Are expensive (or special-use marine) coolers and ice chests worth the money?
My work keeps me outside a lot, and summer is near. I already have two coolers with me most days, a big one for drinks, and a smaller one for food, easier to reach. Both are Walmart cheapies.
I have heard that special high-end coolers (designed for marine use or dry ice, or advertised with high insulation) can be worth the money. These include brands such as Yeti and Engels - and are supposed to be better constructed, better insulated, with latching lids, etc. They can run $200 up, depending on size. I have read reviews on AMZ and find disagreement as to whether the extra $ buys much better performance. I would buy one if they are worth it, but don't want to buy one as an experiment if they aren't.
If anyone who has owned and used one of these can offer a review? Or suggest other brands, or how to make them better use of them?
(My cooler must fit a small car, and be something a female can lift - say 20-30 quarts max, and hold 3-4 2-liter sodas, ice, blue ice, and food.)
Thanks!
While I don't know whether the extra expensive coolers are worth it or not, why do you need on?
Are your current coolers not keeping your food/beverages cold for long enough? No cooler will keep your food or beverage colder than what you use for cooling. So, if you're just using ice, there's no way you can get anything below 32 deg F. Thermodynamics just doesn't work that way. And realistically, the lowest minimum temperature is probably going to be closer to 40. Super insulated coolers will just keep things cool for longer. So, if your food or beverages are hot by the end of the day, a more insulative cooler might be worth it.
You can also improve how your current coolers work by keeping the cooler out of the direct sunlight, minimize how often you open it, add more insulation to the outside (wrap it in a blanket and put it in a cardboard box for example), start with everything cold, use ice rather than those cold packs (which don't freeze as cold as ice). I'd try those things first.
This probably doesn't answer your question, but as long-time boaters we have found that tacking the word "marine" on any item automatically doubles the price (or at least allows the vendor to jack it up significantly).
What we do, instead, is repurpose plastic bottles of the right shape and size to fit nicely in an ice chest. The best, for us, are the Ocean Spray bottles. We clean them, fill them with water, and store them in our deep freeze. (This serves the added purposes of reducing the energy usage of the freezer AND keeping items in there extra cold if we lose power - I live in hurricane country.) Rather than using bagged ice or freezer packs, we pack these frozen bottles around whatever is in our ice chest. They don't thaw as quickly as loose ice, and don't fill the chest with water when they do thaw. The added benefit is drinking the icy cold water from the bottles.
My $0.02!
My cheapie Walmart coolers were just not keeping ice frozen long enough. My little cooler is a toy, if was never designed for anything more than cooling a 6 pack. The larger one is ok, I put stuff in it cold snf keep it full, out if the sun, and covered. Bug ice is water in half s day or do. I spent about $15 and am getting $15 results. If its this bad in early May, it won't deal with July. I an hearing good things about these brands: Yeti, Icekool, Engels, and s new line called Brute. I have found usefully comments on Amazon, and on some bowhunter forum. Bowhunters out in early fall, hot weather here, are the ideal test group.
I an going to pony up for one of these, somewhere near 30 quarts, sometime soon.
(These lightboxes on woot are horrible on an Android browser.)
Thanks! Any other comments also welcome!
Sorry, my computer belched...finish the box by lining with foilI fill my chest with ice and food/beverages then put my chest/cooler inside the well insulated box tape it shut and it is a five day box.
Guys I am sorry but only part of my comment came thru. This is the full comment. to super insulate a cooler/ice chest I take a cardboard box that my cooler will fit inside then line it with foil including the flaps or top, then add layers of newspaper taping it in place, then cover that with thin sheets of styroform and finish it off with another layer of foil. Fill the chest with ice, food and beverages, place the cooler/ice chest inside the box making sure the top or lid was layered with the same materials as the box, close the lid and tape it shut. Even in the cheapest of coolers ice will keep for 5 days. Each time the box is open to get inside the cooler tape it shut each time..
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