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Originally posted by PorkchopEverybody knows that a Yeti is a high performing cooler, but at the same time how often do you need to keep ice frozen for 7 days? I’d bet that 75%+ of the people that have them don’t need that kind of performance. Kind of like all the little league kids wearing Under Armor stuff in baseball and football. Most people are getting it to fit in and look cool. Like a poster said earlier it’s been proven that Yeti’s aren’t the highest performing coolers out there. They are tough and will hold up for a long time and for those that are/were tired of buying igloos every other year that’s a reason to buy one. Hell, I have a Yeti 35, but only bc it was a gift. Great cooler, but not my personal favorite due to weight.
Under normal circumstances nobody needs to keep ice for that long.However in SW Florida these are not normal times.My son left Sumter yesterday to head back home after Irma.Sure hope his Yeti lives up to its billing because I’m not sure he’ll be able to find ice for a few days down there.
I think the Yeti soft coolers are extremely dumb, personally. Plenty of other coolers will keep your drinks cold for a day or 2 at the beach that don’t weigh 25 lbs on their own or cost $300. Only reason you’re buying that is for the name. I’ve been really impressed with Polar Bear soft coolers on ice retention for $100-200. To each his own!Porkchop Express II
I’ve actually grown to love my Yeti Hopper 30 for the boat (I also have the smaller 20 size and it’s great for inside the truck during road trips). I use a hard cooler for fish and I use the soft sided cooler for beverages. It’s plenty big enough to hold ice, drinks and a few sammiches for three people but it doesn’t take up as much space as a hard cooler and it’s lighter. The soft sided style coolers aren’t designed or intended to hold ice as long as their hard cooler counterparts. They’re designed for the “grab and go” applications. It easily holds ice all day while on the water (actually for 2 days) and they’re tough as nails. The Hopper is made out of the same PVC material that’s used to make rafts like Maravia and the zippers are made by a company in Germany that makes the zippers for the majority of the survival suits used on fishing/crab boats in the Bering Sea. I don’t know how much it costs to make the entire cooler but I do know the zipper alone costs Yeti $70 per zipper. I also like the various “tie down” points and MOLLE loops on the cooler.
Not that I’d EVER do this, but I’ve seen, first hand, a jeep drive over a Hopper soft sided cooler (filled with water) and the cooler (bag portion) nor the zipper failed or burst. I’ve seen the commercial on TV but I actually witnessed the same demo in person and was blown away. Again, I know that’s like saying you don’t need a cooler to hold ice for 14 days (under normal circumstances) but to know your cooler “can” do that or it “can” hold up to being run over by a jeep gives me peace of mind knowing my coolers will and can take anything I’ll put it through. I’m a big fan of “over-built.”
God bless the “ignore” function.
First off I use Coleman Extreme coolers. They work for me. The Ozark hard and soft my buddy has works great too. I know if you were a guide and had clients pretty regular it would be a plus. If you got big John sitting on your Coleman and your boat slams a big wake or wave it is a good change you going to crack it somewhere. Bottom or top just doesn’t handle abuse that well. Also the space factor. You can stand on it for casting platform (weight and skid pads help that) - sit on it - and its a cooler. Last but not least you want to have ice at the end of the day until you get home. They have their place. When I get my dream boat Maverick on day I will have one on front to cast off of. LOL:smiley:
J Ford
Every summer I threw away coolers that were crushed by pallets of sod,seed,fertilizer, or the numerous loads of firewood . McElveen gave me this yeti when I bought the truck 7 years ago, only replaced the rubber latches once . Toughest cooler I’ve ever owned,period.
Love my Frigid Rigid.
Only 11 years old. Will be passed down for generations.
You can keep those stickers and plastic roto doodads.
All you need is the sticker and hat, any cooler will do: http://www.****icoolers.com/. Order yours now.
I have an RTIC cooler. Good sturdy cooler for the money. I also have plenty of other cheap coolers that serve their purpose as well. If you need either very sturdy or an ice locker or both, then performance coolers are worth the money and there are a lot of options these days. If you ONLY need to keep drinks, etc cold for the day and will be in and out of the cooler often, most any cheap cooler will do fine. The keep ice performance of “performance coolers” (all of them!) goes way down when you open it often. There is no right or wrong, just what works for you and no one else is wrong for doing what works for them.
“Cheap” Igloo or Coleman coolers work very well when you chill the drinks a day before putting them in the cooler, freeze your ice hard a day ahead if is the wet sloppy kind from the 16/20 lb machines, and throw a couple of frozen water bottles in for good measure. Kept groceries and drinks cold for an entire weekend many years running while chasing the travel softball circuit in the hottest months. The new hot rod coolers are much more durable, but also heavier.
Pioneer 222 Sportfish
Yamaha 250
I remember when SSI coolers were the bomb. They did the job on keeping ice…and not as heavy. They were pricey then as well…and worth it when ice is scarce.
I bought a $100 Ozark Trail at wally world, put Reddi Ice in it (no chlorine), use it to cool my bait tank, replinish drinks, extra ice for fish cooler when needed. Definitely worth it and it’s a nice casting platform. The cheap knockoffs do the same job for less!
I will say that my experience with Yeti’s customer service has been excellent. I had a 5 year old 45qt that started sweating out of the blue one day this summer. Sent an email to customer service, half expecting them to tell me “TS, the warranty period is up” but got a phone call within an hour, asking for pics of the cooler (not even of the sweating, they just wanted side and front shots to confirm size I guess). After I sent the pictures, they called again to get my address so they could ship a replacement cooler. Sent the sweaty Yeti back to them with their prepaid label after I got the replacement.
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations,neither are you here to live up to mine” Peter Tosh - I Am That I Am
Some people view these expensive coolers as a status symbol of some kind. I am jealous of just the opposite guy…the guy with the commercial ice machine in his garage that doesn’t care how long his ice lasts. That is the guy I want to be.