Cooler hype

After extensively looking at coolers online and in-store I’ve come to the conclusion I refuse to drop triple digits on one. The roto molded ones are so freaking big and heavy, and the actual space inside completely shrinks. The bags look decent enough but still quite expensive and I like to be able to use as a sitting apparatus as well when in the boat or in camp so not an option.

Just seems we’ve reached a cooler “bubble” and for all this plastic and foam I sure hope to see prices on these things fall dramatically at some point. I don’t judge anyone who has bought one and I completely get why, but I just can’t justify it for myself.

I’ve got some cooler shock ice packs that are pretty nice and hopefully turn whatever midgrade cooler I find into a servicable item.

I totally agree with you. My Dad lives in NC and has 3 or 4 yetis. I have seen them hold ice all week in 90+ degree temps. They work as advertised. Buuuuuuut my 50 dollar coleman marine does pretty well also and I personally never camp anywhere where ice is more than 10 minutes away.

I agree.
Bought a yeti last year.
They perform excellent, but X2 on what Nick said. Small capacity and difficult to carry.
I wouldn’t buy again.

We have 2 Coleman extremes. Cheap and we have never had ice not make it a weekend while camping on the river.

dbright wrote:

We have 2 Coleman extremes.

X2.
I’ve gotten 4 full days of ice, on the 5th day the water was still plenty cold that things would not spoil.
Biggest thing is before your trip have the cooler already chilled when you go to put your items in it, and make sure the items you are putting in are already cold.. This will save ice drastically. Also be mindful where you set the cooler once you get to your destination, try to keep sun exposure to minimal.

It really is crazy what coolers cost. It’s like trucks. I’ve been tempted to spend on both but so far I’m still rolling around in an old dodge and my Coleman xtreme

Justin Laack wrote:

Biggest thing is before your trip have the cooler already chilled when you go to put your items in it, and make sure the items you are putting in are already cold.. This will save ice drastically. Also be mindful where you set the cooler once you get to your destination, try to keep sun exposure to minimal.

Also, use blocks of ice versus cubes. I continually make 1 quart ice blocks in my chest freezer all summer long.

same as Ralph, cept i use the gallon milk jugs. i’m fine with the coleman coolers of the world. and as one posted minimize direct sun hitting the cooler and if need be lay a blanket or something over it.

Coleman Extreme vs the Yuppi cooler.

I mean Yetti.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.beyondthetent.com/yeti-cooler-vs-the-colman-extreme/amp/

Coleman Xtremes definitely the way yo go!

I can tell you this about the YETI bag coolers from my first person experience… we took one on our fly-in trip last friday… FULL of ice. We would get ice out of it, in the evening… one time and put it in the fridge for mixed drinks. By sunday night, we had a bag of cold water, so lasted about 52 hours. Needless to say, my buddy who dropped the coin for the bag on himself for fathers day, commented he should have got another tie.

Some thoughts here on behalf the “coleman” type coolers. If you know you are going to be using the cooler, freeze a couple ice cream pails of water to pre-chill it the day before you’re going to pack it. When packing it, use block ice if possible. Leave a little room at the top when its packed and lay a full sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil shiny side to the goods on the top of everything, then place a folded bath towel atop of the foil before closing. We’ve kept block ice and food for 4 days in 90 degree heat doing this. We also use two coolers. putting things we’ll want for that day in another cooler done the same way so we only have to open the “storage” cooler once a day. Keeping coolers in the shade increases cooling longevity a lot too.

The aluminum foil reflects the interior cold back into the interior and that bath towel acts as a buffer at the top of things where the seal is and most of the cold leaks anyway.

Yeti is currently the “cool thing” in coolers. The product does exactly what it claims (at the high cost, heavy weight, and lack of space). Cabela’s makes a replica cooler that has numerous tests on the web showing its equality or superiority at slightly lower costs. However, the Yeti name is worth more alone. Kudos to the Yeti marketing team. They’ve managed to survive the competition and still keep customers shelling out the $$$ due to perceptions and “being cool”

When I need a cooler to last a few days I pre-chill the cooler a day before I pack for the trip. Make a big difference.

buckybadger wrote:

Yeti is currently the “cool thing” in coolers. The product does exactly what it claims (at the high cost, heavy weight, and lack of space). Cabela’s makes a replica cooler that has numerous tests on the web showing its equality or superiority at slightly lower costs. However, the Yeti name is worth more alone. Kudos to the Yeti marketing team. They’ve managed to survive the competition and still keep customers shelling out the $$$ due to perceptions and “being cool”

No different than when the Ipod came out. Yeti would not be popular if they were not exactly as advertised. They are. Their performance claims are not exaggerated and they are built to last. But yup too expensive for me lol

Every year I look at buying a new cooler mainly because my son and wife can’t seam to make sure that they close the lid all the way and the ice never stays with them around. This will also be true with any cooler. So I just keep to the Colman extremes with wheels. I never get any help packing and the wheels make a big difference. Those $$$ coolers keep tempting me. But I still have yet to bite the bullet with the extra weight and other reasons listed above.

