Andrew Piotrowski

BOTE KULA 5 Cooler Overview –

The BOTE Kula 5 Cooler is a unique round cooler designed to be highly versatile, easy to carry, and durable as hell! I have been testing the Kula for a few months now and I am a huge fan. I think my favorite feature is the padded seat on the lid.

 

27 Cans of beer, 48 Baseballs, 105 Live Shrimp, 5 Gallons of water for your dog, ½ Bushel of Oysters with Ice, 10 Ham Sandwiches, 8 Juice Boxes, 5 Apples, 3 beers, are just some of the endless storage options listed by Kula for their 5 Gallon cooler bucket.

For me it has been more like 2 bottles of wine, 5 handheld running bottles, 1 bag of Tailwind Nutrition, 5 Wawa Hoagies, and my lunch. The point is that the 5 Gallon Kula Cooler can keep a whole bunch of items cold all day long!

It’s not a lazy boy but the EVA Foam on the cooler lid is comfortable to sit on and totally beats sitting on a slippery cold cooler top. The last few weekends I have used it as my mobile aide station for some long trail runs. Not only does it keep all the snacks and nutrition cold, but the seat was perfect for changing shoes or working on blisters.

The padded lid also gives you the option to skip carrying a chair to beach or tailgate. This frees up some weight on your shoulder or gives you a free hand to carry some extra beverages.

Key Features:

Comfortable grab handle: the stainless-steel handle easily fits in your hand and the EVA Foam pad keeps things comfortable when carrying a full load with one hand.

Drain that Actually Drains: my BIGGEST complaint about standard colors is the drain plugs that sits too high to actually drain all the water. The Kula fixes this with a fully removable drain in the center of the cooler. This ensures all of the water actually drains! This leads to a dryer environment and less cleaning being needed.

Bottle Opener: There is a stainless-steel bottle opener on the front of the cooler. It works great, doesn’t add a lot of weight, and is super convenient! 

Durable: Put simple; this thing is a beast!  The Gatorshell plastic that Kula uses is roto-molded and super tough. I have loaded it up and literally tossed it in the back of my truck many times this fall and have driven back and forth to the trails. Calm and slow are not words I would use to describe my driving style so I am sure the Kula was thoroughly bounced around. The Kula is intact and shows almost zero signs of abuse.

Keeps things cold: The Kula does exactly what you want it to do: keep things very cold for a long time. 

Sticky Feet: These are awesome! There are sticky rubber feet on the bottom of the cooler that keep it in place. This allows you to stand on it, cast a rod off of it, and keeps it from sliding around your boat.

MSRP: $235

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Andrew Piotrowski

Andrew is a trail runner, climber, paddler, snowboarder, marketer, and most importantly a dog dad. Andrew grew up in suburban Philadelphia and now lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

While he lives pretty far from the mountains, he puts a heavy focus on preparing for them and inspiring others to do the same. He first fell in love with the mountains on family trips to the White Mountains and the Adirondacks. He spent the majority of his early life competitively running and leisurely paddling, however after college he began focusing on learning to climb, snowboard, and backpack.

Over the past ten years since then, he has been fortunate enough to gain some amazing experiences exploring North America. Some of the most memorable thus far are alpine climbing in the Sierra, trail running in Alberta, learning to splitboard in NH, countless days hiking in the Catskills, or a plethora of mellow days paddling the Chesapeake Bay with friends.

When he can’t be in the mountains Andrew is often running or hiking with his favorite training partners, his two rescue dogs Calvin and Enzo. Andrew is also a self-proclaimed gear junkie and confessed that his gear loft is the most organized place in his home.

Blog: Flatcityclimbing.com

Instagram: pack_mule_piotrowski