I did my own Yeti challenge

So, I've been on the fence about spending $200-$400 on a Yeti cooler. My buddy knew this and offered me his Yeti Tundra 35 quart cooler for the weekend. I happily agreed and loaded up for my trip from Tampa, Florida to Roebling Road for the weekend. This drive takes a little over 5 hours if you go straight through.

The conditions in the Yeti were: sweet tea, pepsis and water. The sweet tea was refrigerated, but the pepsi and water were room temp from the pantry. The outside temp was low 90's (feels like 100 according to weather.com). I placed the cooler in my enclosed trailer and headed out.

Result: The majority of this ice was melted by the time I got to RR (see pic of original ice fill below)



Now, since the original ice had already melted in less than 6 hours, I bought a 2nd round of ice (pic below). However, this time all the drinks were cold from the 1st round of ice. Again, the cooler was placed in the enclosed trailer, and stayed in the same spot all weekend. Temps were in the 80s, with mid 70s at night. There were stray showers and a good storm on Saturday.

Result: In less than 2 days, all the ice had melted.



So, needless to say, I'm no longer on the fence. I will not be buying a Yeti.

 

I love mine but then again, I kind of expect ice to melt.

Really, my only complaints on it are 1) It's heavy (but it's so over built that I expected that) and 2) even the small one I got needs wheels to haul around over any distance.

I got my cheap POS one for when I don't care and my Yeti when I do.

 

Did you have a regular non-Yeti cooler with the same contents right next to it to serve as a base run ? Maybe it the ice would have melted in 2 hours ?

 

Sounds like you need a fridge

 

Invalid. Where is the control group cooler.

But this wasn't even close to being the the most insulting part of your "test". There was no beer.

 

I have 5 other coolers of different sizes. Sometimes the ice melts faster than usual. Sometimes it lasts a while.

However, not one of the other coolers comes with hype, youtube videos and stickers that Yeti does.

 

This. You need to have a baseline to compare it to. I don't have a Yeti nor will I buy one but they are great if you are going off the grid a couple days.

 

Yeah, I don't ever drink at the track.

 

https://expeditionportal.com/the-big-chill-overland-journals-cooler-test/

 

I have two of the cooler bag Yeti's...they're great.

(My wife got them for free)

 

Every Yeti I've had has been stolen at some point. No one touches my igloo

 

I liked this test better.

 

Id consider the Ozark trails one but even that is fairly pricey. I have a cheap igloo and another ultra cheap igloo that work just fine.

 

My control group cooler is this..."is it better than the $4.99 Styrofoam cooler at 7-11?" If the answer is yes, then it's good enough for me.

 

Is it just me, because I do not see a picture where all the ice is melted.

Disclaimer: I do not own a Yeti or their stock. Nor am I a paid representative of Yeti.

 

I did when you weren't looking and you don't want to know what I did with it. I bad touched it, bad touched it all night long!

 

The best cooler ever is your friends or your friends friend that is full of ice and cold beer.

 

If I am going somewhere that I need ice to last more than a couple days.....eff that. A couple days are good. Any longer than that and I'm gonna want AC or heat.

 

I have a video of me draining the water before I refill it with the 2nd round of ice, but no pics.