Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

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moondog
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Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by moondog »

Hey guys,
I'm planning on making a choice to drop about $400 on a cooler, and yes we are talking YETI's.
I've heard to different sides to the story on theses coolers.
Post pics of your yeti's, why you cant live without it, or why you can't believe you spent so much money on a thing that holds ice :lol: .
Lets hear it boys :dance:
-Moondog
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by BlueStar »

Haven't personally used the Yeti, but found this clip on YouTube useful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-TE4RnqT0U" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have multiple coolers and my Coleman Extreme works well. I just can't justify the cost of a yeti when the Coleman does the job. Good luck.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by RedWolf »

Jeremy (JP Chavez) loves his so much he uses them for furniture ;)
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by 5moreminutes »

I have an Engel (similar to Yeti) It makes a great seat on a boat or at a camp ground. Other than that like mentioned above I also have a Coleman extreme that holds ice just as well or better. The amount of times you open it, properly closed, and where you store it will all effect te longevity of keeping your stuff cold.
I had both the extreme and engel in back of my truck out in oilfield over the summer and nothing spectacular to note on spending so much more money. And then if it gets stolen!
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by MulletMaster08 »

I have had mine for about 8 months now and it's the greatest thing. Very rugged and durable. Went out to west to and put 2 bags of ice in it and kept them for 5 days befor we used them. You can put drinks in there and after the ice melts you drinks are still cold enough to drink 2 days later. And Saturday it fell off the back end of my yak and it floated and did t spill any drinks. Only downfall is that it is kinda heavy but that ain't no big deal

But it's bear proof! Need I say any more
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by Old Skool Hookers »

I've thought about getting a Yeti and then came to the conclusion of why spend that much money to make ice try to stay a little longer. If the family and I are on a long camping trip I've always poured 1 20# bag of Buccees ice, some rock salt and another 20# bag unopened. The rock salt makes and keeps the ice frozen. Kinda like when we make homemade ice cream. The ice lasts well over the time we need it to. Just makes sure to drain any water that may appear.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by MONSTER »

I've never needed $400 worth of cooler, but everyone's needs vary.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by quincyraybon »

BlueStar wrote:Haven't personally used the Yeti, but found this clip on YouTube useful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-TE4RnqT0U" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have multiple coolers and my Coleman Extreme works well. I just can't justify the cost of a yeti when the Coleman does the job. Good luck.

:shock: I wanted a Yeti. :|
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by Alsatian »

BlueStar wrote:Haven't personally used the Yeti, but found this clip on YouTube useful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-TE4RnqT0U" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have multiple coolers and my Coleman Extreme works well. I just can't justify the cost of a yeti when the Coleman does the job. Good luck.
Interesting video, I would assume that the coolers were side by side in a room during the testing. The Coleman's looking pretty good. The Yeti advertises that they are bear proof, but then again, I don't see to many bears around South Texas. Plus it will hurt a lot less when it gets stolen.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by pinnaclecaster »

I like them
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by Cosmo333_Tx »

This is going to be a little lengthy...

The situation involving Yeti coolers is such an interesting thing to look at. You have two subsets of people that are out there buying Yetis. First, you have the avid outdoorsmen who is looking for a better cooler, that can hold ice longer and be durable. And second, you have the guys who wants to be seen with a Yeti cooler in the back of his truck as a status symbol.

Now I don't fault Yeti at all for the status symbol group. These are the guys that are never going to do anything with the cooler other than throw a 12 pack of beer in it for a few hours. Good on their marketing department, or just plain luck, for obtaining that status. They are based here in Austin, and I'm happy for people to be sending revenue to Texas.

But back to the first group, which applies to most of us, the outdoorsman. Its kind of a moot point to have this conversation in the saltwater section of a kayak fishing forum, because there are only a few kayaks out there that it's going to be even relatively feasible to go paddling around with a usable size Yeti in your kayak. But putting that aside for a second, I'll give my input on them, being that I am a Yeti owner.

