What is going on in the Premium Cooler Market these days? This is crazy if you are to ask me. Back in the day it was the old trusty Coleman. These days you have premium cooler companies popping up left and right trying to get you to shell out big bucks for something that is likely going to get stolen out of the back of your truck. Are they worth it? No idea, I’m not forking over $200+ to have one. Off the top of my head I can name at least half a dozen premium cooler companies. Yeti, Rtic, Grizzly, Orca, Canyon, and K2, just to name a few. There are more, trust me. How many companies actually manufacture coolers? For now I will stick to my trusty $69 dollar Coleman Extreme cooler. I will not lose sleep if it gets stolen and the coleman will hold ice just as long as the expensive ones. Have you taken the plunge to buy a premium cooler? Let us know your thoughts!
Love my Yeti, you get what you pay for!
I won a Yeti cooler at a local raffle. Love it! No way in heck I would ever pay for one. Rtic sell them for half that these days.
i just use hollow coleman coolers and drill a hole at either end on the exterior then pipe in minimal expanding foam in a can from wallmart till it comes out the other end let it dry and trim off excess dry foam then repeat for the top…..u can stand on the coolers if your 300 lbs without any problems and it keeps ice for 5 days….17 ft g3 boat owner
I can’t bring myself to buy one either Jim. I have conducted a lot of research in this department and have seen the results of several tests. For what it’s worth, the best semi-premium cooler brand name that I have found, Engel. They keep ice just as long as yeti when put to the same test under the same conditions. They have the durability and a similar look to a yeti, they don’t break the bank, and they make one that has rod holders (perfect for my current 12 foot Jon build).
Jared
They are good for keeping ice on a quartered deer. But for a day at the beach constant opening and closing wont hold your ice any longer
For the price of a Yeti i can buy 10 years worth of ice.
I have owned 5 Yeti and of course 2 got stolen which never makes a person happy. I had my name and contact info written on the bottom of one of them and almost 4 years later it actually got returned. Mine are always dual purpose as I use them on the front of the boat as a casting platform. I am 270 lb and fell through my Coleman. The next day I broke down and spent the money on a Yeti. I now use a local company that sells their brand Gator Box, at 1/2 the cost of at big name I don’t feel quite so bad about spending the cash.
No matter which cooler you have, covering it with a heavy blanket greatly increases the amount of time it will hold ice. A coleman cooler with an old bed comforter over it will last all day in a boat. And it’s a padded seat!
If you cut up and modify one of those aluminized windshield sun deflectors it works even better than a blanket
There’s no way a Coleman will keep ice as long as a premium cooler. My Cabell is rated the best of all the ones tested.Yeti came in third. Colman was not even in the running.