I got the RTIC 45 qt cooler for an upcoming camping trip, where I plan to spend 3 days in a high desert canyon. It looks like it will do the job. We put two bags of ice in the cooler when we first got it. Three days later, there was still some ice, although most had melted. It was easy to empty the melted ice using the two drains. Looking forward to “field testing” soon! Seems like a great cooler.Very Disappointed by Quality ControlMy family and I do a LOT of tent camping: 1-2 months straight in the summer, and several shoulder-season trips a year. So we are not reluctant to spend the money on good equipment.That said, I just could not justify spending $300 on a 45-quart Yeti cooler while all the other outdoorsmen in my circle swore by their RTICs.Having pulled the trigger on the 45-quart RTIC at ≈$200, I find myself wanting to love it, yet quite disappointed at the lack of quality control evidenced, primarily in the fit and finish.First, one threaded drain hole (the lower, and therefore main one, on the right side) was not drilled perpendicular to the cooler wall. For this reason, the silicone o-ring on the plug does not sit flush with the face of the hole. It does not leak, but it does bulge out oddly at the 6 o'clock position (yes, Michael, I know that's what she said).Second, there are two black "buttons" on the back edge of the lid, plugging the holes where the fabricators injected the foam into the lid. They are supposed to be recessed into U-shaped indentations. However, the factory worker drilled the left hole off center, so the button refuses to seat into the indentation, leaving a small gap potentially exposed to water and moisture.Finally--and I admit this is minor--they did not apply the main branding decal fully on the front, leaving the "R" in RTIC always peeling up at the lower-left corner, no matter how many times I press it down. I may have to take a heat gun to it to get it to stay. I don't want dirt and grime to get under it and begin to work the letter off.Will any of these defects compromise the performance of the cooler in a significant way? Likely not. Yet RTIC, though not THE premium name, still carries a rather premium price. One would hope for better.More significantly: I tell my students that if you can't trust someone in the small things, it becomes more difficult to trust them in the big things. RTIC has already reduced their warranty to one year. I can only hope that the overall integrity of the cooler is superior to these cosmetic deficiencies.My takeaway advice for those planning to choose an RTIC: make your purchase well ahead of a planned trip. That way, you can inspect the unit they delivered and demand they send one that meets spec before you go on your trip. I painted myself into a corner by ordering right before leaving for a camping trip.Overall I’m impressed with this cooler. Build quality seems great, no qc issues. It fits nicely under the bench seat on my boat and keeps things cold all day long in the sun. The two drain plugs are heavy duty and the handles also seem to be pretty sturdy. The one issue I have, which can be a real pain, is about every other time the lid is closed it forms a vacuum seal and the lid simply will not open no matter how much force you apply. The only way to get it to open is to unscrew one of the drain plugs to release the seal. This is fine on my boat because a little water drains out every time I have to do this, but I could see it being a problem for others in different situations. I’ve had other brands of coolers similar to this one and have never had that problem. I can appreciate the good seal it’s making to help keep the cold in, but as far a usability goes, it can be a real problem at times. Like I said, I really do like the cooler for the price point but that vacuum seal problem is annoying for multiple people going in an out of the cooler all day long.I wanted to love this. I have all my stickers on it and keep it in the Jeep at all times. But it REALLY does not live up to the description. Ice doesn't last a couple hours let alone a couple days. I thought maybe it was that I wasn't sealing it well, so I kept trying. Nope. Nothing I try works. On a whim I bought a zipper cooler at Costco and we filled both for a camping trip. Ice was melted an hour down the road in the RTIC. Zipper cooler ice didn't melt for almost 2 days. So sad.I have not done any serious testing as far as cooling, longevity of ice, etc, except to say it's always cool in there and I keep adding ice and draining water. Couple of things that are annoying, the major one being the lack of some sort of a handle or grip on the lower section of the cooler, under the lid lift recessed handle. Often when you open this cooler, grab something, then close it back, then try to open it again the vacuum is so strong it makes it impossible to open it easily. If there was something to grip on so that the bottom could be held in place while the top is pulled open it would make this cooler so much better. My other complaint is the double holes in the drain plugs that spew water every which way when draining. Surely there could have been a better solution than that!!!I do like the size and construction is top notch. I compared it to some of the more expensive brand and this one has a better finish and it's much smoother where the seams come together. The other, more expensive brand's seams were left sharp-no touch!