Cooler Talk!

[Scuba Steve]

3 hours ago, DanielG said:

I needed a cooler for camping. We don't often camp in one location for long but sometimes we do. i.e. a bluegrass festival here in Maine, nine days. Regular coolers aren't that good. Better coolers are expensive. After looking at Yeti's I decided to make one.

2" of dense insulation and 1/4" plywood walls with framing lumber wood for the trim. All held together with glue and silicon. Alone it weighs 4 lbs. I use six 2 liter soda bottles with frozen water in them for cooling. After 9 days of camping all 6 bottles still had about 50% ice.

A digital freezer thermometer (you can see it via small round window on the side) always registers about 40-43 degrees.

Cost: About $40

 

 

I must say, that's pretty legit! Look up the "you beti" on youtube haha!

[Randy Price]

On 9/14/2019 at 9:39 PM, jbsoonerfan said:

Yea, it works great, especially for fall hunting trips. In the middle of the summer sitting on the boat or bank and being opened many times a day all day I wouldn't say it is much better than most coolers. It will need more ice the next day. The key to these coolers is to put what you need in them, and open them as least amount of times as possible. Great for food storage for camping, not as great for throwing a 30 pack in on a 100 degree day and get one out every 15 min. lol

I agree with @jbsoonerfan.  I have the roadie and tunda and have discovered that for a "beer cooler" they aren't any better than a cheaper cooler BUT if I prechill and keep closed they DO keep things cold for a long time.

[Fishes in trees]

Last fall, I was towing my boat and somehow a crosswind messed up the lid to the cooler that I keep bungeed to my boat.  Stopping at the next Walmart I came to, I found one of the Lifetime coolers, on sale for less than I expected.  I was on vacation and had some spare money, so - what the heck - I'm now the proud owner of a Lifetime cooler.

 

The one down side to the cooler is that it is HEAVY.  Filled up with water, a few beers & ice, I can't lift it by myself up onto the rear deck of my boat - so I put the cooler on the deck first and then stock it with the beverage selection of the day.   I haven't been fishing very often this year, health issues & whatnot, so I've been using the cooler as a beer cooler in the back of my UTV.  I think it works great as a beer cooler.  A 20 lb sack of ice lasts a couple of days with no pre-cooling at all.  If after a day or two you need to re-stock the cooler and put in new beer with what is left of the already cool beer, a 20 lb sack of ice lasts for 3 days or so more.   

 

My buddy - who has a Yeti purchased during his mid-life crisis a few years ago, swears that beer tastes better out of a Yeti - I wouldn't know, mainly because we have very different ideas about what is and what ain't decent beer and the beer he purchases wouldn't taste decent to me even under the most pristine serving conditions.  I would like to have a Yeti 65 and test out his hypothesis about beer tasting better out of a Yeti personally, but I really don't see the cash available for that purchase in the near (or distant ) future.

 

I can testify that beer tastes ok out of my imitation Yeti cooler and pre-chilled or not, ice lasts longer in it that it does in the multiple Coleman coolers that are strewn around my garage & fishing shed.

 

The rest of the story - turns out that the lid that I thought was destroyed was actually fixable with new hinges, much longer screws and spray in foam insulation.   One more thing - the drain on the Favorits can let water seep around the threads and make a little puddle of water in the bed of your UTV.  Plumbers thread tape fixes that.

[Scuba Steve]

46 minutes ago, Fishes in trees said:

Last fall, I was towing my boat and somehow a crosswind messed up the lid to the cooler that I keep bungeed to my boat.  Stopping at the next Walmart I came to, I found one of the Lifetime coolers, on sale for less than I expected.  I was on vacation and had some spare money, so - what the heck - I'm now the proud owner of a Lifetime cooler.

 

The one down side to the cooler is that it is HEAVY.  Filled up with water, a few beers & ice, I can't lift it by myself up onto the rear deck of my boat - so I put the cooler on the deck first and then stock it with the beverage selection of the day.   I haven't been fishing very often this year, health issues & whatnot, so I've been using the cooler as a beer cooler in the back of my UTV.  I think it works great as a beer cooler.  A 20 lb sack of ice lasts a couple of days with no pre-cooling at all.  If after a day or two you need to re-stock the cooler and put in new beer with what is left of the already cool beer, a 20 lb sack of ice lasts for 3 days or so more.   

 

My buddy - who has a Yeti purchased during his mid-life crisis a few years ago, swears that beer tastes better out of a Yeti - I wouldn't know, mainly because we have very different ideas about what is and what ain't decent beer and the beer he purchases wouldn't taste decent to me even under the most pristine serving conditions.  I would like to have a Yeti 65 and test out his hypothesis about beer tasting better out of a Yeti personally, but I really don't see the cash available for that purchase in the near (or distant ) future.

 

I can testify that beer tastes ok out of my imitation Yeti cooler and pre-chilled or not, ice lasts longer in it that it does in the multiple Coleman coolers that are strewn around my garage & fishing shed.

 

The rest of the story - turns out that the lid that I thought was destroyed was actually fixable with new hinges, much longer screws and spray in foam insulation.   One more thing - the drain on the Favorits can let water seep around the threads and make a little puddle of water in the bed of your UTV.  Plumbers thread tape fixes that.

