Your favourite cooler

bridma · Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 11:41 pm Post subject: Your favourite cooler

Do you carry a cooler onboard that you are really pleased with? Come across any duds?
After talking to Terry on Rock-C, the Coleman Ultimate Xtreme models are top of my list. The one I favour is the, Coleman 50qt Ultimate Xtreme Marine Wheeled Cooler, 29"L x 17"H x 12.5"W, approx $100. I think the dimensions would work well on a 22.
My next problem is the Admiral. We have kept lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber in the bilge under the dining table for as long as 10 days and it was still edible. Being of English origin, I don't like my ale stored in a fridge (ruins the flavour in my humble opinion), but in the bilge it is closer to celler temp, 59 degrees, like the old country. So the Admiral says, what do we want a cooler for? Does she have a valid point? Or can you help me out with information that I can use, validating the purchase of a cooler?

Martin.

hardee · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:31 am Post subject:

I have a Coleman Extreme and have had great success with it holding ice. it is not the wheeled kind, but it does have thick walls and a thick lid. Not the best latch in the world, but a bungee takes good care of that. It has held ice for 5-6 days, but I do put a cover on it.

Boating magazine did a cooler comparison last summer and the Coleman was the least expensive that held the ice the longest.

My boat came with two Igloo coolers, and so I have used others to compare to. They do not hold like the Coleman.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

Stan Major · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 6:46 am Post subject:

Has anyone bought a Yeti cooler? Are they worth the small fortune they cost?

NewMoon · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:10 am Post subject:

We had a big Igloo cooler on our C-Dory (more than 15 years ago). Could have been better, but not sure what better choices we had back then. This year I "invested" in a 75-qt Yeti. The idea was that with a decent load of ice it might keep fish (and bait) in good shape for a few days as we cruised/fished SE Alaska for the summer. It exceeded my expections - still held a good bit of ice after 7-8 days. And this was sitting out in the cockpit in the warmest sunniest summer in many SE Alaskan's memory.

It has great thick insulation, super sturdy build, and an excellent lid seal (sometimes I had to loosen the drain plug to break the vacuum before I could open the lid). Its top makes a fine fish cleaning table, at just the right height as it sits on our engine cover, and (after the fish cleaning residue is cleaned off) it makes a fine cockpit seat.

Our fridge is pretty small. The Yeti cooler made a significant difference in how much fish we could get from great remote fishing locations to a processor in fine shape to be vacuum packed and frozen to send home. I had worried that it would take up more space than it was worth, but it was such a good seat and cleaning table that I didn't mind the space tradeoff.

For us, well worth the investment.

jkidd · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:27 am Post subject:

I have four of them a 75, 2-45's and a Roadie. They are very well built. At Powell this year I was there for 5 days and never added any ice. After I got home they still had ice in them for another 5 days after I got home. I will admit that I wasn't getting into them after I got home. I usually break the other coolers by standing on them, not a problem with the Yeti's. When you get them loaded they are heavy so I load them in the boat and they stay there for the trip. You could probably buy a lot of cheap coolers for a long time and throw them away when they break. If your are looking for a way to hold ice for a long time they work and they are bear proof.

Will-C · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:37 am Post subject: Your favourite cooler

I saw a Coleman Extreme, Engel, and Yeti test. The Coleman was the best buy for the money. The Yeti and the Engel are pricey but in the test the Engel came out slightly better. We have pictures in our album doing an Igloo marine Engel side by side. We bought the 65 quart model Engel with an optional aluminum tray so things don't get water logged. I have a cushioned seat on top which is comfortable as a cockpit seat. The thing I liked was the hinge set up which is a 1/4 stainless steel rod and I think that both the Yeti and the Engel are built pretty tough. The Engel is lockable. As for ice keeping ability it depends a lot on the outside temperature. Blocks of ice hold up better. But for being able to get the most stuff packed in there we go with crushed. We buy box wine and remove the box and the bladder fits in there much better than bottles. I also try to find 8 ounce cans of beer as they fit in there better. Sometimes we freeze plastic milk jugs with water and then use the water when they thaw out. The Engel has done alright but for the cost I don't know if I would go that way again. Maybe a low voltage refridge / freezer in the cockpit but I worry about corrosion as we see a lot of salt water.
D.D.

