Cooler Showdown

Kgorman

Observer
Yeti fan here. Yeah they are expensive, but I buy quality coolers so seldom so it's not the top concern. Value is.

What sold me was a trip to Lake Don Pedro in CA. We where camping for 5 days. We took a Coleman and a Yeti 65. We pre-cooled the yeti and I filled it with home made ice blocks. After 5 days we had to chip the bacon out of the ice it was so cold. It blew my mind. The combination of pre-cooling, opening just for meals, and the yeti design worked amazingly.

Could we have done that with a Coleman? Probably.

The yeti has been bomb proof, and it's one of our most beloved pieces of camping kit. I purchased a soft side for the boat as well. They work great for beer because you open them so often, but the zipper retains coolness as you fetch a beer. Anyways, huge fan of yeti.
 

Accrete

Explorer
confer on the Pelican... just checked at our local C today. I like them as they have the garden hose attachment... something I wish our two Engel 80qt had. Next build.
.
On our two Engels, we have one in white for veggies and similar, and one in tan for meats/etc. We wrapped both in reflectix after a season of testing and seeing ~6 to 7 days at 40 or below. Season two (2015 was season 5) with the reflectix were seeing 9 to 10 days. Daytime summer temps in our native PNW were in the mid 70's. We are debating to go 12v and appropriate power source or stick with the simplicity of a high quality cooler. For ~$2 to $3 worth of ice a week and parking under a shade tree... cooler technology is still a good fit for our way of Overlanding.
.
Thom
 

Xodius

Adventurer
My two cents. We have used Pelican 95's on several hunt trips and they are freaking amazing! Hold ice for 14 days and when I say ice I mean still chunks not mostly water and a few pieces. Going in and out of it countless times.
Now the RTIC are supposed to be near identical to Yetis. I have not played with one yet but am hoping too soon.
The Bison are great coolers also. Messed with them in friends camps and am impressed by their value and ice retention as well.
I find myself constantly looking at coolers and am still not 100% on what I will buy for my own use. I snag buddies coolers. :) cheaper that way this far.
I have also messed a bit with the igloo Yukon and as much as I like igloo am not personally impressed with the Yukon. Just me perhaps but I feel it falls short in numerous area.
Lastly the Orion looks very cool but I have not seen one in person yet. Nor do I know anyone personally that has one. They do look and sound pretty darn good though and have some nice features that I would like to mess with.


Obviously these are just my 2 cents and opinions. Everyone is different and I maybe way off compared to you. Maybe. :)
 

Richietherocket

Adventurer
Just food for thought. I was able to purchase an Edgestar 43qt fridge for $400 shipped to my house. We looked at both the Yeti and Pelican cooler but for the extra money the fridge made for a great purchase. It can be plugged in to 110v in the garage for double duty. As much as we have used it since March, we have saved at least the $50 we would have spent on ice at this point.
 

Anak

Stranger
The array of choices for a cooler is indeed mindboggling. I went through a similar search earlier this year.

Another one, not yet included, and the choice for my situation:

HPC40_KHAKI_OPEN_LID.jpg


Frostbite 40. There are other sizes too.

The 40 happens to fit perfectly, strapped into the center position of the back seat of a Jeep XJ and separating a couple of siblings. Also tall enough to easily accommodate a gallon jug of milk, yet the lid still opens all the way, just clearing the headliner.
 

KMG

Adventurer
We went 24 days with a Pelican 95 and it performed great. I chose the Pelican because of quality, price, and I prefer a taller cooler with a smaller foot print.
 

GregSplett

Adventurer
I just got word that Olympic national forest rangers are giving out tickets to fishermen floating the Queets for not having bear proof certified coolers in there drift boats.The ranger giving them out has serious problems {local sheriff is sick of him}but none the less I think this is going to become the norm on public lands.Who would of thunk there would be a cooler lobby?

I just picked up another igloo extreme for forty three dollars at a going out of business sale.Love them.
 

screwball48

Explorer
I have yet to see one in person but the Orion coolers are made by the folks who make Jackson kayaks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

huachuca

Adventurer
Over the past weekend I ordered a tan 45 qt Pelican from www.jet.com and it was just delivered by UPS. The base price on their website was $216.05 with a first order discount of twenty percent, free shipping, no tax and a $3.79 credit if you waived the free return option - bottom line $169.05 delivered. Sorry I didn't post earlier but this was my first purchase from this site and it had mixed reviews on the web. I wanted to be certain of their service before commenting. From everything I can tell, the cooler appears to be new, in original packing and in perfect condition. Definitely satisfied with both the merchant and the product. It looks like they've dropped the first time order discount to fifteen percent but that's still a better deal than anywhere else I've found.

NOTE: From what I read, this site initially had a membership program with an annual cost of $50. That no longer applies and there were no additional fees associated with my order.
 
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SmoothLC

Explorer
Thanks for the post. I was looking at that deal too, so appreciate the feedback. What kind of rig do you have and how do you feel it fits?
 

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