Jump to content

Cooler recommendations


Recommended Posts

Are you looking for high performance like a yeti? I just bought a rtic cooler for Canada trips. Half price of yeti and you tube videos show keeping ice just as long. Problem right now is they are back ordered until June 30th. Oh yeah free shipping and no sales tax.

If you just looking for a day cooler.. Who cares on brand ice is cheap.. Haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends on how rough you are on a cooler. The price points on coolers are mainly based on longevity in rough service. Yeah, they'll all toot their horn on ice keeping ability, but what that comes down to usually in any cooler is how you load it , pre cool it, how many times a day do you open it, and available shade for storing it with ice.

Yeti advertises too much. End of story, because that costs big bucks. Bottom line costs are affected hugely by this.

There are coolers out there as good with out the notoriety. Even Coleman or igloo doesn't advertise as hard, and they are alright for ice chests, just most are not as durable and you might buy more than a couple in a lifetime. End user costs go up in that case, and you might have bought a much more robust make, and had it for a couple of generations, so it becomes a hand me down for your offspring! Put it in your will! Lol!

Seriously though, that is the consideration on the price of a Yeti type ice chest for me. Not that you need to pay for advertising, but there are many as good and some better, that don't jump out of the Saturday morning hunting and fishing shows, or take a whole page or two of full color ads in your favorite magazine to entice you in their product.

Here is one that I considered an investment worth every penny, and you don't find them advertising all over the place.

I bought a Grizzly brand ice chest, and you can't hurt this thing in any activity short of throwing it in a very hot fire for a couple hours. It will last a lifetime, and the hinges and latches are part of that consideration. I have an Igloo as well and it has been a decent cooler for years but the plastic latches have broken and I dropped an ice block in it once and it busted a hole in the liner!...not good! Water gets in there and bye bye insulation. Fixed it with some 4200 epoxy...seems ok, but you know you can't do that all the time.

The Grizzly is very tough. It's no light weight. It will hold ice as long as the Yeti claims, the lid is tight with rubber refrigerator gasket and has nice heavy rope handles or rigid grips either to help you pick it up...with a friend..if it is a large one of 120 quarts or more. Mine is heavy, but those roto molded type of coolers all are heavy. This has very nice rubber feet on the bottom and you can't make it slide around. That has its advantages and disadvantages. I found if I want the cooler to slide into the pickup bed...nope...not gonna. Gotta get up in there and pick it up! Lol!

The cooler drains from either end with very large screw in plugs. Inside is made for freezable ice panels to slide in, and can be used for separating foods. These things however have not been very cheap. I understand the science of the liquid gel that is colder than ice but, it's pricey.

Oh, and of course it's made to frustrate a bear that knows what a cooler is. It can be pad locked shut! Lol..now if the bear gets really smart and has a lock pic...hmmm.

So check the Grizzly, it's a lot less than the Yeti, as good as without the expensive ads. More than a Coleman or Igloo.

Others I have looked at and as good as are Orca, Pelican, Engle, and a few others, but for the price you absolutely cannot beat a Grizzly. Mine came from Amazon, and had a great price for its value.

Also check the grizzly factory site for specials. I think they even have some blems that are functionally OK, but may have a color pigment off or something with the finish that wasn't passed by inspection. You could get the value of roto molded cooler for quite a bit less.

Mark

Sent from my SM-N900P using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends on how rough you are on a cooler. The price points on coolers are mainly based on longevity in rough service. Yeah, they'll all toot their horn on ice keeping ability, but what that comes down to usually in any cooler is how you load it , pre cool it, how many times a day do you open it, and available shade for storing it with ice.

Yeti advertises too much. End of story, because that costs big bucks. Bottom line costs are affected hugely by this.

There are coolers out there as good with out the notoriety. Even Coleman or igloo doesn't advertise as hard, and they are alright for ice chests, just most are not as durable and you might buy more than a couple in a lifetime. End user costs go up in that case, and you might have bought a much more robust make, and had it for a couple of generations, so it becomes a hand me down for your offspring! Put it in your will! Lol!

Seriously though, that is the consideration on the price of a Yeti type ice chest for me. Not that you need to pay for advertising, but there are many as good and some better, that don't jump out of the Saturday morning hunting and fishing shows, or take a whole page or two of full color ads in your favorite magazine to entice you in their product.

Here is one that I considered an investment worth every penny, and you don't find them advertising all over the place.

I bought a Grizzly brand ice chest, and you can't hurt this thing in any activity short of throwing it in a very hot fire for a couple hours. It will last a lifetime, and the hinges and latches are part of that consideration. I have an Igloo as well and it has been a decent cooler for years but the plastic latches have broken and I dropped an ice block in it once and it busted a hole in the liner!...not good! Water gets in there and bye bye insulation. Fixed it with some 4200 epoxy...seems ok, but you know you can't do that all the time.

