coolers

[hoosierdoc]

but generic drugs are great...

i do not understand why you need a tumbler to keep ice for 24h. When I put Liquid in a tumbler and drink it, I am stealing the cold (I know that is not how science works), and then I fill up my tumbler again. I just don't get why that's a thing.

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

 

[hoosierdoc]

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

and this, exactly. I laugh when I see YETI stickers on cars. It's about as bad as an apple logo sticker.

 

[SMiller]

Yeti's are a knockoff of Engel.

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.

I live in Florida, keep a cooler in both vehicles 365 days a year, always half full of ice, want to guess the savings of having a cooler that can keep ice for days vs buying that $2 bag of ice everyday? Cooler pays for itself in the first 6 months...

 

[SMiller]

Yeti's are a knockoff of Engel.

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

Yeti is a Chinese knockoff as well, keep drinking the coolaid...

 

[Cameramonkey]

I live in Florida, keep a cooler in both vehicles 365 days a year, always half full of ice, want to guess the savings of having a cooler that can keep ice for days vs buying that $2 bag of ice everyday? Cooler pays for itself in the first 6 months...

YOU sir are who benefit from the high end coolers. I'm talking about Joe Sixpack that wants to keep his beer and cold cuts cold on a single day outing on the lake or maybe a weekend camping. They'll never realize that savings.

 

[jsharmon7]

I had never heard of Yeti until that Chris Jansen song about buying a boat. Then, all their coolers and gear started popping up at Dick's. After that I saw their hats and stickers everywhere and it seems all the rage.

 

[hoosierdoc]

That's how you know it's ridiculous, when it hits "cool" status

 

[bwframe]

...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.

This is interesting. Wonder if a couple of bottles of this would prolong working loose ice in a cooler. Say a cooler that resides in a hot vehicle or sitting in the sun on a hot boat deck, waiting for fresh caught fish?

Where and what form do you get your potassium chloride? Brand, price, etc?

 

[CountryBoy19]

I live in Florida, keep a cooler in both vehicles 365 days a year, always half full of ice, want to guess the savings of having a cooler that can keep ice for days vs buying that $2 bag of ice everyday? Cooler pays for itself in the first 6 months...

Did you read the OP? He isn't using it for the purpose you use for, he doesn't need overkill... yet you're pushing awfully hard for him to buy something he doesn't need or want...

This is interesting. Wonder if a couple of bottles of this would prolong working loose ice in a cooler. Say a cooler that resides in a hot vehicle or sitting in the sun on a hot boat deck, waiting for fresh caught fish?

Where and what form do you get your potassium chloride? Brand, price, etc?

If you drop them in with wet-ice (loose ice in the process of melting) it will re-freeze it into a block that you have to chip/break apart. If you keep the ice from getting wet (keep it below freezing) then no-problems.

Potassium chloride can be had in the form of table-salt for people on low-sodium diets but you will pay dearly for it. The most economical source I found was potassium chloride softener salt (again, for people on low sodium diets). It's about $1/lb as softener salt, and IIRC $10/lb as table-salt. AFAIK, unless there is a local place that has it, there is 1 Sam's Club store in Indy that stocks the K-Cl salt, most other places you have to order it.

That being said, if you just want ice for fishing etc I don't know that the bottles are your best choice. The "thermal energy" of the salt-water is lower than that of ice. Furthermore a greater temperature differential outside vs. inside the cooler means you will have a faster heat transfer (losing that thermal energy faster). Those 2 factors combined point to it being better to just use the ice UNLESS your goal is to actually freeze the fish and keep them frozen, in which case you want something that melts at a temperature much lower than freezing point (salt water).

I hope that makes sense. I did post a thread in survival a couple years ago which goes into much more detail about this, why I set out on this mission to do this, and what I learned along the way. It seems to work really well for me. One of the added benefits that I really didn't specifically seek out, but I really enjoy, is the "no mess" aspect of it. I don't have a wet cooler to clean out when I return from a trip, and my contents don't get wet and soggy. Even if I just want to keep something "chilled" but not frozen I still use the bottles (akin to the gel ice-packs or hard ice-packs) and wrap a towel around them to keep them from freezing the contents.

 

[SMiller]

Did you read the OP? He isn't using it for the purpose you use for, he doesn't need overkill... yet you're pushing awfully hard for him to buy something he doesn't need or want...

If you drop them in with wet-ice (loose ice in the process of melting) it will re-freeze it into a block that you have to chip/break apart. If you keep the ice from getting wet (keep it below freezing) then no-problems.

Potassium chloride can be had in the form of table-salt for people on low-sodium diets but you will pay dearly for it. The most economical source I found was potassium chloride softener salt (again, for people on low sodium diets). It's about $1/lb as softener salt, and IIRC $10/lb as table-salt. AFAIK, unless there is a local place that has it, there is 1 Sam's Club store in Indy that stocks the K-Cl salt, most other places you have to order it.

That being said, if you just want ice for fishing etc I don't know that the bottles are your best choice. The "thermal energy" of the salt-water is lower than that of ice. Furthermore a greater temperature differential outside vs. inside the cooler means you will have a faster heat transfer (losing that thermal energy faster). Those 2 factors combined point to it being better to just use the ice UNLESS your goal is to actually freeze the fish and keep them frozen, in which case you want something that melts at a temperature much lower than freezing point (salt water).

