Cooler Throw Down: Does Ozark Trail Stack up with Yeti and Pelican?

Cracking this thing open sounds like you are opening the airlock on a spaceship. You can tell there is a serious seal established when you latch this shut. The Ozark Trail 45 Qt Rolling Thermocooler also comes with an internal tray, which the other two do not.

Used for its intended purpose, this is one of the best hiking/backpacking deals I’ve ever come across. This daypack came in handy just for what I intended. Temperatures can swing from chilly mornings to sweltering afternoons. Consider bringing several sets of clothing so you have options for hiking and spending time at camp.

I like how almost every strap can be adjusted to fit the user. Most of our hikes are seven miles or less but we are combing the hikes so I’m wearing the bag for hours. The trails have been up hill/downhill near vertical hikes to rock hopping and scrambling over rocky terrains and the bag has always stayed in place. Be aware, this is a daypack, intended for lighter loads and shorter distances. It isn’t built to be on your back 8 hours a day, and it won’t support 25 pounds.

It is important to be considerate of hikers and preserve the beauty of the Ozark Trail so it can be enjoyed by future generations. Follow the signs to stay on established paths to reduce your chances of getting lost. Staying on the trail also helps prevent erosion and damage to fragile plant life. Water sources such as rivers and streams may only be available seasonally. Ozark Trail maps are a great resource to help identify places where you can access water. Browse Ozark Trail’s top-rated backpacks and more.

For these styles, it seems most people want their head at the door side and so they have a constraint for which way the tent is set up if the ground is not flat. On the other hand, accessing the tent from the middle, or on the long side, gives one more degree of freedom. Assuming a symmetrical tent, like the Ozark Trail, my head could be placed at either end and both options would feel equally comfortable.

ozark trail backpack

I normally don’t need it, but it does a good job at tightening up the bag up. They don’t work well, and they tend to get in the way. So, I end up carrying them when I don’t the poles. This hydration compatible backpack ozark trail chair has a connection for a water bladder built in to the design. It also includes loops to hang your trekking poles when not in use. I carried this daypack back n forth on a trail to the shower while camping.

The only issues I have with the bag is that the stitching isn’t as good as you might find on the more expensive bags and its weight. The more expensive will use higher quality materials that are generally stronger and lighter weight. All this means that your bag will be a little heavier than a premium bag when fully packed. I did some quick adjustments and gave the bag a try.

I have used the hydration compartment for items like my iPad. By default, this unexpectedly ended up being my go-to daily bag for several months. It’s been stuffed to capacity with almost everything I had to carry, including, but not limited to, outerwear, lunch, groceries, laptop, iPad, a Bose speaker, and combinations thereof.

In a sheer stroke of luck for this test, we are having a very aggressive heatwave in Southeast Michigan with temperatures around the 90’s during the day and staying in the 70’s overnight. I’m using my North facing deck as the staging area which receives direct sunlight at almost all hours of the day. I also placed  a small weather system on the deck rail to help get a sense of how hot surface temperatures are in the area. On one of the hottest days, the remote sensor reported temperatures exceeding 107 Degrees Fahrenheit while the air temp was in the high 80’s. When I first got the bag, I had issues with shoulder straps that pulls the bag up higher/lower on the back. But now it’s settled and almost never moves on me.

Here the 30-mile Current River section picks up, following the river for two miles before veering south toward Stegall Mountain. Enjoy views of the Ozark landscape as you gain 500 feet of elevation up 2.5 miles to the top of Stegall Mountain. Camp out at the top overnight, catching a glimpse of a full ozark trail chair sky of stars if it’s clear. A backpacking stove is a convenient way to boil water for dehydrated meals and instant coffee without adding a lot of weight to your pack. Further south, you can find Klepzig Mill, a historic building constructed nearly 100 years ago along the banks of Rocky Creek.