Suggestions for a small cooler

I have a small integrated cooler in my boat which is great for lunch/drinks for a couple people. It’s all I need 90% of the time.

The problem is it’s not a very well insulated cooler (Igloo brand, Legend model – fwiw) and ice only lasts 4-6 hours. A full day (or better yet 2+ days on a weekend trip) of ice lasting is what I ideally want.

I prefer a hard sided cooler for easy door access vs. soft-sided where you have to zip/unzip each time you need to grab something quick.

I’d be fine spending extra for a high-end brand where the ice really lasts, but I’m unaware of anyone that sells this size (outside dimensions: 13 inches wide, 10 inches front to back, and 9 inches high). It says 9 quarts which is usually more Hamm’s than BK and I can drink in one sitting…

Might be hard to find I know, but thought I’d ask here looking for an expert. Calling HRG, HRG do you copy? (Or anyone else too

-Fry

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that thing fits perfect! might be tough to find the high end coolers in that small of a size. Check out Engels bait coolers. I know they are designed for bait but ive read of people using them as lunch coolers and they are supposed to work great. I might suggest staying with that cooler and switching up your tactics to see if that helps. for best results you should:

-pre-chill your cooler. This can be accomplished by putting some ice cubes in it a few hours before you are ready to put your food items in there.
-Make sure that what you put in it is cold already.
-limit the amount of times you open the cooler and keep it out of the sun.
-use block ice rather than cubed. I like to freeze 2 litres or bottles of gaterade that are filled with water and frozen. lasts much longer than cubed ice.
-this works well in a larger cooler but you may not have room in yours but you can put a heavy duty towel over your items and it will keep the cold air trapped much better.

just some suggestions that might help. I too own lower end coolers rather than the expensive stuff and ive gotten much better results out of them doing some of these methods over forking over the big dollars

oh and P.S. I use that exact same cooler as a bait bucket. I attached an aerator to it and it works superb! ive kept bait alive in the middle of summer for as long as the batteries last in the aerator (2.5 days straight)

That Engel might work great but is just a hair too big (15x10x11).. thx though!!

Finding something to fit that well will be tough! In my experience, the more full you fill the cooler, the longer it will last. If you are only filling it half way full, try adding more ice to the top or maybe even extra chilled water bottles. Do like Crappie says and pre-chill everything in it and also the cooler. Another idea is to lighten the color of the hatch as to not soak up as much heat. Thus the reason most coolers have white covers.

Or if you wanted to go all out, you could make your own from aluminum sheeting, rivets, silicone, foam rubber and spray in foam…But that sounds like way too long of a project for very little gain.

I’ve always thought these look good but have never used one. Its also close to your dimensions. There are knockoffs for a lot less also.

https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/yeti-hopper-flip-8-fog-gray-tahoe-blue/0000000278080?gclid=Cj0KCQjw09zOBRCqARIsAH8XF1Z8fntUQ5r9KqRpxSLfvy31OGopun-JIU21asxv9UloXqtxJ-M9y4IaArKhEALw_wcB

I’d concentrate on the compartment the cooler sits in. Is there room for some foam insulation along the inside of the sides? under the lid? Drape a light colored towel over the lid (absorbs less heat from the sun than the darker color carpet) Even better, wet the towel first to aid in the cooling effect from the towel.

If you are handy or want to pay someone, it would be easy to build a new enclosure the same overall height but bigger on the length and width. You could allow for any amount of additional insulation as you would like. One inch of the blue foam insulation, would make night and day difference in cooler performance

404 ERROR wrote:

Finding something to fit that well will be tough! In my experience, the more full you fill the cooler, the longer it will last. If you are only filling it half way full, try adding more ice to the top or maybe even extra chilled water bottles. Do like Crappie says and pre-chill everything in it and also the cooler. Another idea is to lighten the color of the hatch as to not soak up as much heat. Thus the reason most coolers have white covers.

Or if you wanted to go all out, you could make your own from aluminum sheeting, rivets, silicone, foam rubber and spray in foam…But that sounds like way too long of a project for very little gain.

Do brands like Yeti use spray foam for insulation – or is there some kind of “secret sauce?”

