anyone have experience with yeti coolers?

[sambojones]

I managed to score a couple of yeti 65qt tundra coolers pretty much at cost just wondering if anyone has any experience with em? I'm on the fence about keeping em cuz they were still pretty damn spendy... I haven't found much in the way of reviews probably because of the astronomical price but if they're really as great as the hype implies it might be cheaper in the long run to buy 1 good thing vs replacing a cheap one multiple times and less wasteful 6

[Thorormr]

There are a bunch of reviews here and there, and a couple youtube comparison tests. Don't remember the urls off the top of my head, but consensus seems to be that the Yeti's are durable and nice. However bang for the buck falls to the Coleman 5 or 7 day model. It depends if you are loading the thing on a pack mule into darkest Peru or sliding it into a mechanized transport for camping. If you don't need it to survive the occasional fall into a ravine you probably don't need the Yeti, but then again you'll never need to buy another.

[Earthwalker]

Ted Nugent thinks very highly of Yeti coolers

[lucky420]

td nugent is a yeti but he is far from cool. Very very far

[Boijoy]

I have a Yeti & have used it at BM. It stayed inside a canvas shade & I used frozen drinking water bottles instead of cube ice.
after 6 days there was still ice in the bottles. Note. I did not have raw meat in the cooler. Mostly cheese, salami & pre-cooked stuff.
the down side, for me, is that is is SUPER heavy when filled & I can't budge it by myself.

[Earthwalker]

td nugent is a yeti but he is far from cool. Very very far

I take offense, Ted Nugent is an American hero

[Boijoy]

Ted is a douch.

[mytripod]

Yeti coolers are awesome! I'll be bringing one again this year. As one commenter said, they are very heavy. Since I was solo camping, I just asked my nice neighbors to help me get it out of my truck. They left before I did, so I wandered a little farther to find help to put it back in the truck, and then shared my remaining really good beers with the folks who helped me lift. The best way to maximize your yeti is to put dry ice in it the day before you pack your food. Once it is cold, it stays cold.

[Capt. RON]

AWESOME coolers! I have the 65 and 105 models and they keep ICE longer than any of those "extreme" or "marine" coolers from Coleman or Igloo! For the 2012 burn I used the 105 and started with a 10lb bag of cubed ice for a base layer, then 10lb of dry ice, then another 10lb of cubed ice. 3x10lb BLOCK ice on top of that.
Went Saturday to Friday before I even thought about going to ICE 9 to resupply.

[tattoogoddess]

Ted is a douch.

You mean douche. Douch sounds to much lie Dutch, pretty sure Ted is not that lol.

[mytripod]

Another great thing about yeti coolers is that you can padlock them. It makes them bear resistant (not bear proof).

[lbhat]

if your looking at Yeti coolers...
give a look at: ENGEL coolers http://www.engel-usa.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=60&vmcchk=1&Itemid=60

I have had one for 2 years... works just as well as my buddys Yeti.... but less $$

YMMV

[theCryptofishist]

As Politikal Officer at Apokolyptika, I use Marx and Engles' coolers.

[mytripod]

Those engels look really nice, so I called my husband and asked him whether the department had researched the engels before buying the yetis. He said yes, and that the reason they chose not to buy the engels is that they are made in China, whereas the yeti is made partly in the US and partly in the Phillipines. That's your cost difference right there. It's like my Springbar tent that is made in the US and the very similar and nice Kodiak tent, which is made in China. It's hard to completely avoid goods from China, assuming you want to, but my household and my husband's workplace both try as hard as we can to choose goods made mostly in the US.

[theCryptofishist]

Good for you. I fear I've kinda given up the fight, but it's a worthy path to take.

[BunBuns]

I say if you already have them and their paid for, keep 'em. We've used them for cut fish loins (which need to stay on ice) for extended trips. Easily can last a week if not opened on a constant basis. Better than any standard white Igloo or Coleman in similar situations. Agreeing with others that they are super heavy when they need to be moved, but hey I'm a girl, what do I know?

[FIGJAM]

I know that for the cost of one of those coolers I could build something bigger and better!

[sambojones]

Just thought I'd post an update on this. I ended up keeping the yeti coolers and using them at the burn last year for food storage. They worked great I only had to add some block ice once on friday. If I was in the market for a high end cooler and had to pay retail or close to it I'd probably go with the Engel as they seem of similar quality and in some tests have actually held ice a little longer than the yeti. For me the yeti made sense because I have a aquaintance who can hook me up with samples from sporting good company reps, so I was able to score mine for around 160 no tax versus the $390+tax they retail at and never go on sale. I've gone through a few broken coolers at around $50-70 each for some of the cheaper high performance offerings from coleman and igloo I figured if this cooler would last me as long as 2 or 3 cheap coolers and saved me a marginal amound on ice then it'd be worth it. If you camp a lot and use a cooler for months out of the year it's possible that one of these high end coolers even at retail could pay for itself with a year or two just on saved ice money + time and hassle draining the cooler. I think for the average burner and most people it's complete overkill.

[sambojones]

[quote="FIGJAM"]I know that for the cost of one of those coolers I could build something bigger and better! [/quote]

I've often thought about this. They're such simple tools how hard could it really be to make a home made badass one.