Good Coolers but not Yeti

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Tim A
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by Tim A »

I received an RTIC soft-sided cooler as a gift last year but was disappointed that it only kept ice for a day or two in mid-May while car-camping in the mountains. I upgraded to a hard-sided Snowball cooler, and by keeping it out of direct sunlight away from windows and keeping a fleece blanket over it, ice lasted 5-7 days for the entirety of June, which isn’t bad when the valleys in Chaffee county get up to 90 degrees.
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by d_baker »

Only suggestion I have, or at least to mention what works for me, is to use a gallon jug or several powerade bottles, and freeze water in them before a trip. They take up space, but as they melt I have drinkable water and I don't have a pool of water in cooler (if one is using ice cubes or block ice).

Powerade over gatorade, due to shape/outside diameter of bottles.
And Power Ade's sugar free Citrus Peach is awesome.
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by supranihilest »

d_baker wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 7:53 pm Only suggestion I have, or at least to mention what works for me, is to use a gallon jug or several powerade bottles, and freeze water in them before a trip. They take up space, but as they melt I have drinkable water and I don't have a pool of water in cooler (if one is using ice cubes or block ice).

Powerade over gatorade, due to shape/outside diameter of bottles.
And Power Ade's sugar free Citrus Peach is awesome.
Good advice. Just make sure not to fill the bottle completely full before freezing it or the ice will expand and fill up the entire bottle, cracking it. This is especially true the softer the material the bottle is made of (e.g. gallon jugs vs. a Nalgene).
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by IntrepidXJ »

I have an RTIC that works well, although I rarely use it anymore since moving to a Dometic refrigerator about 5-6 years ago. I would highly recommend going that route if you do a lot of car camping and don't want to deal with ice anymore.
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by thebeave7 »

Boulder based ROVR makes similarly awesome coolers to YETI. I've been demoing one for the past 6months, it's pretty awesome. Ice packs stay frozen for at least 4-5days without changing (in normal warm weather). Also have some fun accessories; cutting board, drink holders, bike connections. Definitely more expensive than than a walmart cooler, but so so much better.
https://www.rovrproducts.com/

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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by greenonion »

d_baker wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 7:53 pm Only suggestion I have, or at least to mention what works for me, is to use a gallon jug or several powerade bottles, and freeze water in them before a trip. They take up space, but as they melt I have drinkable water and I don't have a pool of water in cooler (if one is using ice cubes or block ice).

Powerade over gatorade, due to shape/outside diameter of bottles.
And Power Ade's sugar free Citrus Peach is awesome.
Good suggestion. Another along these lines is using something like an empty and cleaned-out sour cream container and fill it partially with water, then freeze into large hockey pucks made of ice. Ice stays solid longer. Then combine with regular cubed ice.
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Barnold41
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by Barnold41 »

Ozark Trail is the cheaper RTIC. I don't have experience with their coolers, but their tumblers work just as well as the Yeti and RTIC.
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Dakota
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by Dakota »

Barnold41 wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 11:33 am Ozark Trail is the cheaper RTIC. I don't have experience with their coolers, but their tumblers work just as well as the Yeti and RTIC.
I have an Ozark that I used for a work cooler. It's heavy and won't fly out of the truck and seals nicely to keep dust out. However, they do not keep ice very well.

I have Orca's as my main back breaking heavy coolers and they work really well. They can also be found on sale from time to time unlike Yeti.

Edit: I just looked up my 75qt Orca cooler and it's $90 more retail than when I bought it 4 years ago. So not sure it's that great of a deal.
Last edited by Dakota on Mon May 24, 2021 1:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by SchralpTheGnar »

I'm a huge fan of my Coleman 62 Quart Xtreme 5 Wheeled Cooler
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Conor
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by Conor »

greenonion wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 7:44 am
d_baker wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 7:53 pm Only suggestion I have, or at least to mention what works for me, is to use a gallon jug or several powerade bottles, and freeze water in them before a trip. They take up space, but as they melt I have drinkable water and I don't have a pool of water in cooler (if one is using ice cubes or block ice).

Powerade over gatorade, due to shape/outside diameter of bottles.
And Power Ade's sugar free Citrus Peach is awesome.
Good suggestion. Another along these lines is using something like an empty and cleaned-out sour cream container and fill it partially with water, then freeze into large hockey pucks made of ice. Ice stays solid longer. Then combine with regular cubed ice.
the half gallon juice bottles (like the safeway link below) work best for me. they have rectangular bottoms and you can fit a lot of them in the cooler with minimal wasted space.

https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-de ... 20370.html
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Re: Good Coolers but not Yeti

Post by headsizeburrito »

Bale wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 7:18 pm We like our Lifetime cooler, but haven’t had a Yeti to compare. About $100, kinda heavy when empty.
I'll second Lifetime, used mine a couple weeks ago on a four day trip with fairly warm weather and still had a decent bit of ice still frozen at the end. They are a little heavy, but that's kind of unavoidable with lots of insulation and hefty seals/latches. Seems pretty well built and durable overall.
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