Are Yeti's worth it?

Ever camped in the desert for 7-10 days 50 miles from the closest gas station (who happens to charge $10/bag of ice)? How about gone on a 7 day marlin fishing trip?

There are scenarios where these coolers are great. I used to hate on them as well for being over priced (same with apple products)... Now that I have owned both of can see their benefits first hand. I have bought, busted, and broken enough coolers to easily pay for one yeti you could throw off a cliff.

I bought an orca 65 qt instead this summer though. Partially because I got it 40% off, but mainly because I wanted to avoid the brand recognition and theft issues of a yeti. I'll never have to buy a cooler again (unless I buy one somewhere to fly stuff home in as luggage).

 

I can tell you that yeti is for a select market and they know it. I own two of them and I believe it is the best decision I have made for a cooler. YES, They are heavy, Yes they are expensive, But where else can you put a thing of dry ice in a cooler and know that the meat you have put in the cooler will be okay. We go to the Lake of the Ozarks a lot and well if you know what lake stations charge for a bag of ice you would understand.

 

Can the biggest Yeti even fit more than one salmon?

They are just soo small I feel.

 

I have a Pelican and have no regrets in my purchase. It takes a beating and still looks like new.

 

Considering the biggest is 420 quarts and intended for offshore fishing rigs, I'd say you could fit one or two salmon in it haha. It costs as much as an old beater car tho lol

 

The 250q retails for 900 and the 450 retails for 1400
I have both at our store now. I can fit laying down inside the 450. However the 250 I have to bend my knees and then I can fit into it and I am 6'1

 

So for $1400 I can fit in a cooler!

I guess if hunting and fishing was more of a profession for myself, my views would be different. I also have only seen select few sizes in the stores around me.

 

Yeah the bigger sizes kind of price themselves out of practical use for 99.9% of hunters/fishermen. A small genny and deep freeze would use the same space in a truck bed and be easier to use for roadtrips not to mention much cheaper. Boats big enough to use those yetis could run cooling plates in built in coolers to last as long as well.

I can't imagine ever buying a $1500 cooler haha

 

For what its worth we put Yeti coolers in our gun trucks in Afghanistan after spending weeks on end out in the hot sun only to reach in and get what seemed to be a boiling hot bottle of water. Non, and I say non of the other cooler brands we bought held up to the harsh punishment we put the coolers through. Our 50. cal gunners that were a little on the short side would stand on them. After about 3 weeks of blistering sun dust and all the other crap associated with rolling a gun truck the yeti did its job.

Our technique was to prep the yeti coolers first. We would do this by either getting a solid block of ice from the chow hall and putting it inside the night before rather than ice and water the day we rolled out, or we would put them in the connex refer the night before.

I can say without a doubt that July in Afghanistan our yeti coolers would keep ice and water cool for a solid week.

It's probably gonna be in the high 80s here in eastern NC on opening day, so I keep a couple bags of ice in my yeti simply to put in the chest cavity of my deer, so to cool it down on the way home. I hate nothing more than to get back and have a cooler full of water with plastic floating inside. My yeti will hold three bags for a solid three to four days. This allows me one less thing to worry about, or do before getting in the woods.

Are they worth the price? Man thats a good question... I will say that coming off of 400$ stings quite a bit, but I am a firm believer in getting what you pay for. Having first hand experience with this cooler in what I would consider probably a pretty harsh environment, my answer would be Yes! It's worth the money, and warranty.

 

this is the kind of testimony that has convinced me to buy one and or an equivalent competitor.

while I don't spend every day outside or in the woods, when I do, I expect my equipment to serve me well. When I go play, I'm not fooling around; it's serious business, off-grid, no easy access to services type adventures. if I am on a multi-day river trip, I can't just pull out and walk up to walmart to get a replacement cooler or more friggin ice. If I am 2 hours from services down a 4x4 2 track, I can't afford a half/full-day jaunt to services, unless it is a real damned emergency. yes, I am also willing to pay more for equipment that is higher quality. yes, I can buy a LOT of $30 family type ice chests for $400. I can also buy a lot of $30 dome tents to sleep in, but I'm gonna be wet and mad as hell long before I have spent $60. I have never been wet in my $400 tent and I intend for it to last me 10 years, like the one before it. I am unwilling to risk the latch breaking or hinge breaking on a darned cooler in the middle of a multi-day trip that ends up handicapping me in some fashion. I have a shed full of crippled in some fashion/broken this or that coolers im my shed and I'm tired of them. in fact, if some of you penny pinchers wanna refurb some of them and use them, be my guest. I'm actually pretty perturbed about it, as you can see! lol!

the wife has given her blessing on the purchase after discovering all the latches officially broken on all the 'family' ice chests a few weeks ago, I just need to decide which one to get...

