As we move further away from summer, we also wave goodbye to one its most pleasurable experiences: enjoying a cold drink on a warm day at the beach. For this we always turn to the ubiquitous cooler, which invokes thoughts of sand, good tunes, and crashing waves. The drawback is hauling the thing to your preferred spot. What if there was an easier way to move your ice and beverages around? The C3 Custom Cooler from Seljan sets out to ease your burden while also offering some cool features.
With a 30-quart capacity, the C3 can hold a case (30 cans) of your preferred beverage plus ice. And thanks to foam insulation, it can keep things cold for an entire day at the beach and then some. You can place your drinks in the dual cup holders and also haul your stuff around on top of the cooler. Keep in mind that the manual lists the maximum load weight at 60 pounds.
The C3 comes in multiple body styles, including the Truck (which may bring a Willys MB to mind), Zamboni, and the model we were sent: the Rover, which resembles an H2 Hummer.
We took our custom-made C3 cooler to the beach and put it through its paces. It easily swallowed a case of cans and the ice stood up to the heat fairly well. It’s a good thing that the manufacturer upgraded the cooler’s speaker system to work with Bluetooth this year, as the included auxiliary cable would be useless to iPhone 7 users without an adapter. The sound quality is not a strong point, but it’s loud enough for any tailgate or beach party.
With a full load, we had to struggle a bit to get through the sand, but with some maneuvering we got it to where we wanted it. And as it grew darker, the LED headlights added some ambiance to the scene.
Charging takes 5-6 hours, and with the lights on and music running, our cooler maintained power for most of the day. “We’ve tested the Rover with a full load in it. Lights on, stereo on at full speed and it ran nonstop for a little over 4 hours,” a representative from Seljan wrote in an email to Digital Trends.
We were surprised that the company didn’t implement a system that lets you control the cooler from your phone. The remote control unit has three speeds and may bring you memories of your old RC cars, but we’d take practicality and convenience over nostalgia in this case.
Prices start at $265 for the plain Rover cooler, and you will pay more to deck yours out in official MLB, NFL, and college team logos. Or you can send in your own design and choose colors for the body and lid. We were impressed with how well the company matched our cooler to our logo.
The warmer months may be behind us, but football season is upon us, and who doesn’t love a tailgate?
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