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Accessories WtB Yeti cooler or similar

The Yeti retail store in Austin they sell seconds for 50% off

The Ritc retail store in Houston they also sell seconds for 50% off

Pelican also makes a bad a$$ cooler as well. I’ve got 2 of their 150’s. I will say they are huge, long, and heavy as all get up empty. Make sure you load it where it’s going to stay

But knowing you live out on the moon in west Texas you would have to buy everyone they have and resell the ones you don’t need to cover you gas cost.

I also heard that the Walmart parking lots has them from time to time as well!!! (I’m not condoning it though) 🤣🤣🤣
 
Yetis are only good for holding tannerite one and done... Costco has great deals but if you want top of the line made in the USA https://www.snomasterusa.com/ perfect for all off road adventures, side by sides, Toy Hauler trailers, camping and more, Need a a heavy duty slide out for it, check out Tembo Tusk
 
I have a few Yetis. Had to have a cooler one trip, stopped at WalMart and got a Lifetime. Holds ice just as long in normal open close (beer) conditions. If you want to not open a cooler for a week you might get a half a day more out of the Yeti.
 
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Second on the lifetime coolers. Im sure if you wanted one in chartreuse you could make it happen.... "You can have any color you want, as long as its chartreuse..." or something like that.
 
Buying anything at full retail means you just got to have it. I figured out how to get 40% off Yeti retail prices......so can you!

I got a 45 Yeti, 65 RTIC, and 110 Yeti. The 45 isn't nearly as good holding ice as the others due to the overall amount of ice/items inside. The 65 is perfect for the back of the truck holding drinks or food. The 110 is a beast but holds TONS of stuff and ice. The bigger you get the more you can use it for emergency situations such as a severe storm to hold your freezer/refrigerator items.

Buy what you want, spend what you can afford.
 
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Cator Gator Coolers are what I buy now. I still have 3 yeti, 2 Rtic, 1 Orca, 1 Bison, and 3 coleman. I use my coolers for big game hunting FYI. If you could let me have any of the above for free I would still pick the CatorGator. Latches are better then the yeti and rtic, the rubber foot pads don't fall off like the Rtic when you need to drag it out of your truck bed. They have the metal bottle cap removers that are solid locking points for locking them up to your truck when your away. Hold ice the same length of time as all the others. Just another option. Lots of guys are using them on Rokslide for big game also with good results. Come in many sizes up to 170. As if you didn't have enough options!!

 
The coolers from Walmart are US made.
Lifetime I think is the brand.

Hold ice as well as RTIC or YETI of same size.

3 yrs ago was having beers and swimming in the pool of the guy who was the IT head for Yeti and had just left due to their BS.
He advised me on what he had learned about the competition.

Prior to that, I owned RTICS and will replace with US made coolers if/when they die. They have been solid so far.
 
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The lifetime coolers are sold at walmart, but are a product from...Lifetime.... The coolers they sell in their store are only a small sample of what they make.

 
Bison is great, sizing is true, American made, cheaper than Yeti. I have multiple of their soft sided ones (2x 12 can and 1x 24 can) and am thoroughly impressed, they have kept ice for over 24 hours sitting outside in Tucson AZ in the summer, granted it was in shade, but it was summer in Tucson, AZ. Good friend has a couple of their 75s and has no complaints, they easily hold ice for 5 days, also in AZ at the time. If you are .mil affiliated you can snag a pretty sweet discount too. They are also on Expertvoice if you are able to have access to that through other means if you aren't .mil affiliated.
 
I have some RTICs and so far I really love them. They were outspokenly pro 2A when Yeti (and Simplisafe) was crapping on us. That’s one reason I picked them. They are made in China though.....ugh.

I use them to age game on ice mostly. I keep a Kestrel drop velcro-ed to the lid to keep track of temps and they do a hell of a job if you load them right.

Folks put a lot of emphasis of opening the lid being key to cooling loss. My anecdotal testing does not corroborate this. It’s not air but cold mass that keeps a cooler cold.

As much as I can, I make my own ice in trays the old fashioned way. I keep my freezer cold so the ice starts out a lot cooler than bagged is from the store. Store ice is some cheap ass crap....

I make 3 inch blocks to cover the bottom in sections. I keep the drains closed and drain twice a day. The blocks keep the meat out of any water that accumulates in that time. I also have some gel blocks I throw in. They freeze colder than water, purportedly. Only draw back is that you can’t see when they melt. When I am sure I am likely to score I fill them up with frozen quart milk jugs to pre-cool them. This helps but I have not found it to be a huge difference.
 
Depends on what you want in a cooler. A yeti (I've never owned one) is great if you demand that your cooler survive intact if it falls off the car at 75MPH. I saw a review somewhere of one of the modern coleman 48 quart performance coolers for $43. The temperature and life of the ice was comparable so that works for me.
 
I use my kids old bubbles containers and fill them with water and Lea 've a few inches for expansion. They are plastic and slender enough to pack well, and big blocks or whatever of ice hold the cooler better than just ice.
 
Coolers are like socks, I change them regularly! On America's Test Kitchen they tested coolers and found that the ~50 qt. Coleman held ice for the same amount of time (measured in days) as the Yeti and other big name (read expensive) coolers for a fraction of the cost. So I can buy 4-6 Coleman coolers for the price of one Yeti.
 
I have a Yeti - bought it when they first came out and its great - well made and does keep thing cold longer than a typically $50 cooler. That said, the question is what are you using it for? Day run to the range or lake? an over-nighter? For that you really don't need it.

The Yeti, and many similar quality roto-molded coolers that have emerged since the Yeti, are bulky and heavy even empty. If you are going out for several days without access to more ice, they are awesome and worth the extra weight and bulk. Using one for day-runs is pointless as the $50 special will do just fine and is a lot easier to handle. I have a smaller cooler that weighs nothing and takes up less space (an Igloo I think) that is the go to for anything less than a 3+ day run.
 
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