NFT: Best Non-Yeti Cooler?

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Trail and Igloo are pretty much knockoffs of Yeti while maintaining similar cooling properties.

I bought a very old Coleman metal cooler. It was dented a bit and the green paint wasn't perfect. We still use it today, and occasionally we'll get the "man, that's an awesome cooler, where did you get it?" Might have been $5 at a garage sale.

About half the price. Not sure but I think YETI may have bought them recently but I could be mistaken

In comment 13475267 BigBlue2112 said:

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About half the price. Not sure but I think YETI may have bought them recently but I could be mistaken

No purchase, but rather YETI sued RTIC for patent and trademark infringement. RTIC settled with an undisclosed payment and will have to redesign their product line.

You might be able to find some good deals on their old product line. Also, Cabela's carries a product line similar branded with the Cabela name.
YETI puts the freeze on RTIC - ( New Window )

there was a coupon code for 50% off several items on their site awhile back, and I grabbed a gray 12-pack cooler for like $32. Never had any leaks. Keeps drinks ice cold. Durable exterior. Would recommend, especially since their price is much better than Yeti.
Polar Bear Coolers - ( New Window )

It's good for about 3 days. Use ours for camping all the time and it works great.
igloo - ( New Window )

A few days before, get a few gallon water jugs. Don't open them, just freeze them. Put them in the bottom of the cooler and then put ice on top of it. Your ice will last at least another day longer than without it.

In comment 13475260 Beezer said:

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I bought a very old Coleman metal cooler. It was dented a bit and the green paint wasn't perfect. We still use it today, and occasionally we'll get the "man, that's an awesome cooler, where did you get it?" Might have been $5 at a garage sale.

This. My parents still use our old green metal Coleman from the '70s, and it still works great. You can find them on EBay for around 30-40 bucks

The ice does last a little longer for 4x the price and reduced capacity. IMO the best value /cooler out there is the Igloo Marine.

Another secret is to buy better ice. Clear block ice is best, followed by the commercial manufactures round cube. If you get ice from the gas station with an ice machine in the back, that shit wont last no matter what you put it in.

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In comment 13475357 Bramton1 said:

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A few days before, get a few gallon water jugs. Don't open them, just freeze them. Put them in the bottom of the cooler and then put ice on top of it. Your ice will last at least another day longer than without it.

That is what we do....one jug will keep a full cooler cold for 3 + days

Ice is very important. Find a local Ice Guy. They are everywhere (literally). I get mine from this dude who leaves his garage door open with a trust policy to leave the money. There's also a store right on the highway. He gets ice from a commercial store he owns. Cheap as the gas station and lasts much longer. There is a reason half your ice melts by the time you get home from the gas station.

In terms of the cooler, I usually get the best brand that Walmart has and never have trouble. I like having multiple sized coolers for different things, so I didn't go big on just one. If your ice is melting too fast, take some poland spring bottles and freeze them and use ice on top. Also, avoid leaving the cooler in the sun if possible.

on Amazon a few years ago and love it. It's basically a soft shell backpack. I can comfortably carry 18 bottles of beer and lots of ice on my back to the beach and even on the hottest days the ice easily last all day and usually all the next day too. It's great and well worth the money.

Ice mule. Use it for beach and most importantly my Other Half beer runs.

You can still find 'em cheap, and they're worth it.

Yeti's are overpriced, but they're not a scam. I use my RTIC on my boat, where during the summer a typical marine cooler will lose ice by the end of the day even if you keep it closed shut for all but a few brief item removals. They're almost indestructible, which means the money you spend will last you quite some time.

I don't think they're necessary for a lot of applications, but in the hot sun, on a boat, etc., can't go wrong.

in the igloo marine cooler. I think the Yeti is awesome but overkill for 99% of the people who actually buy it.
All sizes available for the Igloo Marine Cooler - ( New Window )

like my weber grill. It's the last cooler I'll ever have to buy.

More expensive than most? yes, but also better.

There are tests that have shown the pelican or orca that actually kept ice longer, but they're similarly priced and less available and I'm not sure they have the same 5 year warranty.

Anyone have any experience with Grizzly coolers? That is the one my husband and I were considering purchasing for camping this summer. They are not quite as expensive as Yeti but still pricey, though they seem to have pretty decent reviews. We don't need ice to last for a full week, we'd just like a cooler for refrigerated foods to last for a 2-4 day camping trip without having to buy more ice and with opening it up a few times a day during meal prep.

In comment 13475793 pjcas18 said:

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like my weber grill. It's the last cooler I'll ever have to buy. More expensive than most? yes, but also better. There are tests that have shown the pelican or orca that actually kept ice longer, but they're similarly priced and less available and I'm not sure they have the same 5 year warranty.

For me, it is also about weight. my cooler ends up on my kayak when I go fishing at times. Weight becomes an issue. Personally, I view the difference in price between the igloo marine cooler and the Yeti similar to that of the law of diminishing returns. If the ice already lasts a couple of days in the igloo and I rarely even need ice to last that long in the first place.... then at what point does it not make sense to spend extra money for a feature (ice lasting longer than a couple of days) that I don't need?

Again... personal choice that will differ for everyone. You may go camping for a week and the yeti would be the choice then.

review here on Youtube. Warning: NSFW due to dropping a few F-Bombs.
Ozark Review - ( New Window )

In comment 13475910 EricJ said:

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In comment 13475793 pjcas18 said: Quote: like my weber grill. It's the last cooler I'll ever have to buy. More expensive than most? yes, but also better. There are tests that have shown the pelican or orca that actually kept ice longer, but they're similarly priced and less available and I'm not sure they have the same 5 year warranty. For me, it is also about weight. my cooler ends up on my kayak when I go fishing at times. Weight becomes an issue. Personally, I view the difference in price between the igloo marine cooler and the Yeti similar to that of the law of diminishing returns. If the ice already lasts a couple of days in the igloo and I rarely even need ice to last that long in the first place.... then at what point does it not make sense to spend extra money for a feature (ice lasting longer than a couple of days) that I don't need? Again... personal choice that will differ for everyone. You may go camping for a week and the yeti would be the choice then.

I don't even use real ice when I go camping for a food cooler. I use ice packs, ice bags leak ad it sucks when you have food in bags floating in water, and sure there are things you can do to prevent that, but I use the coleman or igloo (or whatever brand) ice packs - hard and/or soft and it works perfectly and sure maybe you don't need a yeti for that but like I said I view it as the last cooler I'll ever buy. the sunbeam and charbroil grills work great for a year too then they fall apart, now a cooler is obviously more durable so it's not a perfect comparison, but I feel like it was a worthwhile purchase.

I was making a kayak build video for one of my youtube channels and had the Igloo Marine Cooler on the back. It fit as if it was made for it.

My question for you since I never owned a Yeti is the weight. How much heavier is it vs another cooler? They look really heavy.
Igloo Marine Coolers - All sizes - ( New Window )

In comment 13478339 EricJ said:

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I was making a kayak build video for one of my youtube channels and had the Igloo Marine Cooler on the back. It fit as if it was made for it. My question for you since I never owned a Yeti is the weight. How much heavier is it vs another cooler? They look really heavy. Igloo Marine Coolers - All sizes - ( New Window )

Good question, it depends on how loaded it is. I have the Yeti 50 and it's 26 pounds empty and holds a 30 pack of beer with a few bags of ice.