ProView – Rugged Road 45 V2 Review

The past month in the desert of Utah I had the pleasure of using the Rugged Road 45 cooler. The desert heat and sunny days made for great conditions to test out the capability of the cooler, especially when loaded with drinks to enjoy at the end of a day climbing. I found the cooler to perform well under such conditions, and its additional features proved to be convenient for use at camp.

The Rugged Road 45 cooler made its maiden voyage driving out from Denver, Colorado to Moab, Utah. We filled it with drinks and ice to see how it would fair on the hot and sunny drive out to the desert. I was pleased to find the ice mostly intact when it arrived at our campsite in the Utah desert. The Rugged Road 45 cooler was a helpful addition since we were hosting a desert wedding, and the cooler kept drinks cold for our friends and family over a long weekend. After our wedding celebrations, we continued to use the cooler for our post climbing drinks and also as a nice table while sitting around the fire with friends. For the first few days we had the cooler it was cloudy and cool, even experiencing some surprising rain and snow, but the later half of the month was sunny most everyday, with daily temperatures in the mid 50s to mid 60s. We kept the cooler out in the sun during the day to see if it could live up to its claim to keep ice for seven days, and to our amazement it did! Before receiving the Rugged Road 45 cooler, my husband and I have been using a standard Igloo cooler that is sized to hold 85 cans, which is what we used to compare the Rugged Road to.

Performance

My first impression upon unloading the Rugged Road 45 was how unbelievably lightweight it was. I was easily able to maneuver the cooler by myself even fully loaded with ice and beverages. This was also due to the ergonomic handles, which aren’t as rigid as most coolers, and allowed me a comfortable grip when moving the cooler around. I was also in love with the color of the cooler – which is a beautiful forest green. The cooler even arrived with a matching insulated thermos and a basket to put in the cooler to keep it organized. 

Durability

I was worried about the durability of the cooler, since it is lightweight and the material seems to be a sort of sytrofoam material with a coating sprayed to the outside, but after dragging it around on rocks around our campsite, and throwing it in and out of the truck bed, the durability seemed to hold up just fine. I still feel the cooler won’t be as durable in the long run as a hard plastic cooler, but that is the trade off for ultralight weight.

Ice Retention

To test the cooler out, it was first filled with drinks and a 10 lb bag of ice and then driven from Denver, Colorado to Moab, Utah. After a full day in the sunny truck bed, the ice seemed mostly intact. We put the cooler in the shade of our camp to see how long the ice would last. It lasted about five days, but that was without draining any of the water out as the ice melted. For our second test we filled the cooler with 30 canned drinks and put in a 20 lb bag of ice. This time we placed the cooler in the sun at our camp and made sure to drain the water everyday. I was stoked to see on day seven that some ice still remained in the cooler! Rugged Road’s claim of up to seven days of ice seems to be correct, depending on the amount of ice used and if you are diligent on draining the water. 

Volume

Rugged Road boasts that the cooler can hold “45 12oz cans plus ice” but I did not find that to be accurate. I was able to fit up to 35 cans in the cooler if I wanted to have room for ice. If you did squeeze in 45 cans you would not be able to put enough ice in to maintain the ice for very long. This was one of my disappointments with the cooler; it takes up almost as much room as my standard Igloo cooler (which holds up to 85 cans), but its capacity was almost half as much. The size of the cooler ends up being an awkward size, really only suitable for food and drinks for a single person or for a couple for a weekend. It came with a nifty basket to organize the cooler on the inside, but you can’t fit cans upright under the basket, so it really limits the space. For the price, I felt this cooler is smaller in capacity than I had expected.

Features

The Rugged Road 45 did have some neat features that I enjoyed. The lid can be flipped over to either a flat side, good for using as a table or surface for chopping up dinner or even an extra seat, or a side with four cup holders and an indented table. The lid is very easy to flip around and reinsert. The lid also has a very strong locking mechanism, so that I would have no worries of the cooler leaking if it got sloshed around in the car. Also, as I mentioned previously, the handles are very flexible and offer great grip when moving the cooler around. 

The one feature I was unable to try out was the Rugged Road guarantee that the cooler will float upright in water even when fully loaded. Out here in the desert that isn’t a concern, but for any water activities that would be an excellent feature.

What sets the product apart?

The Rugged Road 45 stands out from the competition by being ultralight, versatile, and having the ability to maintain ice for up to seven days, even while sitting in full sun. It is just about as durable as a lightweight cooler could be. The cooler also has great features, such as ergonomic handles, which along with being lightweight, make the cooler easy to move around by yourself, and without straining your back. Although I wasn’t able to test this in the desert, the cooler is specifically designed to float upright in water even when fully loaded (Rugged Road guaranteed!).

Who is the product for? 

This cooler would be best suited for a weekend trip for one to two people, or up to a week for a single person, due to the capacity. The cooler works great in any camping situation, but would be especially beneficial for someone doing water activities, since the cooler is designed to float upright. 

Eco-Friendly

Although Rugged Road doesn’t mention using any eco-friendly materials, their website does explain that 10% of all profits are donated to help build wells around the globe, which is a very cool mission to support. 

The Final Word

After a month in the desert sun, the Rugged Road 45 proved to be an avid competitor in the realm of coolers. I enjoyed being able to easily lift the ultra light cooler by myself and was impressed that after seven days in the sun, the cooler did still have intact ice inside. The cooler was a welcome addition when sitting around the fire with friends, used as a surface for food, drinks, games, or even an additional seat. My only caution would be that the price point is set a bit high considering the size of the cooler. Although said to hold 45 cans and ice, I found that it is actually more like 30-35 cans with a single 15-20 lb bag of ice. Compared to my igloo cooler that is supposed to hold 85 cans, the Rugged Road 45 takes up almost the same dimensions (slightly shorter), but doesn’t have near the internal capacity. If Rugged Road had made the cooler slightly taller, you could stand cans up under the included internal basket, which would be a nice addition, but as is you can’t use the basket and have cans underneath. I think this is an excellently built cooler with some standout features and I think the larger sizes would offer more flexibility than this smallest size. I think this would be a fantastic cooler for a single person to use for their needs for up to seven days, but for a couple I would think it would only be suited for weekend adventures. 

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