COOLERS

[DRM796]

Are the pricier coolers really that much better than my Walmart grade Coleman? I have my current cooler for more ten years and there is not a thing wrong with it. When we camp we like our beverages on ice. In the summer we have to buy a bag or two of ice everyday. I see some coolers costing hundreds of dollars. Are they truly worth it? How long will ice last in a high end cooler?

[PegLW]

nevadanick wrote:
Close the lid

Wish that helped! We used our Yeti for three months inside our air conditioned trailer and we had to replace or add ice at a minimum twice a week. We opened it maybe once a day. The Yeti has not impressed us at all.

[nevadanick]

Close the lid

[PegLW]

We purchased a medium size Yeti, believing all the hype. It doesn't keep ice any longer than a cheap Igloo. Not worth the price by a long shot!

[DRM796]

coolbreeze01 wrote:
My $10 Rubbermaid works for me, spend $500 if it works for you. Nobody cares........

Apparently somebody cares, there's 3 pages of posts. Open your Rubbermaid and drink a cold one, maybe that will take the edge off!

[tonymull]

The coleman extreme coolers are great for the $. Use a block of ice. I've camped and fished when I was out all day so I could not put the cooler where it would be shaded all day and after a week there was still a fist sized piece of ice. Cool at night but high 80's during the day. Unless the more expensive ones will double that I wouldn't spend the $.

[coolbreeze01]

My $10 Rubbermaid works for me, spend $500 if it works for you. Nobody cares........

[wa8yxm]

Years ago I used coolers.. Bought ice from the park.. Then the park gave us the bad word.. It was going to cost us to plug in..Yup, I think it was 4.00 more a night to plug in... So I bought a small (Dorm/office size) Fridge and instead of buying ice.. I made it (just enough for drinks) Used that Fridge for several years.. In fact I used it right up to the day I brought the Class A home.. Sold it to another camper who uses it still far as I know.

With the door tied shut (I used a "Tie down" strap) the thing will remain cool 8 hours and is very hard to open.. I set it on planks next to my trailer in country where it waS safe to do that.. in Bear country I'd have locked it up inside but I figured if I was going to pay to use electricity. I was NOT going to pay for ICE.. That thing saved it's purchase price several times over.

[nevadanick]

A friend has a Yeti the same size as our Pelican and his ice lasts a bit longer. I bought a small Yeti.

[Tachdriver]

I bought a Pelican from Costco that holds 65 quarts for $250.

It weighs about 40lbs empty but filled can weigh much more. The sides are at least 3" thick.

I camped in Ft. Desoto in June, the cooler was in the afternoon sun and stored my waters, gatorades and various other beverages. It kept the ice for about three days before I felt that I needed to replenish via 20 lb ice bag. The neat thing was that the water still was very cold.

What was nice was that I did not have to go to panic mode when I got off the beach to go buy ice, granted you can buy ice anywhere, I just did not have to buy every day.

I repeated this use just last week on a vacation week in Eastern KY, the cooler sat in the bed of my pickup and the temps got into the 90s', again every three days I needed a new bag.

I use this cooler to cool down drinks and plan on this being my forever cooler. I bought a lock and wire rope in case I leave for an extended period of time and did not want it to walk off. You can even lock the lid to keep kids out of your beer.

The decision to purchase a high-end cooler is up to you and your needs. I do not regret spending this money. I would be interesting to pit this against a Yeti of the same size and same cargo and see which one does as well, as the Pelican is less expensive on a size perspective as the Yeti is about $450 for the same size where I paid $250.

[patperry2766]

We have been quite happy with our Pelican

[Big_Katuna]

My son checks his Yeti through the airlines as luggage with lobster and grouper in it.

I wouldn't try that with a Coleman Extreme. But if your looking for ice to last 2-3 days its fine.

We went scalloping a few weeks ago and I was surprised at how many Yetis I saw and surprised how many people left them out at night.

I ain't getting off $400 for a cooler.

Maybe a Roadie for a day cooler someday.

I DID get a Yeti 30 glass for my birthday and it keeps ice all day.

[tatest]

They are worth it if you need to do what they can do, which is keep food cool for a long time without having to add ice.

If you are just chilling beverages, and are where you can add ice as often as needed for that job, then a cooler sturdy enough to handle the load should be adequate. $200 to $1400 will buy a lot of ice, and the ice will go almost as fast in the expensive cooler as the cheaper one if what you are doing is throwing in warm drinks every day (or more often) to cool them down.

I find that my 30 year old Gott Tote 12 (drinks for one person, one day) and my 45 year old steel Coleman are much better made than some of what is sold today under those brands (Coleman no longer manufactures most products, it is now just a brand for retailing). I would probably have to spend at least $300 today to buy something to match the old Coleman.

[nightshift]

Just got my new 45 qt Pelican last month and my wife is all smiles. We boondock at the lake for 2 weeks at a time and the cold pack shuffle from freezer to cooler gets old really fast. The Pelican is like having an outdoor fridge. I estimate the freezer shuffle is cut by at least half, and there's much better temperature stability.
We looked at the Yeti but opted for the Pelican because we like the latches better. After seeing a bear last year easily grabbing bacon from a regular cooler, I feel better with this one.

[greenskeeper]

I have 2 colman extremes, one large and one medium, I use them when salmon fishing in the bow of our boat, the large one fits just great, it will keep 4 blocks of ice for about 4 plus days, but remember we also keep the bait , lunch and fish in there so its getting opened and closed many times each day. The only problem is in the 3rd year ( now ) the seams are starting to come apart and show the insulation....

[nevadanick]

We usually dont have an option to add ice which is why i have a Yeti and a Pelican.