Even at discount prices the Cabela’s, rtic, etc are way out of line for a cooler imo.

My main beef is really how bulky there are. How is a single guy to throw one of those up and over into the boat at the landing when full with the family?

Want to almost double the insulation value of any cooler? Go to Harbor freight and buy a couple moving blankets when on sale for 4.00 dollars each. The blanket will add very little in weight or bulk but will add tremendously in insulation value.

nhamm wrote:

How is a single guy to throw one of those up and over into the boat at the landing when full with the family?

Old man strength!

I bought a bigger cooler for my pdog trip a few weeks ago. An extreme., Big one. Whoa baby that is heavy when full!

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Old man strength!

Old man strength comes with an old man back!

biggill wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
Old man strength!

Old man strength comes with an old man back!

LOL Very true.

Now that the soft sided coolers are getting better I usually bring a handful of small ones that store better and are easier to carry. Even for fly in trips I don’t bring a large cooler anymore.

I’ve found the keys are pre-cooling the coolers and keeping them in the shade as much as possible. Like Tom mentioned above, we try to swap what we are eating/drinking into a single cooler to minimize how often they are opened.

I dont camp nor do I need a cooler to last for days so ALL of them work for me. I havent bought a cooler in years. I have several cheapies that work fine.

We were camping last week and my kid was like, “Geez Dad you’ve got a lot of Coleman stuff. Why?”

I looked around… tent, sleeping bag, stove, lantern, coolers, water jug. Some of this stuff is going on 30 years old and still works well. You can buy better gear to be sure, but it’s hard to beat the value of Coleman stuff — especially the older stuff that’s been well cared for.

Great topic. Looks like a Coleman Extreme purchase is in my near future.

biggill wrote:

Great topic. Looks like a Coleman Extreme purchase is in my near future.

Make sure to buy the one with the wheels. I pull it up and down stairs and rocks with ease. The only time I have to pick it up is when I put it in the back of the truck. I tore both my lower back muscles not too long ago. Caring a large cooler through doorways could be enough to take me out of the trip. Just being able to roll the cooler through prevents that twisting. Save the old man back for fighting fish.

for some dumb reason ive done a lot of research on affordable coolers that perform well. While I don’t own this cooler (I already have a few older Xtremes that work OK) this is the cooler I would buy. $60 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J0RZQJ4/?coliid=I294XJ17LCNZOH&colid=2IUMBO8TJJ4K9&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Ive read that the marine series uses components that resists corrosion from salt. This cooler is supposed to keep ice for 6 days. Its simple, inexpensive and effective.

Has anyone tried mixing 1/3 wood shavings (sawdust) with 2/3 water for your ice when using milk jugs? I watched a show where they tested long an ice block would last using just water, and then using a 1/3 wood shaving mix. They placed both blocks in the sun uncovered on a tar driveway, the water only one didn’t last a day where the one with sawdust lasted 3 days. I’m going to try it in smaller bottles of ice I put in my cooler in the boat, to keep drinks cold and to put in the livewell to keep the water colder.

broth82 wrote:

Has anyone tried mixing 1/3 wood shavings (sawdust) with 2/3 water for your ice when using milk jugs? I watched a show where they tested long an ice block would last using just water, and then using a 1/3 wood shaving mix. They placed both blocks in the sun uncovered on a tar driveway, the water only one didn’t last a day where the one with sawdust lasted 3 days. I’m going to try it in smaller bottles of ice I put in my cooler in the boat, to keep drinks cold and to put in the livewell to keep the water colder.

that’s interesting. people have long used sawdust to help keep ice from melting but I never thought of using shavings mixed in with water in frozen bottles. ill have to try that

I ordered a 40qt roto-molded cooler on Amazon for $109.

I wanted a dedicated boat cooler that I could beat the crap out of without spending a small fortune.

I’ll post a review of it once it shows up and I get to use it for a few days.

It should be about the right size. All of my other coolers are too big or too small for three guy’s beer/food. Now everyone can put their stuff in the boat cooler and I won’t have 3-4 small coolers to trip on in the boat.

Attachments:

1. 

   Screenshot_20180625-135444.png