I hope that makes sense. I did post a thread in survival a couple years ago which goes into much more detail about this, why I set out on this mission to do this, and what I learned along the way. It seems to work really well for me. One of the added benefits that I really didn't specifically seek out, but I really enjoy, is the "no mess" aspect of it. I don't have a wet cooler to clean out when I return from a trip, and my contents don't get wet and soggy. Even if I just want to keep something "chilled" but not frozen I still use the bottles (akin to the gel ice-packs or hard ice-packs) and wrap a towel around them to keep them from freezing the contents.

I could care less what the OP gets or doesn't get, Yeti, RTIC, and all the other brands have been brought into this fight, don't hate me for giving my $0.02...

I have wasted a ton of money in garbage coolers and ice, I will never go back to using them, the cooler industry has exploded in the last few years for good reason, crap coolers and expensive ice suck.

Some of us use coolers for heating as well, I know of several caters that use coolers to keep pork chops hot and I personally use them to cook corn on the cob for large gatherings. (One large cooler, fill with corn on the cob still in the husk but with the stalk trimmed for length, 3-4 pots of boiling water to cover corn until it is floating, put lid on and two hours later you are serving delicious sweet corn on the cob in large quantities.)

 

[dprimm]

OP - got any wool blankets? Just wrap the stuff in several layers, put in trunk and drive!

Styrofoam is your friend (don't tell the eco warriors though) if that won't work for you.

 

[hog slayer]

I thank you all for the advice. I found a decent price on a Coleman.

 

[TB1999]

My favorite cooler? Patrick Swayze in roadhouse.

 

[87iroc]

Yeti is a Chinese knockoff as well, keep drinking the coolaid...

Yah, I always assumed they were US made vs RTIC being a Chinese Knockoff. My brother clued me in after he bought a tumbler of Yeti's and it was made in china.

He is very happy with its performance...just suspect he'd prefer to have bought a rtic or another brands.

Are Yeti Coolers Made In The USA?

Looks like run of the mill Yeti's aren't made in USA...but you can special order one that is.

 

[M67]

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

If you don't have an ego then what's keeping you from buying a Yeti despite the price?

Yeti's are a knockoff of Engel.

How so? Engel was on the market 2 years before Yeti for coolers but at least the design is different and it's not a blatent copy making their logo damn near the same and calling out Engel by name in their advertisements

but generic drugs are great...

i do not understand why you need a tumbler to keep ice for 24h. When I put Liquid in a tumbler and drink it, I am stealing the cold (I know that is not how science works), and then I fill up my tumbler again. I just don't get why that's a thing.

I use several different Yetis daily. My lowballer for coffee, it's great. I get busy and don't touch my coffee for a half hour, I drink it, it's still warm and I'm not drinking room temperature or cold coffee. 32oz thermos for water, stays cold for a long time and if I fill the thing with ice and have to refile the after part several times a day, I'll still have ice cold water each day.

Or if you poor a beer in your 20oz or 30oz and you either get busy, work in the sun, or pass out, whenever you get back to it it's still cold. Drinking hot IPAs is asking for trouble.

Yeti is a Chinese knockoff as well, keep drinking the coolaid...

Yeti is Chinese made yes, but does not mean they're a knock off.

 

[SMiller]

If you don't have an ego then what's keeping you from buying a Yeti despite the price?



How so? Engel was on the market 2 years before Yeti for coolers but at least the design is different and it's not a blatent copy making their logo damn near the same and calling out Engel by name in their advertisements



I use several different Yetis daily. My lowballer for coffee, it's great. I get busy and don't touch my coffee for a half hour, I drink it, it's still warm and I'm not drinking room temperature or cold coffee. 32oz thermos for water, stays cold for a long time and if I fill the thing with ice and have to refile the after part several times a day, I'll still have ice cold water each day.

Or if you poor a beer in your 20oz or 30oz and you either get busy, work in the sun, or pass out, whenever you get back to it it's still cold. Drinking hot IPAs is asking for trouble.



Yeti is Chinese made yes, but does not mean they're a knock off.

Dude, I am not a fanboy, I don't wear a Yeti hat, I don't have a Yeti bumper sticker. I don't give a **** about a name on a cooler, it is a tool...

 

[CountryBoy19]

Dude, I am not a fanboy, I don't wear a Yeti hat, I don't have a Yeti bumper sticker. I don't give a **** about a name on a cooler, it is a tool...

Yeesh! Somebody needs to take some blood-pressure meds and go take a nap... Been a rough day or something?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Dude, I am not a fanboy, I don't wear a Yeti hat, I don't have a Yeti bumper sticker. I don't give a **** about a name on a cooler, it is a tool...

I think the beef CB has was the OP asked for a Chevy to drive one person to and from work and you suggested an Eddie Bauer edition Suburban with full trim and all the options. Thats all. Its that your suggestion, while nice, isnt what OP needed.

 

[Dimitrivich]

I recently went on a hunt for a reasonable cooler.
I couldn't find a better deal than this. It keeps ice nicely.
They are selling an local Meijer and Kroger for under $40.

***Coleman 52 Quart XTreme 5 Day Cooler***

 

[M67]

Dude, I am not a fanboy, I don't wear a Yeti hat, I don't have a Yeti bumper sticker. I don't give a **** about a name on a cooler, it is a tool...

It may just be a cooler, but I've sold guns and knives and soon to be vehicles out of principal and the name attached to them. Technically they're all tools. INGO has many threads about certain clothing or food chains being bad for some reason or another.

I like older country music, the newer stuff seems to be ear raping and I hate that "yeti 110 song", makes my ears bleed and you won't see Yeti stickers anywhere besides one I have in my reloading room cause it's a man cave.

Yeti is far from perfect, but they're not a leech like RTIC. I feel better spending my money with them that others.