FryDog62 wrote:

Might be hard to find I know, but thought I’d ask here looking for an expert. Calling HRG, HRG do you copy? (Or anyone else too

-Fry

Hahaha, just found this. I’ll do some research this weekend.

HRG

What about a medical supply cooler like this? https://www.amazon.com/12-Insulated-Styrofoam-Shipping-Cooler/dp/B00NLQLYXC

The foam they use is a two part urethane foam. I think is a 4# or 8#. I get mine online from US Composites.

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FryDog62 wrote:</div>
Might be hard to find I know, but thought I’d ask here looking for an expert. Calling HRG, HRG do you copy? (Or anyone else too

-Fry

Hahaha, just found this. I’ll do some research this weekend.

HRG

What about a medical supply cooler like this? https://www.amazon.com/12-Insulated-Styrofoam-Shipping-Cooler/dp/B00NLQLYXC

Well, the perfect cooler may or may not exist but I have the best researcher available on this

There are also things you can do to significantly improve your existing cooler. The lids are the biggest weakness of cheap coolers. I buy 1/4″ – 3/8″ rubber window weather striping and line the seal edge of my cooler lids. For just a few bucks, try it before buying a spendy cooler.

A good friend pointed out to me today that the Igloo Legend cooler that came with the boat has no insulation. It’s two layers of plastic and hollow in between – no wonder the ice is gone in a few hours! I checked it out today and sure enough – Hollow –

The plus side is that the cooler fits perfectly in the storage area it was designed for. As my friend John explained, maybe I’d be better off drilling a hole in each side of the Igloo and spraying foam inside the two hollow layers of plastic.

Wouldn’t be Yeti-grade, but might keep ice an entire day – and obviously the cooler is already the perfect size.

I Have done exactly what you are saying, filled a hollow core cooler with foam. What I did learn after doing so follows…

Use minimum expanding foam, great stuff makes a few different expansion rates.

Use less than you think you need, you can always add more… I bulged my cooler a bit.

Find a tube that fits the nozzle that is long enough to reach all areas from the access hole you drill, don’t expect it to grow and fill from one end. Start on the far end from access hole and foam your way out.

mark-bruzek wrote:

I Have done exactly what you are saying, filled a hollow core cooler with foam. What I did learn after doing so follows…

Use minimum expanding foam, great stuff makes a few different expansion rates.

Use less than you think you need, you can always add more… I bulged my cooler a bit.

Find a tube that fits the nozzle that is long enough to reach all areas from the access hole you drill, don’t expect it to grow and fill from one end. Start on the far end from access hole and foam your way out.

Thx Mark, if you remember the exact foam/nozzle/applicator let me know. (Any relation to Sally Bruzek?)

Fry Dog, any chance of this one fitting?

http://www.stanley-pmi.com/store/stanley/en_US/pd/ThemeID.39334800/productID.325306400

HRG

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Hot Runr Guy wrote:

Fry Dog, any chance of this one fitting?

http://www.stanley-pmi.com/store/stanley/en_US/pd/ThemeID.39334800/productID.325306400

HRG

That is a heckuva cooler and would be so much sturdier and insulated than what I have. The only concern is the 11 inch measurement from front to back… might be just a hair big but I’ll definitely check it out. And it’s about $150 less than the Yeti version. Thx HRG!!

mark-bruzek wrote:

I Have done exactly what you are saying, filled a hollow core cooler with foam. What I did learn after doing so follows…
Use minimum expanding foam, great stuff makes a few different expansion rates.

Use less than you think you need, you can always add more… I bulged my cooler a bit.

Find a tube that fits the nozzle that is long enough to reach all areas from the access hole you drill, don’t expect it to grow and fill from one end. Start on the far end from access hole and foam your way out.

Exactly what I’d try ^^^.

One more theing to add. The spray can foam is open cell so it will absorb water. Be sure to seal any holes you drill so cooler water doesn’t get into the foam or you’ll have a mess.

I did just the cooler lid on my old Crestliner’s built in and that alone made all the differnce. Eliminating the effect of the sun beating down on the lid was all that one needed to keep ice all day.

