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I see that outside of Yeti... Cabela's, CT's Woods, even igloo now has a version...
I believe Rotomould coolers existed even before Yeti for different applications but I think Yeti marketed it best.
What are people's experiences and I'm looking for say a 45-55 but I don't want to blow $400+ on a Yeti
Aside from the Instagram factor, what makes these better than standard Coleman's?
I have a Coleman "extreme" that I've been using for 15 years at least, and it's held up well. Extreme ones have the extra thick insulation which makes a big difference.
I have an extreme too.... it doesn’t even come close to the efficiency of a soft sided yeti. Ice doesn’t even begin to melt in the yeti when it’s already mostly liquid in the extremeQuote:
Originally Posted by ExtraSlow
I have a Maluna cooler that I got from Kickstarter.. its amazing and significantly cheaper than a Yeti. During the summer we use it as a backup fridge and routinely holds ice for 24-48hrs outdoors.
We have it beside a random brand we got from Costco, at the end of one day, the costco one is all water, Maluna hasnt even started to melt. Good coolers make a huge difference.
Yetis are great, but so are the Cabelas. I ended up selling my Yeti 45 and going up to the Cabelas 60. Equivalent ice retention in my experience, and when they say 60 quart it's actually 60. The yeti 45 is actually more like a 37.Quote:
Originally Posted by r3ccOs
Biggest thing with them to get the best bang for your buck is a) pre-cooling. Fill it with ice a few days before, put it somewhere out of the sun, get it cold. b)fill it to the top, dont leave room for air, c) start with cold items. Putting in room temp beer and then expecting ice to last just doesn't work. My dad has a woods brand and it was kinda crap
We don't use the fridge in our camper as it's too small, and just did 16 days of camping. Filled the cooler Friday the 2nd, frozen foods and ice as well as a couple blocks of ice. Blocks of ice were still blocks (barely), by the 16th, with only having to buy ice once to top up. Compare this to a coleman my bro-in law was running, and they were buying ice every day.
I haven't used a yeti or similar. Just trying to understand the physics of the situation. For similar insulation thickness, you'll get very similar performance unless there's a huge difference in the insulation itself. Are the roto-mold coolers actually using significantly different insulation materials? I wouldn't have thought so.Quote:
Originally Posted by ercchry
watching some youtube videos, it appears that the Cabela's are the cats meow are the Yetis... but those Coleman xtremes seem to hold up too lol!Quote:
Originally Posted by Brent.ff
I may ghetto it a bit and pick up some spray foam and mod my coolers, as well as pick up 45 or 60 Cabela
Space isn't a problem for me. I have two extreme coolers. I put less stuff and more ice in each one because of it. Generally have ice for 4 days
No, but significantly more insulation, better gasket on lid and drain, better plasticQuote:
Originally Posted by ExtraSlow
https://youtu.be/aPXhi7psQUE?t=262
Personally, it's a convenience factor for me. Ice is cheap, but it's a pain in the ass to go get every day. Plus having actual ice saves your shit from floating in water day in and day out
My usual hack for that is to freeze a bunch of bottled water. The cheap ones from Costco work great and don't explode when frozen. Just as good as ice and no meltwater - plus you have nice cold water for the trip home.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brent.ff
Careful if you're drinking the water from frozen single-use water bottles. I don't know all the research on both sides of the argument, but it might be something to look into. There is some nasty sh*t that can potentially leech into the water from the bottle when freezing.Quote:
Originally Posted by BerserkerCatSplat
Doesn't seem like there's any scientific backing to those concerns, if anything it would be heating the bottles that causes issues, not freezing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt
https://www.cancer.ca/en/prevention-...les/?region=sk
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/re...astic-bottles/
But plastic is evil, and the bad spirits are just waiting to pounce.
Good links for reading, thanks - I will take a look too.Quote:
Originally Posted by BerserkerCatSplat
I really wouldn't worry about chemicals from PET bottles that have been frozen.
Well I'm fucked then as a 4 litre milk jug is my water vessel on job sites. Cheap, easy to replace if it breaks and no one is gonna bother stealing it but I guess it might be killing me slowly or preserving me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt
If you aren't heating it or freezing it, I don't think there's much chance of it doing anything to you. The (debatable) risks are only with heat or freezing.Quote:
Originally Posted by speedog
Microplastics are another matter, but likely not harmful in most cases: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/micro...risk-1.5255493
Also, consider what you are putting into your containers. Milk jugs are primarily HDPE and the chemical compatibility for acids/bases isn't great for HDPE.
When you freeze cycle a brand-new unopened bottle of water, you can precipitate out some trace quantities of calcium that looks like white powder in the bottom.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt
Protip: When the TSA agent asks, just rub it into your teeth and explain that Calcium is good for dental health.
Edit: Calcium has nothing to do with the container/bottle.