coolers

[hog slayer]

I'm in the market for another basic cooler... for FOOD. I am NOT spending hundreds of dollars on a cooler that only gets used a few times a year. Any suggestions on where to buy and what? This will take care of freezer food during our move. Afterwords it'll get used sparingly during vacations to the blue ridge.

 

[Vigilant]

Ummmm, pretty much anything will work then!

 

[Haven]

Just get one of the cheap Styrofoam coolers. When I go up to Wisconsin to visit family I bring one with me. I toss what I am bringing back in there and it works great for the trip back.

 

[Dean C.]

Normally I preach the song of the magical Yeti coolers that I am personally a fan of, but for the listed purposes this appears it would do the job just fine.
Coleman Xtreme Coolers | 52 Quart Cooler | Coleman

 

[jd4320t]

Yep, you're like me. Just get a Coleman.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Coleman. If you need longevity go to Meijer and buy a block of dry ice.

Just beware dry ice will freeze your sh** solid more than you know if you use too much. I have access to dry ice pellets at work. I thought I would be clever and grab a couple pounds for the drive up to the vacation cottage so I tossed them in a garbage bag and put them in w the food. Got there and it worked great, and I even had plenty of dry ice left!

Trouble is the entire cooler's contents were frozen solid, even though it was filled with only refrigerated goods. Everything, including the 2 gallons of milk, were frozen solid.

It all worked out in the end, but for a minute I was concerned.

 

[SMiller]

RTIC, buy once/cry once.

 

[hoosierdoc]

I bought a huge one 10 years ago and it still works great for your needs. Went to walmart and bought the biggest one. I don't mind adding ice, I do mind spending $400 on a mid-sized cooler

 

[M67]

RTIC, buy once/cry once.

You mean Yeti

 

[thunderchicken]

RTIC, buy once/cry once.

Agreed. My brother bought a RTIC last year and took it camping for a week in July and it held ice fantastically. I would love to see a true side by side test between it and a yeti.. Yeti's are way over priced. We have a couple coleman 52gt coolers we take to the race track with us. They do pretty well but we almost always have to add ice.

 

[Slawburger]

Wheels. Yes, you can put a non-wheeled cooler on a cart but if you have to go get the cart first it won't be worth the hassle so you'll end up just lugging the heavy, awkward cooler. Having a cooler with built-in wheels is very convenient.

 

[SMiller]

You mean Yeti

No, I don't have a ego...

 

[steve0322]

Agreed. My brother bought a RTIC last year and took it camping for a week in July and it held ice fantastically. I would love to see a true side by side test between it and a yeti.. Yeti's are way over priced. We have a couple coleman 52gt coolers we take to the race track with us. They do pretty well but we almost always have to add ice.

I don't have any of the coolers from Yeti, Rtic, Ozark Trail...but i do have tumblers from all three. I can say that I can't tell a difference in the performance between the $10 Ozark Trail or a $35 Yeti. I have an Ozark Trail tumbler at work and it keeps the ice for a good 18-24hrs. I've read similar reviews on the coolers, so I'm not sure the difference in performance justifies the huge difference in price.

 

[Vigilant]

I don't have any of the coolers from Yeti, Rtic, Ozark Trail...but i do have tumblers from all three. I can say that I can't tell a difference in the performance between the $10 Ozark Trail or a $35 Yeti. I have an Ozark Trail tumbler at work and it keeps the ice for a good 18-24hrs. I've read similar reviews on the coolers, so I'm not sure the difference in performance justifies the huge difference in price.

The Ozark trail tumbler actually bested the Yeti in one test I saw, but Yeti, because I can! Corvette vs, Chevette, both are cars...

 

[Cameramonkey]

I don't have any of the coolers from Yeti, Rtic, Ozark Trail...but i do have tumblers from all three. I can say that I can't tell a difference in the performance between the $10 Ozark Trail or a $35 Yeti. I have an Ozark Trail tumbler at work and it keeps the ice for a good 18-24hrs. I've read similar reviews on the coolers, so I'm not sure the difference in performance justifies the huge difference in price.

The Ozark trail tumbler actually bested the Yeti in one test I saw, but Yeti, because I can! Corvette vs, Chevette, both are cars...

I saw that test too. Impressive. I actually saved my company big money. They announced as part of meeting minutes they were considering buying RTIC/Yeti tumblers as prizes. I suggested the Ozark Trail because of that test.

I think the RTIC/YETIs are great if you are using them for thier intended purpose. But if you dont NEED to keep a bag of ice frozen for a whole week without replenishment, why spend the money? I think its silly to spend that crazy money when the owner will never be farther than 15 minutes from somebody selling $2 bags of ice or out for more than a weekend which a Coleman can handle easily.

Then again I think its silly for someone to invest in a heavy duty pickup just to commute. But thats none of my business.

 

[CountryBoy19]

IMHO, the coleman extreme or the igloo white 5-day (forget what they're called). I will say that if you think you may want to stack the cooler or put something on top of it the Igloo cooler has a much more robust lid. My buddy has a coleman extreme and if you sit on it the lid will start to bend in a little bit. I have an Igloo I got for free second-hand and it has served me well. It's a little old, and the hinges broke off a few years ago, but I've been able to keep it going and it holds ice for a really long time.


Small side-note, for anybody interested in keeping frozen things frozen. I have discovered the "trick" to making your own "ice-packs" that will freeze in your home deep-freeze but keep things actually frozen in a cooler (no need to go get dry-ice, which as noted, will freeze everything else solid). I make salt-water bottles (old pop/Gatorade bottles), but instead of table salt which freezes at -6 degrees, I use potassium chloride which freezes at 11 degrees. The idea is that your freezer can get cold enough to freeze them solid at 11 degrees, but cannot get cold enough to freeze them to -6 (most freezers can't get that low). The problem with using regular ice is that it melts at 32 degrees so it won't actually keep things frozen, it will only keep them cold. The salt-water bottles will keep things frozen solid, and if you have enough of them it can freeze things similar to the dry ice just not as extreme (dry ice is -109). When travelling I will often put frozen foods on one side of a cooler with the frozen bottles and separate things with a couple towels for insulation, then put refrigerated foods on the other side. There is enough "cold" that comes through from the frozen side to keep the refrigerated stuff cold without freezing it, and the best part is there is no water mess from melting ice. Using this method I've been able to keep frozen breastmilk frozen solid for over 36 hrs on a road-trip and I'm sure I could go longer if needed.

 

[Nojoy621]

I was at Costco over the weekend and they had some good deals on Coleman coolers. I would check them out.

 

[hog slayer]

Costco... Coleman. check

 

[M67]

Agreed. My brother bought a RTIC last year and took it camping for a week in July and it held ice fantastically. I would love to see a true side by side test between it and a yeti.. Yeti's are way over priced. We have a couple coleman 52gt coolers we take to the race track with us. They do pretty well but we almost always have to add ice.

No, I don't have a ego...

Chinese knockoffs get bashed here and most other places, but it amazes me people still recommend RTIC because that's what they are, a shameless knockoff. I wanted to like RTIC, I really did, but that's all they are. A company that robbed the original, they have $0 invested in R&D, they just copied what was done from a company that actually bothered to do research and testing

 

[themurseman]

Yeti's are a knockoff of Engel.