The Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Cooler is one of the best rugged coolers for keeping your food and beverages cold for days. Cabela’s offers the Polar Cap Equalizer in a variety of sizes and color combinations — and offers an optional cooler cart as well as attachable wheels for added portability.
The Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Cooler competes directly with all the other premium coolers available today, including YETI, Engel, Orca, Pelican, Orion and others. YETI, of course, has the most brand awareness in the cooler space — and for good reason: YETI makes great gear.
In fact, Cabela’s sells YETI coolers, too, but that didn’t stop the company from developing its own high-end rotomolded cooler, which it offers at extremely competitive price points. To get us a closer look at its Polar Cap Equalizer line, Cabela’s sent us two review units to test out — a 40 quart and a whopping 100 quart. We promptly took the coolers to elk camp in early September for testing.
Author’s Long-Term Update: After 5 years of using the Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Coolers dozens of times while camping, hunting and on day-trips, the Cabela’s coolers are still going strong. I’ve dragged these coolers down river banks and once tripped and accidentally dropped the 40-quart version so that it rolled twenty feet down a rocky trail to a secluded campsite. It appeared totally unfazed. So now you know for sure these coolers are tough. If you want to know if the design is right for you, read on to learn more:
Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Cooler Review: Overall Design
The first thing you need to know about premium rotomolded coolers is they tend to have very thick walls along with a serious rubber or silicone seal on the lid. Premium coolers are bulky and heavier than cheap coolers. The thick walls provide insulation that keeps the cold in and the hot out. The seals prevent tiny air leaks, which make a huge difference over several days. Odds are, when you first look at a big premium cooler, it will seem large . . . but when you open the lid and look inside, you’ll be astonished by how small the interior space seems.
The seemingly small capacity compared to the outside dimensions is standard for any cooler that promises to hold ice longer than a few days. Of course, the thermal efficiency means you can get away with using less ice on a typical camping trip than you would use with a cheap cooler. This means more of your available space can be allocated to food or drink.
The Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Cooler uses a freezer-grade gasket seal. Stout rubberized T-handle latches seal the lid tight and they include built-in bottle openers. Cabela’s takes the design a bit farther and adds a pressure-release valve, which you can push to equalize the air pressure inside and out of the cooler. If you’ve ever felt a premium cooler lid feel sticky and hard to open, you’ll appreciate this valve because it eliminates the suction effect you can get from disparate air pressures inside and outside of the cooler.
To reduce heat transfer along the bottom — say from the hot bed of a pickup or a warm river bank — Cabela’s gave the Polar Cap Equalizer raised, nonskid feet.
The Two-Handle Design
The most notable Cabela’s hard cooler feature is its dual-handle design that gives you a rope handle or a molded side handle for multiple carry options.The most visually notable feature compared to the competition is the dual handle system. Cabela’s uses both molded handles as well as rope handles. This seems like overkill until you start hauling the cooler around. The molded handles are great for quick grabs and pulls. Plus they give you an easy point for lashing the cooler down in your pickup, boat or ATV.
I like using the rope handles those long hauls down a beach over rugged terrain where you and a buddy are trying to find stable places to put your feet. The flex of the rope makes it easier to keep your balance when you’re carrying the cooler with a buddy.
When I need to grab the cooler and drag it out of the back of my pickup, I like the hard molded handles.
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Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Cooler Review: First Test Case
Our plan for the Polar Cap Equalizer Coolers was to take the coolers, along with a 37-quart midsize YETI Tundra 45, to an early-season elk camp in September. The weather would be hot, and if we got into the elk, we might be at our remote camp for up to seven days. We loaded the 100-quart cooler with blocks of ice and loaded the smaller coolers with both ice and food.
We hunted for three full days with temps in the mid-80s, covering a lot of ground — and leaving the coolers at base camp. We learned the elk were not anywhere near our location. After three hot days, we decided to save our hunting days for later in the season and bailed on the week.
As for the ice, the 40-quart Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Cooler’s ice was barely melted at all. Our frozen steaks stayed frozen. Our 100-quart ice chest was still absolutely frigid. There was just a tiny bit of melted ice inside our frozen jugs, and the extra blocks of ice we picked up at the gas station on the way to camp had melted just enough to fill a glass of water. In case you’re paying attention, the YETI food cooler was also holding up well, too — the food and ice was in about the same shape as the Cabela’s 40.
Had we connected with an elk, we’re confident that we would have been able to keep the meat cool enough to make it back to civilization.
Later, we used the Polar Cab Equalizer Coolers for multiple day trips during hot September days, leaving them in the bed of the pickup in the full sun for hours while we hunted. Even the hot bed of the pickup barely affected our jugs of ice inside the coolers. The upshot is, the Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Coolers inspired complete confidence.
Long-Term Cabela’s Polar Cap Cooler Review Update
After 5 years and a tumble down a rocky trail, the Cabela’s Polar Cap Cooler has a few scratches. The performance remains outstanding!After 5 years, the Cabela’s Polar Cap Coolers are still going strong. As you can see from the photo above, there’s a few scratches but overall performance remains 100%.
You might be wondering how the rubber Polar Cap Cooler latches have been doing? They’ve got a few cracks in them, but they’re still tight and have more life in them before they might break. Still, if they do break, Cabela’s has you covered because the company sells Polar Cap Cooler Replacement Latches.
The Bottom Line: Cabela’s Polar Cap Coolers Are a Great Value
All-in-all, the Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Cooler is a truly excellent premium cooler. The smaller versions can hold ice for up to 5-7 days while the larger versions can hold ice for 12 days. You probably won’t need that kind of ice retention very often, but when you do, you’ll appreciate it. Very highly recommended.
Get the Gear:
- Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer Cooler — tan or white color options in 22, 25, 40, 60, and 80 quart versions
Interested in heavy-duty portable coolers with wheels? Read our decision guide to the best wheeled coolers for more detail!
