Professional Tool Reviews for Pros

We've used premium coolers from Yeti, Grizzly, Orion, and others, and Kong deserves to be on your list if you're on the hunt for a great one. Considering my primary role for a cooler is for long days/nights of fishing on Tampa Bay, Kong's design is my favorite so far. Even if all the accessories aren't what you need, the long ice retention and quality build keep Kong high on the list. The fact that it's a Made in the USA product is icing on the cake.

Our search continues for the perfect cooler. Size, ice retention, quality, and add-on features all play a part. For this review, we brought in the Kong Coolers 70-quart cooler, giving me an excuse to leave everyone else in the office and go fishing for a while.

How long ice lasts in a cooler is a big deal. While everyone loves a perfect number, the reality is that it depends on a lot of factors. Did you pre-chill? What’s the outside temperature? How often are you getting into it? What’s the ice-to-beverage ratio? Is it sitting in the sun or shade? There are a lot of variables.

In ideal conditions, you can get up to 10 days of ice retention with the Kong 70. Filling it halfway with ice and then tossing in a 3-man limit of mangrove snapper fresh from 90° saltwater? You’re good for a weekend fishing trip.

That said, the ice retention is among the best that I’ve used. Part of it is an excellent design and sealing. Part of it is the size. This is a true 70-quart cooler, so compared to 65-quart options that are similar in size, you have more room for ice and every little bit extends the retention some.

In terms of what you can reasonably hold, 70 quarts is enough for 45 cans plus 33 pounds of ice.

Like many premium coolers, the Kong 70 comes to life from a rotomolding process. It eliminates most of the seams that end up being failure points in less-expensive coolers. Overall, it makes for a much tougher build.

For most premium coolers, as long as it has an insulated lid with a quality gasket, it’s good to go. The Kong 70 cooler takes things up a notch with a wall-hugger design. Even when the cooler is up against the wall, you can still raise the lid without it pushing the cooler forward.

I have a 16-foot flats boat and my cooler has to sit against the center console. After switching this cooler in for the Yeti I normally use, the wall-hugger design is legitimately easier when I’m tossing protesting fish into it.

It seems like every cooler brand has to have its own take on latch systems. They all work, but Kong’s design is the easiest I’ve used. Sticking with a traditional cam latch, it’s simpler than others and it’s not so tight that you’re not banging your fingers every time you use them.

Kong has a dual-handle system that combines folding/pivoting and integrated handles. That concept is common and the integrated handles are a nice insurance policy if something happens to the other set.

Particularly for a cooler this size, the folding handles have some give to them that makes them feel flimsy. Empty or full, they haven’t shown the slightest evidence that they’re too weak, though.

Kong’s drainplugs are noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First, there are two of them, making it easy to drain twice as fast or avoid spinning the cooler to the drain side if you’re on a slope.

The other reason is that it’s threaded to accept a standard hose connection. Just like draining a water heater, if you don’t want to heft the weight to a more convenient draining location, just connect your garden hose and go with the flow.

The Kong Coolers 70-quart cooler has eight different color options to choose from. I have a strong affinity for the Sea Glass Green you see in the photos.

The only accessory that comes with the cooler is a divider that doubles as a shelf. There’s a slot in the middle to let you separate items you don’t want mixing together. If there’s an improvement I could make, it would be to add slots where you can divide it into thirds. Drinks on the smaller side, fish on the larger.

Depending on how you’re going to use your Kong 70, there’s a good chance you don’t need anything else. For the way I use it, there are some must-have add-ons.

No matter which color you choose the Kong 70 runs $379 direct from Kong’s website and it has a limited lifetime warranty. Compared to other premium brands in the 65 – 75-quart range, that pricing is dead on with the competition. At the moment, that’s the best place to buy it. Here’s what the accessories we recommend run:

We’ve used premium coolers from Yeti, Grizzly, Orion, and others, and Kong deserves to be on your list if you’re on the hunt for a great one. Considering my primary role for a cooler is for long days/nights of fishing on Tampa Bay, Kong’s design is my favorite so far. Even if all the accessories aren’t what you need, the long ice retention and quality build keep Kong high on the list. The fact that it’s a Made in the USA product is icing on the cake.

On the clock, Kenny dives deep to discover the practical limits and comparative differences for all kinds of tools. Off the clock, his faith and love for his family are his top priorities, and you'll typically find him in the kitchen, on his bike (he's an Ironman), or taking folks out for a day of fishing on Tampa Bay.

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Professional Tool Reviews for Pros