Looking to buy a New Cooler

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Yeti 110 – ice down with some silver bullets!

Yeah. I know what they say…money can’t buy everything.

I use coffee cans or 1/2 or 1 gal containers for ice.
I hate cubed ice simply for the watery mess it leaves in a cooler and it don’t last a fraction as long as a block.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I use coffee cans or 1/2 or 1 gal containers for ice.
I hate cubed ice simply for the watery mess it leaves in a cooler and it don’t last a fraction as long as a block.

I prefer to use cubes, because cubes wrap around whatever you are chilling and touch them which is direct chilling, as opposed to ambient chilling. Cubes also have more surface area exposed for faster chilling. Ideally I like to use both or cubes with a block, but that only is practical with a large cooler.

But yeah, I hate the mess it can create when chilling things other than beverages.

$30 you guys can get one of these…

Not for me. I know how to drink alcoholic beverages…

Orca is American made and basically the same as a YETI, I got a few Yettis on discount and I like them, but the Orca from what I heard is easier to get parts for and cheaper in price. – QB

I don’t use a cooler to cool anything, i use a cooler to keep something cold. Ice has to melt in order to cool something down. But very little energy is lost when ice only needs to maintain temperature especially when the cooler is well insulated from the outside environment.

Put cold product into a cooler and block ice is all you need to keep the entire cooler cold.

I’ve yet to have anything get warm in a 5-day cooler when putting items in cold and using block ice. Usually my produce freezes its so cold. Block ice is much more dense and thus takes up much less room in a cooler, leaving more room for food/beer/bait!

On my recent SD Prairie dog trip, i was the only one who didn’t need to go to town to buy ice.

My beer cooler is almost always separate from my food cooler. Beer coolers get opened too often.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Put cold product into a cooler and block ice is all you need to keep the entire cooler cold.

+100

Justin Laack wrote:

Colman extreme best bang for the buck. Last spring I watched the video on the cooler test and went with extreme and couldn’t be happier

X2 I was able to pick one of these up (wheeled 50 qt) at Wally world a few years ago on sale for around $20. I haven’t found a reason to look for a better cooler than this.

Check out Grizzly coolers made in decorah Iowa

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

My beer cooler is almost always separate from my food cooler. Beer coolers get opened too often.

That’s the key. I am thinking more about day trips with beverages. When I camp I always use a block of ice.

trapsht wrote:

I purchased a K2 cooler last year and love it. One bag of ice will last all weekend in the sun with plenty to spare. You have to cool the cooler down before you fill it, however.

X2 for the K2 coolers. They work great and seal very well. I’ve actually been buying the scratch and dent versions through their website and saved a lot of $. I scratch and dent mine anyway so it doesn’t matter. Cooling the cooler down first as mentioned and then having all items cold before will help. Just finished a 3 day weekend in 90 degree heat and still had ice from a 20 pound bag at the end of the trip.

A cooler does not keep things cool it keeps things from getting warmer.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Yeti 110 – ice down with some silver bullets!

I just figured out these lyrics on Tuesday. I thought it said something about a tan… or something.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I don’t use a cooler to cool anything, i use a cooler to keep something cold. Ice has to melt in order to cool something down. But very little energy is lost when ice only needs to maintain temperature especially when the cooler is well insulated from the outside environment.

You know what’s funny? I actually read the instruction on a yeti cooler one day and this was basically what it said. It recommended cooling down the cooler before filling it. If that’s the case, I wondered how that would work with a cheapo cooler.

Well, let’s just say I’ll never buy a yeti. Thanks yeti!

The major issue I have with some of the SuperCoolers like Yeti, is the sheer weight makes them impractical for anything but a stay-in-place cooler. They also have relatively small capacity for their overall external measurements.

I’m always going places where I have to move coolers, so a cooler that’s weighing 50+ pounds empty is impractical when full.

Totally agree with others who have said cool everything before it goes into the cooler.

For large capacity coolers, I have a 10 year old Igloo marine cooler that does a great job. Big, seals tight, quick access door on one end so you dont’ have to open the big door every time you want a drink. Cost less than $150.

Grouse

X2 on Grizzly Coolers, they are similar to a Yetti, hold ice for days, bear proof, and incredibly durable….the nice thing is they are cheaper than a Yetti.

http://www.grizzlycoolers.com/grizzly-coolers/

I recently got one and it’s awesome! Please take a look if your interested in a high end cooler.

Oh, and they also have an awesome drain plug as you see in the video.

Drain plug sold me. Now I don’t have tip the non warmer upside down with the lid open. I just hate chasing them eggs around

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

The major issue I have with some of the SuperCoolers like Yeti, is the sheer weight makes them impractical for anything but a stay-in-place cooler. They also have relatively small capacity for their overall external measurements.