Regardless of the hype Yeti has, I seriously doubt beer would TASTE any different based on what cooler it's stored in. Just saying that out loud sounds ridiculous. You can quote me to your buddy, haha! The only variable I see coming into play there would be internal temperature of the cooler.

[Fishes in trees]

 . .. beer tastes better out of a Yeti . . .Son, it is a joke, and a self-deprecating joke at that.   He spent $400 more or less on a cool toy that is ultimately kinda inconsequential, during his mid life existential crisis.   Pretty much every guy goes through one - or two or how ever many, you might need to stay conscious & relatively sane.   If I spent 4 bills on a Yeti, you can bet that I'd be telling myself that beer tasted better out of it too.  As mentioned previously, the only reasons I can't personally confirm that theory is (a) I don't  own a Yeti and (b) we don't have the same tastes in beer, so my tasting his beer out of his cooler isn't a fair test.

(That's a joke also )

[evilcatfish]

This is a pretty good video about Yeti's, the guy has some other funny ones too

 

 

[Scuba Steve]

33 minutes ago, Fishes in trees said:

 . .. beer tastes better out of a Yeti . . .Son, it is a joke, and a self-deprecating joke at that.   He spent $400 more or less on a cool toy that is ultimately kinda inconsequential, during his mid life existential crisis.   Pretty much every guy goes through one - or two or how ever many, you might need to stay conscious & relatively sane.   If I spent 4 bills on a Yeti, you can bet that I'd be telling myself that beer tasted better out of it too.  As mentioned previously, the only reasons I can't personally confirm that theory is (a) I don't  own a Yeti and (b) we don't have the same tastes in beer, so my tasting his beer out of his cooler isn't a fair test.

(That's a joke also )

Yeaaahh, I got it. 

10 minutes ago, evilcatfish said:

This is a pretty good video about Yeti's, the guy has some other funny ones too

 

 

I love that video.

[Tennessee Boy]

Anything will taste better if kept in a $400 cooler.   It’s called the placebo effect ?.

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Anything will taste better if kept in a $400 cooler.   It’s called the placebo effect ?.

Maybe - but my wallet would call it the 'roll over, scream and die' effect.

[Scuba Steve]

27 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Anything will taste better if kept in a $400 cooler.   It’s called the placebo effect ?.

I’ll let you guys know when mine shows up! 

[Deleted account]

Some guys use Stellas to bass fish, so why not Yeti to keep beers and sandwiches cold. It's equally silly, but last I checked this is still 'Merica! So everyone is free to spend their $ on whatever they want. Now which NRX is best for...

[Scuba Steve]

2 hours ago, BassWhole! said:

Some guys use Stellas to bass fish, so why not Yeti to keep beers and sandwiches cold. It's equally silly, but last I checked this is still 'Merica! So everyone is free to spend their $ on whatever they want. Now which NRX is best for...

Completely agree!

[jmz313]

The biggest issue with the ozark trail and other similar low cost rotomolded coolers is Quality control.  Lots of warped lids, uneven hinges, and i'm told the inside insulation isn't always all there and even.  

 

So, its probably a crap shoot to get a really good performing cooler vs a poor one.

 

I have a Ozark and its been OK.  my DAD got one that performed terribly and then the one he got in exchange had a bowed lid.  Now he has a Igloo BMX that is as good as my Ozark but cheaper. 

[Scuba Steve]

On 9/17/2019 at 12:33 PM, jmz313 said:

The biggest issue with the ozark trail and other similar low cost rotomolded coolers is Quality control.  Lots of warped lids, uneven hinges, and i'm told the inside insulation isn't always all there and even.  

 

So, its probably a crap shoot to get a really good performing cooler vs a poor one.

 

I have a Ozark and its been OK.  my DAD got one that performed terribly and then the one he got in exchange had a bowed lid.  Now he has a Igloo BMX that is as good as my Ozark but cheaper. 

Heard good things about the BMX series. Yeti arrived in pristine condition. Currently running my own ice test!

[scaleface]

I took my boat  out for the first time this year , yesterday . When I got to the ramp , my Igloo cooler lid was missing and all the ice melted . I picked up two bags of ice at the marina , dumped it in and stuffed a life jacket and the throw cushion on top . I had ice all day and dumped it out when I got home . Those flotation devices work great . LOL

[Scuba Steve]

On 9/21/2019 at 9:02 AM, scaleface said:

I took my boat  out for the first time this year , yesterday . When I got to the ramp , my Igloo cooler lid was missing and all the ice melted . I picked up two bags of ice at the marina , dumped it in and stuffed a life jacket and the throw cushion on top . I had ice all day and dumped it out when I got home . Those flotation devices work great . LOL

Pretty cool idea! 

[Big Rick]

1 hour ago, Scuba Steve said:

Pretty cool idea! 

Was that pun intended??

[Scuba Steve]

23 hours ago, Big Rick said:

Was that pun intended??

Didn’t realize I did that. I hate that joke. ? Pun was actually not intended.