The Grizzly is very tough. It's no light weight. It will hold ice as long as the Yeti claims, the lid is tight with rubber refrigerator gasket and has nice heavy rope handles or rigid grips either to help you pick it up...with a friend..if it is a large one of 120 quarts or more. Mine is heavy, but those roto molded type of coolers all are heavy. This has very nice rubber feet on the bottom and you can't make it slide around. That has its advantages and disadvantages. I found if I want the cooler to slide into the pickup bed...nope...not gonna. Gotta get up in there and pick it up! Lol!

The cooler drains from either end with very large screw in plugs. Inside is made for freezable ice panels to slide in, and can be used for separating foods. These things however have not been very cheap. I understand the science of the liquid gel that is colder than ice but, it's pricey.

Oh, and of course it's made to frustrate a bear that knows what a cooler is. It can be pad locked shut! Lol..now if the bear gets really smart and has a lock pic...hmmm.

So check the Grizzly, it's a lot less than the Yeti, as good as without the expensive ads. More than a Coleman or Igloo.

Others I have looked at and as good as are Orca, Pelican, Engle, and a few others, but for the price you absolutely cannot beat a Grizzly. Mine came from Amazon, and had a great price for its value.

Also check the grizzly factory site for specials. I think they even have some blems that are functionally OK, but may have a color pigment off or something with the finish that wasn't passed by inspection. You could get the value of roto molded cooler for quite a bit less.

Mark

Sent from my SM-N900P using Lake Ontario United mobile app

A full one is allways the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check Wally World...I got a very big Coleman, I think they called it "extreme". Guaranteed to keep cold 3 days. Look in sporting goods area. Different stores have different selections. Look around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was a 2 page Grizzly add

Just Giving a review... Not trying to sell one, nor affiliate, or otherwise push. I've never owned one of these roto molded coolers before this one, and it will likely be my last one, unless you bring more beer/food for my cooler...then the benefit of size off sets the cost of bigger! [emoji12]

Sent from my SM-N900P using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like my Coleman Marine, it's lasted a good 10 years (still going strong) and the only thing wrong is the lid hinges broke but I kind of like it that way.

Seems to be sturdier than their regular coolers and it's all white which helps in the sun. I don't know if they were better made back then but it's a great cooler. On the flip side I just bought a smaller Coleman for food and it's definitely lower quality, but it's probably at least worth looking into and they aren't too expensive.

Edited by hermit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 3 Grizzly's. 2 of them are going on their 4th season and you wouldn't know it. They are well built, but not cheap to buy. I wish my 150's had a rope handle, but when it's loaded with fish the molded in handle is nice for 4 guys to get on the cooler.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 3 Grizzly's. 2 of them are going on their 4th season and you wouldn't know it. They are well built, but not cheap to buy. I wish my 150's had a rope handle, but when it's loaded with fish the molded in handle is nice for 4 guys to get on the cooler.

Not sure if you bragging about your big boxes or adding a review for the grizzly. :)

 

4 guys? wth I can barely get a box big enough to make a small girl strain   :@ ! 

Edited by Chas0218
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got a pelican 10 day cooler and i don't have a yetti but I looked at both of them in a store setting and I think with the lid features the pelican was better.  (This is assuming that the insulating properties was the same)  The price was $150 less.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like my Coleman Marine, it's lasted a good 10 years (still going strong) and the only thing wrong is the lid hinges broke but I kind of like it that way.

Seems to be sturdier than their regular coolers and it's all white which helps in the sun. I don't know if they were better made back then but it's a great cooler. On the flip side I just bought a smaller Coleman for food and it's definitely lower quality, but it's probably at least worth looking into and they aren't too expensive.

Yea I have to agree with ya hermit, I have a Colman cooler that doubled as a seat on a center console. I put a pedestal seat in its place. "had 6 snaps which held a cushion on it" the boat was a 1988 and still the coolers still going strong. Yes I replaced the plastic hinges with brass cupboard hinges, I used 3, and I replaced the screw on cap at the bottom, I got that from Cabela's" this Friday its leaving for Quebec Canada for a week, hopefully coming back full of eye fillets. I will buy another Colman in the same size, if I get another 28 years I'll be tickled pink!! Oh 1 other thing mine also had a crack in the middle which I fixed with an epoxy of some sort due to stupidness by someone throwing frozen meat on to the bottom. Yes I bought ice but not $6-7 hundred dollars worth!!!! Edited by pap
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...