This is a very valid point. There is a trade off. All the extra material for durability and thermal effeciency is a cost in weight and relative space.

This is one of a few other reasons pointed out above on why coolers such as Yeti are good for specific purposes. They are not silver bullet to all cooling needs.

I have a cheapo right next to my Yeti in the garage. 19 times out of 20 I’m grabbing my cheapo. Easier, lighter, don’t need more than a few hours to keep drinks cold, etc.

It’s the 20th where I’m headed to bear country without resupply on ice for over a week. The cooler only moves out of the boat on day 1 and back in on the last day. For this unique set of needs is when I’m a happy camper with the high end cooler.

I can’t believe no one has suggested this one with built in Troy!

@RalphWiggum, my love for Yeti has grown exponentially!

LOL, I love it.

Cooler report!

Left Wednesday, August 5, with cooler full of enough food to last the wife and myself a week. Also in the cooler is 3 ice bottles and a $2.59 bag of ice (cubes).

Got home Tuesday, August 11, and snapped a few pictures for you guys. After a full week, the bottles were still over 1/2 ice and lots of cubes left.

Cooler model: unknown igloo, most likely of Wal Mart or Craigslist origin. And YES, the latch is broken, but a bungee makes for a fine replacement.

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Anyone use RTIC cooler(s)?

We have a couple Yeti an Orca and a bunch of Coleman’s; Orca performs the best without a doubt worth the money for keeping game cold. Have not actually tried an RTIC Cooler but I do have the 30oz Tumbler they make and I really like it keeps ice like they say for 24 hours yet haven’t gotten to test it to see how long it does on a 80+ day but 60 degree it kept ice for 24 hours.

Ducky

Ok well let me start by saying that I have never paid for one but I do have two Yeti tundra 35s and a tundra 65. They are extremely nice to have on longer trips in warm climates like my trip to Lake Powell in Utah next week. I don’t know if I had to actually pay for one if I would buy one though. I like the looks of the RTIC coolers which are essentially the same thing as a yeti at half the cost. I have been contemplating one of the soft sided coolers from them for just a day outing on the boat to keep the beer cold.

If you’re considering a high end cooler, go with a LitCooler. Better R value than yetti, better molding process than Grizzly, taller rubber pads for feet so the bottom doesn’t rub in transport, heave river hinges, has rechargeable LED LIGHT ring, and molded freeze legs that slide in and don’t take up any room. They run true to size, a 32 quart ISC 32 quart capacity.

Steve Root wrote:

$400 dollar coolers.

No wonder I’m turning into a curmudgeon. My first car cost $50. Am I going to pay eight times as much for a cooler as I did for my first car? Nope.

SR

For that matter, I paid more for my last truck than I did for my first house, the times they are a’changin’- – – jerr

My boat has a fulltime cooler on it. I bought one of the white, Coleman Marine coolers and then pimped it out a bit. I bought a 2′ x 4′ x 1″ piece of insulation at the big box store and added it to the underside of the lid. Then I added a some door weather striping to the lid. I add some 10 pound blocks of ice at the beginning of a trip and it lasts easily up to 3 or 4 days.

I ended up buying a primo cooler last summer. I got tired of having to add ice daily to the boat cooler or the cooler I keep in the shed at my hunting property during work weekends.

I found a deal on Bison Coolers online, so I got this 25 qauart Bison cooler.

Works great and it can sit in the sun in the boat or in a hot shed all day and still keep ice and keep things cold for a whole weekend without adding ice.

This is the cooler I use a lot, so IMO this one made sense to upgrade. I can’t see replacing my big Igloo 150 marine cooler because any performance gain would not justify the cost or the massive weight gain of a rotomolded cooler.

But as Mrs. Grouse has noticed, with me, coolers are like potato chips. I can’t have just one… or three…

Plus, I’m not sure about you guys, but with me, my coolers tend to die only by strange accidents inflicted on them by other people. My father left one of my coolers on his truck tailgate and then drove off without looking and lost the cooler on the highway at 55 MPH. That was hard on the cooler. Another cooler of mine got set in front of a pickup (again, not by me) and driven over… Again, very hard on the cooler and probably not covered by warranty. So there’s 2 reasons there why a Yeti may not be right for me…

Grouse

Good Choice. I own several YETI coolers and Igloo Yukon coolers as well. They are very well built and for what most people spend on ice I will make up for the lifetime of my cooler and the least ice bought. They are also very reliable and hold up very well. I have a Yeti 45, 20, bag 30, Igloo Yukon 90 Glide, 70, 45
Are they a luxury? not as much as you would think. Craftsmanship on these coolers are top notch and they back them up! I would buy more but my wife would find one that would lock me up is the problem!

Maybe I should clarify my bump post. I am getting an RTIC cooler. So I am wondering if anyone owns one.