Yeti or Pelican

I've been looking at both also, haven't made a decision.

What gets me on most coolers is they mold those lousy cup holders into the lid right where the sun hits. With the cup holder indentation, there's no foam insulation there letting all of the sun heat in through the lid. How dumb, but on the other hand, people keep buying them...........

Bill

Someone messaged me to try the RTIC cooler. Reviews look good compared to Yeti, and the 65 is only $199! That is what I am looking for, so any comments on that brand are wanted.

Read the negative reviews on Amazon.

Also understand that if you use it for a drink cooler and you are in and out of it all day, it wont work any better than a cheap cooler.

Both the Yeti and Pelican are good choices. I have experience with both in my group that I camp and recreate with. In the end, I preferred the Pelican and bought a tan 65 quart model from Costco for about $250. I like the build quality of it and the price is much better for $ per actual capacity. I have used mine now on several trips and if you use it right, you can expect several days real cooling out of it. The downside to the Pelican 65 that I have is the weight. It's a handful for one person to move when loaded. The rigid handles make it pretty easy for two to move it. Also, warranty is better and it's made in USA.

Another one to look at is the Grizzly. We carry them in our archery shop. They are about 20% cheaper than the Yeti and they are more accurate on their quart size than Yeti.

There are a few tricks I have learned for all the people that doubt these type of coolers. They hold heat just like they hold cold. So if yours is sitting outside in the backing sun with nothing in it and you just open it up, throw drinks in it, and throw ice it in you aren't going to get very good results because you have basically a hot cooler trying to hold that heat in and the ice isn't going to last long. If nothing else open it up and bring it inside your house for a few hours to cool it off. Or what we do is fill it up outside with cold well water and let that water cool the cooler down before loading it up.

I have the Yeti 65 my neighbor went with the Pelican, we did comparison and they are both pretty much the same. held ice same amount of time. (not opening for a couple days and in shade) main difference is the pelican is a little bulkier, heavier and is closer to the actual capacity of 65qt than the yeti. price wise pelican is quite a bit cheaper. think he paid 250 where my yeti was 400. I would still choose my yeti though. just because it's a little lighter

This subject came at least once before..... And I posted this link. I think it's a pretty fair review.

Dan

dapperdan wrote:
This subject came at least once before..... And I posted this link. I think it's a pretty fair review.

Dan

Always love the silly tests that don't take into account real world application. Put those coolers in the sun, on the boat, sloshing around all day in the bed of a truck, and that's your test criteria. There's more to a cooler than just how well it holds ice sitting stationary on a table being opened once every 4 days LOL

FWIW, if you're looking at any of the high-end coolers, then you have the budget to be able to afford whichever one you want. Speaking only for the Yeti 65 I own, it has been one heck of an excellent cooler. Of the 4 or 5 main manufacturers of the high-end coolers, I'd get the one that's the least clunky, least function/feature filled, and just simply more simple. I think the Yeti takes the market on that. Whether it holds ice for 6 days or 7 days, doesn't really matter.

I have both and they are both good coolers. The Yeti seems to hold the ice a bit longer.

In the long run I don't think you will go wrong with either the Yeti or the Pelican. Simply personal preference. I chose the Pelican and I'm glad I did. For my use it's great. I have the 45 quart. It's a good size for us. I can move it by myself full of ice and beverages. It's heavy when it's empty! Holds ice as stated. You do need to chill it prior to use as stated above. I am currently looking at the ICON 50 qt for my next purchase. I'm partial to products made in the USA and partial to products from NC.