I think the first thing you need to do is look at if you are really going to take advantage of the main selling features of the Yeti.

-Are you going to be out on multi day trips where ice preservation is a factor?
-Do you use dry ice in your cooler?
-Do you treat the coolers rougher than the average user? ex. Standing on them, bouncing around in the truck bed, etc.?
-Does the cooler spend extended periods of time in the direct sunlight and heat?

I think the ice tests can be misleading sometimes. I didn't hear any mention of pre-cooling the ice chest first, and I know that seems a little extreme, but if you are looking to preserve your frozen goods for an "extreme" amount of time then that's the correct way to do it. You have to look at the fact that Yeti has several inches of insulation on all sides of the cooler. Nothing is a perfect insulator, so initially you are going to have some heat transfer from the insulation itself into the ice. If the ice in a Yeti has to initially cool a much larger mass of insulation compared to the 1/2 thick on 4 sides of insulation of a cheaper cooler, it's actually possible and probable that after just a day in a room without sun, that you'd see more ice melt in the Yeti than in a much cheaper cooler.

All of this again goes back to, do you really need that long term ice preservation? If you do, say you are heading down to PINS for a week, here is the way I think is the right way to do it. You have two coolers, your Yeti, and if you have a second Yeti great, if not a cheaper cooler will work. You pre-cool your Yeti cooler, and then pack it full of items that are only at freezing or below. This cooler is only to be opened once a day. You use your second cooler as your "refrigerator", it holds water and drinks and whatnot. Into your "refrigerator" each day you put the frozen items out of the Yeti cooler that you are going to eat the Next day. Those frozen items out of the Yeti are used to cool the items in the "refrigerator" and as they defrost and cool the other items they will be ready to cook the next day. You repeat this process each day. If you do it like this, then at the end of two weeks you can still open up that Yeti and have cold items in there.

Being able to use dry ice in it is a great feature, but I don't really know at what price level other coolers are not harmed by dry ice so I don't know if that's a significant distinguisher.

Durability and exposure to sun kind of get bundled up into the same category. $300 or $400 is a lot of money to spend on a cooler period. My grandpa would roll over in his grave if he heard of someone spending that much on a cooler. But, if I'd of gone and opened up his garage I would of found a stack of 10, $35 coolers from Walmart with busted lids, hinges, broken handles, etc. And I'm sure that was only 10 years or so worth of coolers. He'd spent the same amount of money as a Yeti, but at no time got to experience the benefits of owning one.

One thing that can't really be denied is Yeti coolers are Tough. There just isn't a whole lot to break on them. The integrated hinge design is what makes the real difference to me. Never again do I have to worry about trying to rig up a busted cooler hinge with some self tapping screws and a scrap of leather. I'm sure the rubber latches will eventually break, but they are easy to obtain and easy to replace. I don't have to worry about standing on it, or sitting on it. It gets left in the sun and beat up, but I don't see any real signs of wear.

Yes, it's a tempting target for theft, but I'm not going to let the fear of something being stolen rule my life on what I purchase. If someone really wants it, they are going to get it, but you can lock them up pretty good with some cable and a decent padlock.

Bottom line is that not everyone should go out and spend the money on a Yeti cooler, but for the right type of user I think it can be a smart and rewarding investment.
Last edited by Cosmo333_Tx on Mon Dec 10, 2012 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by JPChavez »

RedWolf wrote:Jeremy (JP Chavez) loves his so much he uses them for furniture ;)
:lol:
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by JPChavez »

Cosmo333_Tx wrote:Bottom line is that not everyone should go out and spend the money on a Yeti cooler, but for the right type of user I think it can be a smart a rewarding investment.
X2. One of the best reviews I've read concerning Yeti coolers. I agree with everything he ^^^ said.

