Here’s something I’ll bet you didn’t know; Engel Coolers has been around since 1962. “It wasn’t me,” said Engel’s owner Paul Kabalin with a laugh, while adding “but in 1962 we developed a 12-volt refrigerator/freezer that was the very first 12-volt freezer in the world.” A game-changer in the RV world, Engel went on to introduce their lineup to the outdoors community here in the United States in the early 2000s with the rotomolded coolers.
“We did all the bells and whistles and we’ve had over a hundred companies ‘copy’ us,” Kabalin told me while at ICAST this summer. At the forefront of rotomolding process used for making durable, seamless, and hollow plastic parts in 21st century cooler design, Engel continually evolves with angler needs, including aeration for keeping live bait, to soft coolers and portable fridge-freezers. This season Engel is keeping up with the demands of hardcore anglers with new Fish/Kill bags.
“We did bags many, many years ago but they’re weren’t the flat bottom, and we wanted to just go back and really produce a good bag,” Kabalin said during our product tour. “What makes these different, obviously, stainless steel zipper, a really high quality zipper with plastic teeth so there’s no corrosion issues,” he said. But what’s more unique is what’s behind the zipper in Engel’s reflective foil liner for better heat rejection from direct sunlight.
“We’ve gone for thicker insulation, 16 millimeters versus the typical 13 millimeters, but just below this outer layer there’s a foil and that foil reflects sunlight. So in direct sunlight it’s reflecting the heat…it’s essentially a space blanket,” said Kabalin. So whether you’re keeping school bluefin iced onboard for the ride home or carrying the day’s catch from the boat to the cleaning board, you’re sure to keep those dinner table fish fresh.
Available in 35-, 48-, 60- and 72-inch flat-bottom bags, Engel’s new Fish/Kill bags boast a thicker, double-lined base for best-in-class durability in a fiber-reinforced, leakproof PVC shell. There’s a convenient drain plug at the bottom of the bag, and plenty of reinforced handles should it require two of you to carry those chilling tuna down the dock.
Engineered stronger to keep your catch colder, longer — and to survive the abuse of our Northeast fisheries that destroys lesser bags — the insulated Fish / Kill bags from Engel are the only fish bags with the reflective inner foil liner and has 25% thicker EVA insulation. Again, available this fall from Engel in six sizes from 19 inches to 72 inches, they’re also ideal in that smaller size for those looking for catch and keep score from the beach. Available this fall.