Grouse

Ok ready for “Part 2?”

I bought some foam and found out the sides and bottom of the Igloo Legend cooler that came with the boat actually have a little foam in them – although the walls are very thin. The lid was hollow so I filled it with foam.

Went out this week – and the usual… within 3 hours the ice is gone. Basically, it’s just a cheap, thin, crappy cooler.

So here are my options as I see them:

Option 1) Spend $15 and add the Yeti blue ice to see if it keeps things cold for an entire day on the water:
https://m.dickssportinggoods.com/p/yeti-ice-pack-15yetuytc2lb2cxxxodr/15yetuytc2lb2cxxxodr?camp=CSE:DSG_pg79040_ecom_PLA_452&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx-m0j7Wi2wIVDdVkCh1H8wGDEAQYASABEgI_6vD_BwE

Option 2) Bite the dam bullet and spend $200 on a soft-sided Yeti and deal with having to zip/un-zip every time I want to grab a quick item. But at least it fits into the integrated storage area and keeps things cold:
https://www.google.com/shopping/product/15498729611530811393?lsf=seller:7972,store:11951610608167934444&prds=oid:567929521898083812&q=yeti+hopper+flip+8+dicks&hl=en&ei=UdQIW46DNdTa9AOwiLOYAw&lsft=camp:CSE_DSG_pg32053_mk_PLA_454&lsft=gclid:EAIaIQobChMIxu_9zbei2wIVFNVkCh0tzQEiEAQYASABEgIKAfD_BwE

Great post. Sorry to hear you are still having issues. Any way to add more insulation to that compartment on the boat? If foam is to thick maybe even some of that thin silver stuff they put under home siding. Thought some of that stuff was supposed to reflect heat away.

Ive tried looking for a good small sized cooler with little luck to. Seem the better quality ones end up with just much thicker sides, tops, bottom. End up with small cooler with little space in it or a larger cooler that holds the same as a small one.

Or maybe just having to scrap the idea of using that small compartment as a cooler and get a good quality mid sized cooler that fits another compartment or sits out. RTIC makes some decent coolers like YETI but half the cost. Wonder if Ozark Trail at Walmart is the same. Their knock off version of Yeti cups are just as good quality for a fraction of the cost. Not sure if they make coolers. Look for these back by sporting good. If nothing else pick up some of the ozark trail can coolers and you wont be disappointed. Keep cans cold all day.

Bite the bullet and buy a YUPPI.

Oops, I mean yeti.

I think your issue is in the corners of your cooler. I’m guessing this is where the insulation stops or is the thinnest. Either that or it’s getting some airflow through it.

Have you ever tried block ice? You’d probably have to cut it to fit in a small cooler though.

Okay, any knock off versions to the Yeti Hopper 8? Would like something that would keep ice 1-2 days, be soft-sided so if it doesn’t fit in the compartment perfectly it can collapse a little, and less money than the Yeti/Yuppi !!

There has to be something similar out there??

RITC coolers.

Has anyone googled ice packs and see if they came up with anything new and great nowadays?

Coolers only get ya so far. I have no idea just throwing it out there.

Hey Fry, is there room on the sides, bottom, and lid of the compartment to adhere Reflectix? It’s just a bubble wrap insulation with foil facing to reflect the infrared heat away. Looks like you could at least do it to the bottom and underside of the lid, maybe even a couple layers. That should help immensely. Also wrapping the outside of the cooler in foil tape will help to reflect the infrared rays.

That’s the biggest difference between cheap and expensive coolers. The place a layer of copper (one of the greatest infrared reflectors known) inside the insulation layer.

nhamm wrote:

Has anyone googled ice packs and see if they came up with anything new and great nowadays?

Nope. Seems kinda like work.

Anyone want to go test out their coolers on the croix this weekend?Momday or tomorrow afternoon. We can compare notes on whos beer stays cold the longest.

I have one of the knock offs from w-mart.I think it keeps ice longer than the other soft side coolers not named yeti.I don’t know if they have one that small.Worth a look though.

I have one too, Chuck. Yeti knock off called Ozark Trails for 49.95 at wal-mart. Holds ice for two days if not in the sun.