 

My older igloo (the big 150ish quart one) hasn't gotten any prettier since this thread started. It bounced around in the back of my truck during last year's elk hunt, part of the time empty... part of the time full of elk (yay!) There are still cracks around the handles from being dragged around over the years. I have no idea where the plug went. The latches are long since gone. However on last week's antelope excursion out in the desert (Utah/Nevada border) it still cooled down a hot antelope and held ice for 3 days while sitting in the sun. The cooler is more than 10 years old and has been used A LOT. Other than the crummy hinges and latches, it has done well.

Is a Yeti or other high dollar cooler going to perform better and be more rugged? Of course. I also understand the desire to have spiffy stuff. However if someone gave me a Yeti... I'd sell it, buy an $80 igloo and then apply the rest of the money towards something that trips my trigger more than a high-end cooler. :D
I would also buy the igloo some stainless steel replacement latches and hinges and put them on preemptively.

(Tho', I've come to like not have the lid attached. Particularly in the car. I can just slide the lid off to the side and get stuff out without fighting with the low ceiling height of the car.)

 

Yeti coolers definitely do what they're supposed to. They hold ice for a really really long time! Although I would not buy one. Both brute outdoors coolers and the pelican coolers out performed the yeti. A huge advabtage of the brute cooler is that it's American made. I believe yeti is hecho in china. Just my thoughts on the cooler devate

 

I don't get it...the test posted earlier shows basically average performance by the Yeti vs other coolers...is this test wrong?

If I had paid $400 for a cooler, I'd probably try to justify it also...just sayin.

 

While I'm sure a controlled laboratory test will conclude that some of the elements associated with all coolers being somewhat equal. I can say without a doubt we used coleman, igloo, and yeti. The Coleman lid gave in after two weeks, the latches broke after rubbing on the ammo can holders.

The igloo lids would not hold a seal after about 8 weeks. I will say that probably not everyone is going to put them through the rigors like CRP, but with that being said if you are just simply looking to purchase an average cooler to keep what ever you have chilled for a day or so then don't waste your money on a more expensive model, or name brand.

But if you are serious about throwing ice in your cooler and not looking back then go with a Yeti, Engel, or Pelican anyone will do in my practical opinion. Some of our other teams had the other two brands I just mentioned and they worked just as well.

And these are simply facts. If the cheaper models would have done the job we would have stood by them, but they simply don't live up to the standards needed in a real environment.

 

Well,
shortly after my post last year. i purchased a Brute Cooler. The darn thing is rugged. I beat the heck out of the brute 75 all fall winter spring and now this summer. I think I paid 375 shipped. It is great and really worth it. When we hog hunt it keeps ice in the SC heat, great for tailgates without craking and parts breaking and best of all its made the USA. Right after hunting season the wife purchased another yeti because she refused to use a cooler that had game in it. I can say comparatively the brute's have more internal volume for comparable price of Yeti's and they are slightly cheaper on a price to volume comparison. did I mention all parts and assembly are done in Texas.

 

The test did not reflect durability and especially in regards to a gunner standing on the lid for several hours per day, lol. It really only tested how well they kept ice over several days. I don't see the irrelevance of that comparison as it should be a basis of fundamental expectations of any cooler. Durability should be secondary. IMHO it doesn't make much diff if a cooler can withstand a nuclear blast if it won't hold ice any longer under the same conditions as a different cooler. It's a cooler first and foremost after all.

 

The ice holding is a bonus for me when it comes to these coolers. The longevity of them is why I wanted an Orca... 10-15 years from now they will be holding ice the same as today, not so for cheaper coolers. I'm sure brand new ones in a garage all do perform similarly.

I get why most have no need for them but to act like they are overpriced for everyone's uses and everyone is grasping for reasons to need them is kinda silly too.

 

Not at all my intent, my thing is I just feel that under the same conditions a $400+ cooler should perform remarkably better than a $60 cooler...according to the test I referred to, the Yeti did not. There were two that outperformed the Yeti and the cheaper coolers...my point is that if I had need of a tough, expensive cooler, I would buy the ones that kept ice better than the others. If a company is going to charge a premium then they need to have a premium product that performs it's original intent...anything less is the very definition of over priced.

That was my only point.

 

If money wasn't an option it would be one of a few great choices. Realistically most people will do just fine with the Coleman. I'd get the yeti if money wasn't an option.

 

I hear what you're saying, but have you actually had the opportunity to use all these brands you speak of side by side?

We all have at times formulated a strong debate on products without actually ever using, or even seeing said product just based on personal speculation, and more often than not the mighty dollar. In any case I would bet that if you had the opportunity to really put these things to the test you would agree, or maybe not.

I could not find the test you spoke of anywhere. Can you point me in the right direction please

Thanks in advance