Yeti Coolers

[jgillott]

Thinking of purchasing a new cooler before we travel this summer. Our old Igloo has served us well for the last 20 years, but it is old and tired. Does anyone here own a Yeti cooler? If so, was it worth the price?

 

[GrantP]

Yeti's are good, but take a look at this article before you buy.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/product-reviews/1512-the-ultimate-high-end-cooler-shootout/

 

[moparguy]

I don't have a Yeti, but the article below from a local sports writer's test confirms Yeti isn't the only game in town. Locally, Yeti has become more of a status thing that may not be supported by facts.

Home / Sports /
Cooler co-champions

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Esky 55, Orion 65 chill to a draw in annual smackdown; 2014 winner falters

By Bryan Hendricks
This article was published July 5, 2015 at 2:32 a.m.
#ad

PHOTO BY BRYAN HENDRICKS
Two newcomers on the premium cooler landscape, the Orion 65 (left) and the Esky 55, tied for honors in this year’s Ice Chest Smackdown by retaining ice for 190 hours.

Ice chest smackdown

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Bryan Hendricks tests two new premium coolers for outdoor recreation. (By Bryan Hendricks)
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This year's Ice Chest Smackdown produced a tie between two new coolers, the Coleman Esky 55 and the Orion 65, which unseated last year's champion the Igloo Sportsman 55.
Despite hotter temperatures, the Sportsman virtually duplicated its 2014 performance, but the Esky and Orion retained ice about 46 hours longer.
The Orion and Esky are premium, heavy-duty coolers that appeal to distinctly different markets.
The Esky is a blue-collar cooler designed for hunters and fishermen. The Orion is a fashion statement made by Jackson Kayak that is aimed directly at the heart of the world's kayak revolution. It hits the 10-ring.
Both would be at home on any boat or at any deer camp, but the most important attribute is how long they keep ice under equal conditions.
FIELD TESTS
I've used the Igloo Sportsman 55 extensively since May 2014. It's a tough cooler that kept my food and drinks cold during many jaunts around the state last summer.
During the 2014 Ice Chest Smackdown, it performed equally to the Yeti Tundra 50, but it took the match because it offered equal quality with a significantly lower price.
The Coleman Esky 55 arrived too late for the 2014 Smackdown, but I used it extensively during the 2014-15 hunting seasons. Equipped only with Arctic Ice Tundra Packs and bagged ice, it froze the food I took on my controlled muzzleloader hunt in November at Madison County WMA.
The Orion coolers were introduced early this year. I haven't had a chance to use it afield, but based on the Smackdown results it is equal to the Esky.
THE FIGHT IS ON
Head-to-head, we tested the coolers the way most people use them.
At noon on Monday, June 22, I hauled them out of my garage, put them in the back of my truck and filled them with bagged ice in the broiling sun.
Then I left them outside in direct sunlight all day every day until their ice melted. Temperatures during the test ranged from about 78-80 degrees at night to 93 degrees in the day. The lows were about 10 degrees warmer than during the 2014 Smackdown, and the highs were about 2 degrees warmer.
I checked each cooler at noon every day and measured air space, water depth, ice thickness and ice block length.
Unlike last year, I did not drain the water daily. When you drain water, ambient-temperature air replaces cold water. I wanted to see if that affected ice retention. Using the Sportsman 55's results from 2014 as a control baseline, the effect was negligible.
Also, I arranged the coolers differently this year. In previous years I placed them parallel in an east-west arrangement. Only their ends and lids were exposed to direct sunlight. This year I placed them end to end in a north-south configuration so that the longer side panels received continual sunlight. Again, using the 2015 Sportsman results as a control, this did not seem to be a significant factor.
Finally, I tested the Sportsman 55 in white and brown.
In the four years we've been running these tests, I wondered if a white cooler keeps ice longer than a dark cooler.
In direct sunlight, the brown Sportsman 55 was too hot to touch, as were the Orion and Esky. The white Sportsman 55 was cool to the touch. It retained ice a few hours longer than the brown Sportsman, but the difference was not as great as I expected.
The coolers had zero air space when I filled them. After 24 hours, all four coolers had about 1 inch of air space, and their ice had drawn away from the sides about a half-inch.
After 48 hours, the Esky held 2 inches of water and its ice was hard and compact. The Orion held 2 1/4 inches of water, and its ice was hard and compact. The white Sportsman held 2 inches of water and the brown Sportsman held 2 3/4 inches of water. Their ice was wet and fragile.
After 72 hours, the Orion held 4 1/4 inches of water. Its ice was moist and receded about 1 inch from the sides. The Esky held 3 1/4 inches of water, but its ice was still hard and compact. It receded 1 1/4 inches from the sides.
The white Sportsman held 4 inches of water, but its ice was still well composed. The brown Sportsman was mostly water with floating chunks.
The noon temperatures for the first 72 hours were 92, 90 and 93 degrees.
After 96 hours, the Orion held 5 1/2 inches of water, and its ice was a solid, floating block. The Esky held 4 1/2 inches of water, and its ice was a solid, floating block. Factoring in the Orion's greater capacity (10 quarts), its ice probably melted at the same rate as the Esky's.
At the same time, the white Sportsman held mostly water, with one chunk of ice that was 20 inches long and 3 inches deep. The brown Sportsman had a smaller chunk of ice.
At 120 hours, Esky and Orion held 5 inches and 6 1/2 inches of water, respectively. They still had a lot of ice.
The white Sportsman retained a big chunk of ice that was about 12 inches long. The brown Sportsman still had a very small amount of ice at 124 hours, but it was gone by dawn on Day 6.
At 144 hours, the white Sportsman was out of the race, compared to 148 hours in 2014.
The Orion had one big chunk of ice that was about 3 inches thick, and the Esky had one chunk that was about 5 inches thick.
At 168 hours, the Orion still had one ice block that was about 16 inches long and 3 inches thick. The Esky had one block that was about 12 inches long and 3 inches thick.
At 188 hours, Orion and Esky retained small amounts of ice. By 190 hours, they had no ice.
It was a draw, with no clear advantage to either cooler. The Esky costs about $300. The Orion 65 costs about $500, which gives you 10 extra quarts of capacity, amazing versatility and some outrageous style points.
Sports on 07/05/2015

 

[Deleted member 995608]

^^ Yeti = Status ^^

So true. I'm simply jealous that I didn't come up with the idea to make a plastic cooler and slap a $400 price tag on it.

 

[jhenderson]

I've never been in a position where ice wasn't available in my travels at least every 3 days. A Coleman will hold blocks that long and leave me more money for fun.

 

[jgillott]

Thanks for the input everyone. **

 

[Mingoglia]

RTIC is the cooler I'm currently looking at. They're almost EXACT rip offs of Yeti, I mean exact. They market them at 50% off the price of a Yeti. I know a few that have them and the only downfall is if you want one, they literally take 6 or more weeks to get. They're either not making them fast enough OR they don't have distribution worked out yet.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

RTIC - [h=1]"Half the Price of a YETI* Cooler
& Holds More Ice!"[/h]

 

[CBlack]

Coleman Esky's are made in the USA too. I think their features are better than most as well.

Most of the "high end" ice chests and their accessories are made in China.

 

[Okie-Go]

I have the Rambler, it does a good job. I like the drink holders better I think.

 

[JLEONARD]

I bought a Yeti last summer. I am not overly impressed with it. If I did it again, I'd buy a less costly alternative.

 

[Regcabguy]

How about a low wattage compressor fridge and a cheap solar setup when not driving?