I own two a 35 and 45qt. I purchased a Yeti because of it's durability, weight, and ice retention. I spend a lot of time standing on mine and I wanted something tough and durable. I also do multi-day camping trips where keeping things cold for the duration of trip can be difficult in the summer heat. A number of times I've filled my cooler up with ice on Thursday night before a weekend trip and still had ice left in my cooler on Sunday when I got home. With the correct steps, outlined in cosmo's post above, I'm sure I could have ice for over a week.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by Midcoast Mark »

BEST..........PICTURE............EVER
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by slowride »

overrated and over priced....but there is something out there for everybody.....


i can't even justify that kind of money for the kind of use i get out of a cooler....igloo marine boxes work just fine for many years of daily service at a fraction of the cost...
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by Milkjug »

Any cooler that can't be left in the bed of the truck or outside drying is useless to me. I have seen plenty of reports of thieves sawing through that silly little plastic edge that you are supposed to lock it through. It has become common knowledge that they are expensive and easy to carry off.

I wouldn't say I hate them... just don't care to drop the cash when something 1/10 the price performs 99% as well.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by CC Red »

I have a collection of Yetis, Igloo marine coolers, one Engel and one Icey Tek. I think they are all great. I tend to destroy the Igloo Marine Coolers and they don't hold ice quite as long. However, they are considerably lighter than the other three brands and the difference in price can get you a lot of ice. I have kept a 125qt Yeti in the bed of my truck for two years without incident. Maybe I am just lucky. In that same time, I have thrown away at least three igloo marine coolers.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by Piscator »

My neighbor has a large Yeti. He put two 5-gallon blocks of ice and three bags of ice on a Friday night before leaving on a hunt. Came home the next Saturday and the blocks were down to about 3.5 or 4 gallons each. It got up to 80 degrees during the week. He gave one of the bags to a fellow hunter so he would not have to drive to town for ice.
No ice chest I have had would come close to that.

I would never spend that money on an ice chest for just weekend use. I would consider it if I made several week long trips a year.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by RedWolf »

Cosmo333_Tx wrote:This is going to be a little lengthy...

The situation involving Yeti coolers is such an interesting thing to look at. You have two subsets of people that are out there buying Yetis. First, you have the avid outdoorsmen who is looking for a better cooler, that can hold ice longer and be durable. And second, you have the guys who wants to be seen with a Yeti cooler in the back of his truck as a status symbol.

Now I don't fault Yeti at all for the status symbol group. These are the guys that are never going to do anything with the cooler other than throw a 12 pack of beer in it for a few hours. Good on their marketing department, or just plain luck, for obtaining that status. They are based here in Austin, and I'm happy for people to be sending revenue to Texas.

But back to the first group, which applies to most of us, the outdoorsman. Its kind of a moot point to have this conversation in the saltwater section of a kayak fishing forum, because there are only a few kayaks out there that it's going to be even relatively feasible to go paddling around with a usable size Yeti in your kayak. But putting that aside for a second, I'll give my input on them, being that I am a Yeti owner.

I think the first thing you need to do is look at if you are really going to take advantage of the main selling features of the Yeti.

-Are you going to be out on multi day trips where ice preservation is a factor?
-Do you use dry ice in your cooler?
-Do you treat the coolers rougher than the average user? ex. Standing on them, bouncing around in the truck bed, etc.?
-Does the cooler spend extended periods of time in the direct sunlight and heat?

I think the ice tests can be misleading sometimes. I didn't hear any mention of pre-cooling the ice chest first, and I know that seems a little extreme, but if you are looking to preserve your frozen goods for an "extreme" amount of time then that's the correct way to do it. You have to look at the fact that Yeti has several inches of insulation on all sides of the cooler. Nothing is a perfect insulator, so initially you are going to have some heat transfer from the insulation itself into the ice. If the ice in a Yeti has to initially cool a much larger mass of insulation compared to the 1/2 thick on 4 sides of insulation of a cheaper cooler, it's actually possible and probable that after just a day in a room without sun, that you'd see more ice melt in the Yeti than in a much cheaper cooler.

