I took possession of a yet I roadie this spring and gotta say I am underwhelmed. I can put cold beer in it, a bag of ice and essentially all the ice is water the next day. Really do not notice much of a difference from my small igloo.
Not saying it's a piece of junk but cannot see the justification for this little cooler for 250. Beginning to believe they are a status symbol.
I feel the same as you...I was putting ice in mine every day while road tripping this spring..Grant it we was in and out of it a lot but I still expected better then what I got.
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The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword
I have a Yeti. Gift. I don't think it keeps ice much better than say good Igloo.
That said. It's way tougher. It has better quality parts. They can be changed easily.
Easy to lock. Lock in bed of truck. Tough for standing on.
I find it similar to expensive shades. Once you have them you take extra care not to lose or break them.
There are no numbers on any of my clocks below 8. Then all of a sudden, 2 days before turkey season they appear. Then right after the season they disappear.
What's up with that
I read reviews of many coolers a couple years back
And the Marine Extreme was equally as good as a Yeti
Buy a new one every year and 10 years you spent what a
Yeti would cost.
vaturkey wrote:Glad to know this ! I've been saving my Cabela's points for over 2 years to get a 75 Quart Yeti ! Rekon I will stick with my Igloo !
Sal and I bought a five day igloo or Coleman a few years back and are happy for the price. Maybe a yet I in the long run would hold ice a little longer and the features doe listed are true but I cannot see justification for the price.
With that said I bet 80 percent of my clients had yetis.
Don't own one and never will but did you "condition" it a day or 2 ahead of time with ice? Supposedly, from what I've read, a day or so before you use it put in some frozen gallon jugs to prep it. Probably a good idea for any cooler really. I've deff seen the yeti nut huggers and bashers on forums come to a head
Your just not freezing your ice long enough. Five day trip equals ice that's been in the freezer for five days, six just to be safe.
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turkey_slayer wrote:Don't own one and never will but did you "condition" it a day or 2 ahead of time with ice? Supposedly, from what I've read, a day or so before you use it put in some frozen gallon jugs to prep it. Probably a good idea for any cooler really. I've deff seen the yeti nut huggers and bashers on forums come to a head
No it's pretty much in use everyday mkw said the same thing. But I do that for holding bbq but with hot water so I understand what your saying but a 250 dollar cooler should not need it.
Another thing it's heavier than he'll. Even the little guy when loaded down, couldn't imagine the large ones.
Treerooster wrote:Yeti coolers have the best....marketing campaign.
U are not kidding. That is the truth probably 80 percent of my clients had at least one.
I could not help but laugh on the 4th, Sal and I stayed at a resort on lake Michigan, a guy comes down to the beach with a yeti hat and a cheap Coleman.
If you don't mind spending bigger bucks, the best coolers out there are made by Frigid Rigid in Florida. I had one and sold it with my boat years ago. Unlike Yeti, they don't have a big marketing campaign and aren't sold in men's clothing shops. How Yeti became a men's clothing accessory is beyond me. Gil http://frigidrigid.com/
My wife bought one for me a few years ago on my birthday. I can say it is the best cooler I have ever bought. I usually go through a few every couple years with the tops breaking etc. This cooler is tough and holds ice etc very well. I shot 3 turkeys in Texas and froze them. Then left for Nerbraska, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming. I finally got the last couple breasts out 5 days later to cook and they were still partiallly frozen. I love my Yeti plus I am all about status symbols!
For me spending that kind of cash for a cooler would be absurd even though almost all my hunting is done while camping. I rarely go more than 5 days and other than some Sept dove & teal, and late spring turkey, my hunting is not done in real hot weather. A few frozen gallon jugs of water will hold for 5 days in my igloo cooler. I think I spent about $70 on it and I thought that was a lot.
Heck, on some trips I use the cooler to keep stuff from freezing.
and then there are those trips it would be better to have the cooler inside by the woodstove with the lid open.
I think I could buy 5 or 10 5-day Igloo coolers to 1 Yeti. The Yetis are heavy and pretty bulky relative to what you can put in one. That bulk is always there even when temps are moderate or cold. If its real hot I just throw a couple more gallon jugs of ice in.
I have a 65 qt Yeti and several several other cheaper coolers. Yeti was a gift. I won a second one and sold it.
