
Verified • USA
Good Cooler
"Good Cooler"
Shefali nagpal
Verified • USA
Can your Yeti do this?
"I have been holding off on my full review until my "Texas Torture Testing" is complete. But I just pulled this drink out of my cooler and had to share something real quick. Product quality -almost bullet proof! I am pulling no punches and using it HARD. Product support - Outstanding! I had a few questions/ observations and sent them a brief message addressing such. A few days later I received an actual phone call, from the owner, in person! This man has been dedicated to his product and improving it, from day one, and is in the trenches with his sleeves rolled up doing whatever it takes! Anyway, after speaking with him and getting a few tips and tricks to maximize this coolers efficiency, I must say that I have seen improved results. But this blew me away! Yesterday evening I emptied and prepped my Pilot for work today. I was alone so I wasn't in and out of it very often during the course of the day. Just now I went outside to the truck and grabbed a juice drink I purchased yesterday evening, from the cooler. It was not only ice cold as usual but had started freezing into a Mango slushy! In just under 24 hours using his recommendations, the items in the cooler are colder than they were when I put them in originally! I've thought about purchasing and have used Yeti and other big name brand coolers. Honestly I haven't been THAT impressed by performance at their price point. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here goes. All I want to say is: can your Yeti do this?"
Arbor Pro Tree Care and Consulting Arborist
Verified • USA
The most functional cooler ever!
"I’ve owned this cooler for several months now so time to write a review. The good; the design is great, very functional and easy to open latches that seal tight without being hard to open, drain plug is massive and can drain the cooler in less than a minute, built in light is awesome and very impressive to friends at night as well as convenient, the separate Dry basket is my main use to keep my drinks separate from ice and water but also to keep food and lunch in everyday for work, ice retention is on par with what I was getting from my 70qt pelican that but only using 1/2 the ice (below and around dry basket, vs cooler full of ice/drinks). the not so good; ice/cold retention using the dry basket is around 3 days which I was hoping was much more but it only takes about 20lbs of ice to fill up the bottom and sides under and around the dry basket, also the cooler stays in the metal bed of my work truck out in the Texas heat 80-95 degrees 24/7. So it is still comparable to my yeti or pelican I had in my truck prior in the same conditions with 1/2-1/3 the amount of ice and dry basket. I’m sure without the basket and the same amount of ice my yeti or pelican held it would last much longer. The main complaint I have is the dry cavity won’t get as cold as I’d like. It’ll maintain around 45-50 degrees the first day, 50-55 2nd and 55-65 the 3rd. While it’s still plenty of cold for drinks I’d like it to keep my food colder than that for the first few days. All in all I would recommend this cooler (and I have) to anyone who asks me about it. I get asked about it everytime I work with new people or people see me using it and they’re almost always impressed. I hope they can improve the basket temp somehow but besides for that I LOVE this cooler! Pilot outdoors has a knockout cooler! You won’t regret buying it."
Nathon Peters
Verified • USA
Honestly didn't expect much. Now I won't shut up about it.
"Let me be real — I almost didn't buy this. The price made me pause, I'd been burned by overhyped gear before, and my buddy kept telling me just to grab another Yeti. I went back and forth for like three weeks. Finally just pulled the trigger one night and figured, worst case I'd return it. I took it on a four-day deer hunting trip in eastern Oklahoma last October. First morning, I opened it to grab my breakfast and — I know this sounds dumb — but the food was just... dry. Like, actually dry. No puddle at the bottom. No wet paper towel smell. Nothing floating. I've been hunting and camping my whole life and I genuinely thought that was just how coolers worked."
Randy
Verified • USA
