Last month I wrote about the Engel® line of rugged ice chests and while I was scanning the outdoor news on Outdoorsfile.com this morning, I stumbled across Yeti® Coolers and their equally impressive line of roto-molded polyethylene ice chests.
The 65qt. model matches up quite well with other coolers in this class, at 30 1/2 inches long by 17 1/8 inches wide and 16 1/4 inches tall. It has a full 2-inches of insulation in the sidewalls and 3-inches in the lid, along with a freezer-style gasket and rubber T-style latches on the lid. Like the Engel, this is not your typical ice chest and you will certainly pay for the privilege of owning one, but it will definitely keep your food and beverages cold longer than a regular ice chest.
One feature that I really like about these rugged coolers are the rubber feet that help to keep the cooler from sliding around in the car or truck. Our 70-quart Igloo® weighs over fifty pounds, with food and ice, and the relatively slick plastic bottom allows it to slide all over the place, which can cause a lot of damage if we get careless about packing. Yeti goes a step further with an optional tie-down kit and a corner chock set for holding their coolers in place.
One of these days, my old Igloo is going to give way (the hinges are already making a lot of noise) and when it does, I am definitely going to consider one of these rugged models. The extra money is easily justified by the durability and the additional insulation, which I hope will give me a true five days of use (three days is typical with our Igloo). What do you think, would you pay $300 for an ice chest?
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Roy I just seen some of these awesome coolers on line the other day, but they are very expensive. Good articles keep it up.
Thanks, Jimmy – yeah, $300 for an ice chest is a lot of money.
Go for it. Its cheaper then an RV. We spend that much on tents and sleeping bags now. I'm guessing you could leave it to your kids in your Will.
Heh – no doubt, and it will probably still look brand new.
$300 is a bit too much but can it hold ice for 5 days in the summer or at least keeps things cool that long?
Gear – I don't know for sure, but I am going to see about getting one to test (also see James' link, above). I think they'll go 5 days with no problem, as I get 2-3 days with my Igloo MaxCold (3 days is tough – have to keep the kids out of it). I'd like to be able to go 7 days, at least (for that kind of money).
Mark – I think the key there is short trips. Our Igloo works great for 2 or 3 day trips (which is the majority of our camping), but it’s a real hassle managing ice on anything longer than that. Is it a $300 hassle? I’m not sure about that 🙂
Kevin – The Cold & Dray looks pretty cool! That would take up a lot less space in the freezer than 1-gallon milk jugs.
James – great post on the Yeti, my MaxCold hovers at around 42-44 degrees in 80+ degree weather, over 2-3 days (3ea. 1-gallon milk jugs of ice). The 34 degrees you got with the Yeti is very impressive!
These are awesome coolers…or as my dad says, “Man that thing is a beast and it’s way cool…”
I’ve been playing around with my new Yeti and compared it to my previous Igloo cooler on my forum. Yeti vs Igloo at Adventure Canoe
I’ll be conducting a real world use test next weekend on the Eleven Point River. We’re only going for two days but we get into the cooler a lot and usually melt all the ice in the Igloo.
-James
Sorry for the bad link…Go to http://www.unseenontv.com/Detail.aspx?Id=8&Name=Cold-&-Dry-Ice-Bag%E2%84%A2
I would absolutely pay for the Yeti if I owned a boat. These coolers are truly best in class and fishing on a large boat in the hot sun, having a quality cooler to protect my food and fish is very important to me. I would not however purchase one of these for your typical camping trip because they are heavy, well made and did I say HEAVY. I am however a big fan of the Coleman Extreme Coolers for camping and I feel that for the money these are some of the best coolers on the market for a typical camping trip. As well I am a big fan of the Cold and Dry Ice Bag.. because they keep longer, are reusable and save me money while keeping my food from sitting in a pool of water on a long trip.
What do you think, would you pay $300 for an ice chest?
Heck no! Are you kidding? I am new to camping (again), so this comment is not going to be useful. Maybe I’ll reach a point when I’d like a hard core cooler, but for our small family, and our short trips, my no-name cooler is more than enough. Especially with that tip about using blocks of ice.
But, I love your blog!