Ice retention is better but for most they don't use one enough to justify cost of Yeti to save ice. The cooling conditioning thing prior to use has merit and here is why. It takes more energy to cool off the inside of a Yeti than an equally sized cheap cooler. This is the same concept in reverse of my Nissan coffee thermos. It was $50. If you put a hot pot of coffee in it and do the same with a $20 Stanley, you may be disappointed. However, fill it with hot water and allow the inside of cooler to get hot while cooling down water rather than coffee and the quality of the Nissan will shine. I do this twice then add coffee and the Nissan coffee will be hot the following morning. The opposite is true taking more energy to heat up the inside of a Yeti as well. That is why ice will last longer once the inside has cooled to 32 degrees. It is very possible the first day or two of use that a cheap cooler may hold ice better than a yeti because the yeti takes more energy to cool down. For someone who only uses a day or two at a time this would not be desirable. If you buy a Yeti for ice savings you will have to use it a lot to justify cost. If you expect ice to last two or three times as long, you will be disappointed, especially if you add in initial cool down period for cooler and contents.
Durability and quality of construction is real value in my opinion. They are built like a tank. The seal is unbelievable.! After a little ice shrinking from solid to liquid it is VERY difficult to open the lid to the point of great frustration! Mine is five years old and has been through all kinds of heck but other than a couple scratches it is good as new!
As a status symbol I think that is offset by worry it will be stolen. They do disappear. Also a draw back is weight. They are very heavy. Many have jumped in the roto-molded cooler market. Most seem really good also.
My favorite cooler right now is a 100 quart Coleman I found half price at Coleman outlet. It is extreme cooler with stainless hinges and stainless lid cord. It will hold two whole gobblers with ice and more. $50. Boom!
While looking at Yeti products the only one that continually seems to get high marks in reviews and head to head tests are their tumblers. I watched some vids on Youtube comparing them with others and they really seem to work well. They run about $50 vs $25 for the competition, but for keeping hot hot and cold cold, they seem to be the best. I am considering getting one.
I have a Yeti tumbler, the larger one. It is crazy good. Finish a drink at night and when I wake up in the morning there will still be ice in it. Not sure that's worth $40? A vendor give me one and I use the heck out of it. The coozie is supposed to be amazing but who lets a 12 oz get hot???
I have a yeti koozie(actually got it for my wife) and their tumblr, they both work really good. From what I understand yeti had a temp patent on their coolers, and since they had no competition they could set their own prices. It recently expired therefore opening the door to several competitors. I researched them for a long time and couldn't pull the trigger. However I found another company that makes similar style coolers, Engel. I bought their 35qt cooler and absolutely love it. I paid right at $220 for it including shipping and to me it has been well worth it. All these roto-molded style coolers claim 7-8 day ice retention and it's not a lie, it's just not 100% accurate. They fill the cooler with ice, and sit it in a climate controlled room, and they don't open it until day 7 or 8, and if there's 1 piece of ice left that's what they go with. I've gotten 3-4 days out of my Engel. After the ice melted the thicker walls kept everything freezing cold, and that's the difference. I've used it on tons of beach trips and hunting trips and it performs well. Again no I'm not getting close to what they advertise, but I'm not having to run out and buy ice every day either.
My dad retired from UPS several years ago and has since started a lawn business. Nothing huge, just enough yards to keep him busy and give him some play money. A month or so ago he got behind due to heavy rain fall for several days. So he asked me to help him catch up, and I did. He had an igloo cooler that was a few years old that we used everyday for gatorades and water. Each morning we put our drinks in and had to stop to buy ice, actually the ice melted each day around 1-2 but it was cold enough to last us through the day. Well that got old quick! So I brought my Engel the next day. We filled it with our drinks and then bought the ice. We didn't have to stop for ice again until the 4th morning, and by that time the ice was pretty much gone except for a few tiny pieces here and there, however the water from the melted ice was plenty cold to keep our drinks cold. Now this is in Alabama and the temps were in the mid 90's with 100% humidity, and the cooler rode in the back of the truck in the direct sunlight. The ice didn't last 7-8 days but it lasted a lot longer than a normal cooler and it maintained a colder temperature which allowed us to get by that much longer. My dad wasn't a believer at that time but a few days later he ordered his own! Yeah it costs a few extra bucks up front but it pays for itself with the convenience of not having to refill your cooler every other day. I'm sure a yeti, grizzly, pelican, orca, etc would do just as good a job. My choice happened to be the Engel 35 and it took a non-believer and made him a believer real quick!
I fill my big Yeti with 60lbs of ice I don't have power where i hunt in Florida. I use my other yeti for drinks. The ice stays intact in the big yeti for for four day hunts. I take it out as I need it. The smaller drink cooler holds ice better than any other cooler i've owned you have to keep the drain plug tight.
Its 90 degrees down here and the yeti solved a big problem of having to buy ice everyday. Sorry your experiences haven't been as good .
of a yet I roadie this spring and gotta say I am underwhelmed. I can put cold beer in it, a bag of ice and essentially all the ice is water the next day. Really do not notice much of a difference from my small igloo.
Ding, ding, ding....and we have a winner.
Gil