All of this again goes back to, do you really need that long term ice preservation? If you do, say you are heading down to PINS for a week, here is the way I think is the right way to do it. You have two coolers, your Yeti, and if you have a second Yeti great, if not a cheaper cooler will work. You pre-cool your Yeti cooler, and then pack it full of items that are only at freezing or below. This cooler is only to be opened once a day. You use your second cooler as your "refrigerator", it holds water and drinks and whatnot. Into your "refrigerator" each day you put the frozen items out of the Yeti cooler that you are going to eat the Next day. Those frozen items out of the Yeti are used to cool the items in the "refrigerator" and as they defrost and cool the other items they will be ready to cook the next day. You repeat this process each day. If you do it like this, then at the end of two weeks you can still open up that Yeti and have cold items in there.

Being able to use dry ice in it is a great feature, but I don't really know at what price level other coolers are not harmed by dry ice so I don't know if that's a significant distinguisher.

Durability and exposure to sun kind of get bundled up into the same category. $300 or $400 is a lot of money to spend on a cooler period. My grandpa would roll over in his grave if he heard of someone spending that much on a cooler. But, if I'd of gone and opened up his garage I would of found a stack of 10, $35 coolers from Walmart with busted lids, hinges, broken handles, etc. And I'm sure that was only 10 years or so worth of coolers. He'd spent the same amount of money as a Yeti, but at no time got to experience the benefits of owning one.

One thing that can't really be denied is Yeti coolers are Tough. There just isn't a whole lot to break on them. The integrated hinge design is what makes the real difference to me. Never again do I have to worry about trying to rig up a busted cooler hinge with some self tapping screws and a scrap of leather. I'm sure the rubber latches will eventually break, but they are easy to obtain and easy to replace. I don't have to worry about standing on it, or sitting on it. It gets left in the sun and beat up, but I don't see any real signs of wear.

Yes, it's a tempting target for theft, but I'm not going to let the fear of something being stolen rule my life on what I purchase. If someone really wants it, they are going to get it, but you can lock them up pretty good with some cable and a decent padlock.

Bottom line is that not everyone should go out and spend the money on a Yeti cooler, but for the right type of user I think it can be a smart and rewarding investment.

Excellent and well written review.


Also, for the record, I am one of those that ends to leave ice chests in the back of my truck for weeks or months on end. All of my coolers are igloo, coleman, or rubbermaid products, and while I have had people rummage thru them in the back of my truck looking for beer or other goodies, I have never had one stolen out of my truck. Up until I needed it a few weeks ago, I had one of my coolers tied down by one handle on top of my yak trailer for over a year in the middle of our apt complex. Had any of these been an expensive cooler like the Yeti or other high end brands, I have no doubt they would have been missing within a couple days.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by saltykat »

Love that pic......if that's all she left you after the divorce you did all right :lol:
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by JPChavez »

saltykat wrote:Love that pic......if that's all she left you after the divorce you did all right :lol:
All a man needs to be happy. 8)
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by moondog »

JPChavez wrote:
RedWolf wrote:Jeremy (JP Chavez) loves his so much he uses them for furniture ;)
:lol:
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Which ones got the beer in it? :lol:
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by JPChavez »

moondog wrote:Which ones got the beer in it? :lol:
All of them. We save the one from under the TV for last. We're drinkers with a fishing problem. :lol:
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by Copperspoonfly »

I love my Yeti. Instead of spending 400$ on a new one, you could visit the factory in Austin and get a scratch & dent Yeti for half the price. I could not tell the difference between those and the 400$ ones at Cabelas.
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Re: Yeti coolers: Love them or hate them?

Post by pinnaclecaster »

Copperspoonfly wrote:I love my Yeti. Instead of spending 400$ on a new one, you could visit the factory in Austin and get a scratch & dent Yeti for half the price. I could not tell the difference between those and the 400$ ones at Cabelas.
That's where I got all of those on the dolley
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