Robbi · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:57 am Post subject:

I have two Yeti coolers, the Roadie and a Tundra 35. I stand and cast on the 35 when I fish in my open boat. I don't have to worry about animals getting into them when camping, and they really do hold ice for long periods of time. I just returned from a road trip to Utah. I took frozen smoked salmon for the kids, and after 3 days on the road, it was still frozen when we arrived. I like um!

Robbi

breausaw · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 10:56 am Post subject:

150qt Rubbermaid with stainless hardware and freezer packs, it's da bomb!

ghone · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:04 am Post subject:

You don't need a cooler Martin! However they make a handy extra seat when visitors arrive for sundowners I used the Igloo 100 on wheels for 2 years. It's good for 3-4 days in summer Desolation sound and up to a week in springtime lake Powell. It froze things in Alberta in March! If you can keep veggies for 10 days and drink warmish beer you've got 'er made. Our fruit and a lot of veggies are in stackable bins under the galley. It's cool enough and they do well. Our downfall is my mate insists on cold Captain Morgan spiced rum at sundowner, (I like it too) and cold beer sometimes. The rum goes with fruit juice and Pepsi. Ice cubes too! (A Kerri On Swampwater). Looks like California Delta water. We need to keep that stuff cold. Oh and a bit of milk etc. some steaks, fish. since in the last 2 years, and about 16 months of that full time, I spent a small fortune buying ice. Some places don't sell block anymore. We could only get party ice. We had to leave a couple places as ice was getting low and we didn't want to spoil steaks or have the rum get warm! Horrors!! We just upgraded to a Waeco/Dometic cf50 that quite a few folks here recommend. Love it so far. For 2-3 week trips I wouldn't spend the dough. For us I think it will do well. I may need a bigger solar panel however. Oh the complexity of it all. Cheers. George

Wandering Sagebrush · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:09 am Post subject:

We use both Coleman Extremes and a Yeti, depending on where we are going. The Yeti can handle dry ice, and is mostly bear proof when locked. I like the Yeti best.

PaulNBriannaLynn · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:56 am Post subject:

We have a 65 quart Pelican cooler that is really amazing. Ice will still be ice after a week in this thing. Its great to not have to find and buy ice, while were camping. Its heavy and seemingly bombproof.

They also have a lifetime warranty and made in the U.S. I ordered it off amazon and at the time was half the cost of the comparable Yeti (also really nice!)

The fancy cooler is kind of a luxury item, but I'd buy another one for sure.

Sunbeam · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:26 pm Post subject:

rogerbum · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:33 pm Post subject:

Sunbeam · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:41 pm Post subject:

thataway · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 2:43 pm Post subject:

We have an Outer Banks (65% off the last days of "Boaters World " existence). This is the same cooler as Icy Trek--and one of the older model "Rough Neck", Yeti coolers.

With any of the high end coolers it is best to "pre chill" the cooler with ice before you pack it with solid ice.

When checking cooler performance you have to differentiate between a week in Glacier Bay AK, vs a week in the summer at lake Powell, where it will be over 100 degrees during the day.

We also have 2 Coleman Xtreme coolers. We like the Outer Banks cooler better--on similar days, when we had both aboard, the Outer Banks (Yeti type) held ice better.

Tricks we use at Powell: get only block ice. Pre cool. Keep the cooler full. We put frozen food from the chest freezer on the top layer of the cooler each AM for that night's dinner meal. We do have a cheap bilge pump to get the water out every few days. We also have a piece of foam about 1/2" thick, with foil on both sides, which is slightly larger than the top of the cooler. There is a terry cloth towel we keep wet and over the ice chest. The foil/foam is over that. The terry cloth acts as an evaporative cooler also.