Help me buy a cooler

I have always bought cheap Coleman or Rubbermaid coolers and those are just not up to longer cooling tasks. This became clearly apparent last year at a couple camping trips down south(I'm from Milwaukee, south is the Smokey's). Having to buy several bags of ice a day was not only a hassle, but also cost a pretty penny for some hard water. Without spending $500 for a 100QT Yeti, what are my other options for extended use out of a cooler? Are the Coleman extreme series any good? Any of the knockoff Yeti coolers worth it? Anything else I should be searching for?

Get a used Yeti off Craigslist

The larger Igloo coolers used to be decent. I think the new ones keep ice well enough, but you'll be replacing hinges and latches and whatever else breaks on it at least once a year.

Arb fridge freezer= win

I love my Pelican cooler. Lasts 3-4 days if full of ice ice and IMHO, much better made than the yeti I sold to get it. They run almost half the price of Yetis which are nice but way over priced (I won my Yeti I sold in a contest)

I've had pretty decent luck with Gott and Coleman coolers, but in the heat of the summer, ice is going to melt. That is doubly true for a cooler that is opened on a regular basis.

In the $500+ range, I will second a portable fridge/freeze. I have a 42qt Base Camp that is awesome. So nice to have dry food. Drinks go in a regular cooler, on ice.

Keep an eye on craigslist, they pop up on a regular basis for sub $400 prices.

If keeping ice is the most important, I'd get a Coleman, if I were you.

I can't find the article online... but basically, ICE has some weird thermodymanics. Before It reaches it's melting point, a pound of ice only removes .5 BTUs of heat for each degree that it's temperature rises. The magic is when it starts to turn from solid to liquid.. then it absorbs 144 BTUs of heat in the process.

https://www.rticcoolers.com/

Every bit as good as Yeti for half the price. The only reason Yetis cost so much is because they were the only game in town. The big 65 is $199 compared to Yeti's $399.

mad_machine wrote: I can't find the article online... but basically, ICE has some weird thermodymanics. Before It reaches it's melting point, a pound of ice only removes .5 BTUs of heat for each degree that it's temperature rises. The magic is when it starts to turn from solid to liquid.. then it absorbs 144 BTUs of heat in the process.

State changes require massive energy transfer. Its why you can use ice and salt to make ice cream in a churn. The salt forces the ice to change states at a lower temperature than the custard would freeze. It pulls so much heat out of the ice cream that frozen water can effectively freeze a sugary syrup.

Its the same reason why water on the stove increases temperature until it starts to boil. Then it stays at 212F. There is still heat being added to the water but it is being consumed by the state change to steam instead of increasing the temperature of the water.

Not to highjack this thread, but what about smaller coolers? The Igloo Playmate I have is not keeping up with my time on the road. I'm not sure the size, it's small enough that it fits in the footwell on the passenger side of the truck, but it holds about about 15 20oz bottles.

Fourwheeler magazine did this last year. Yeti came in 5th of 5.
The Ultimate High-End Cooler Shootout

I've got a big white one - Coleman? - that I think is intended for marine use. It'll keep ice for three days even in our hot environment.

I've always wondered - given that the state change is the big sucker of energy, is there a benefit to draining a cooler? Or should you keep that water, right at 32F, in there as long as there's some ice as well? Probably has to do with rate of heat transfer.

I needed one in a pinch, and found an Igloo at Walmart for about $20. It was a marine version, all white. Keeps ice for a long time.

My big blue igloo works well. I've had it since high school (late 90s)If I fill it with ice and stuff on friday there will still be ice floating on sunday. But i also put an effort into parking the cooler in the shade out of direct sunlight whenever possible. I can't compare it to a Yeti or any of the other high end units mentioned here since i never owned any of those, but I'm happy with it.

mad_machine wrote: I can't find the article online... but basically, ICE has some weird thermodymanics. Before It reaches it's melting point, a pound of ice only removes .5 BTUs of heat for each degree that it's temperature rises. The magic is when it starts to turn from solid to liquid.. then it absorbs 144 BTUs of heat in the process.

Ice/steam/water isn't much different really than most things in that regard. If you look at a Steam Table that goes below the 32°F, you'll see the Specific Enthalpy (BTU/lb) for each change in degrees F temperature of ice only gets you about 0.5 BTU/lb, but to change phase (ice to water, or water to ice) gets you 143 BTU/lbw. After that the definition of British Thermal Unit (BTU) is the amount of heat it takes to raise (or lower) a pound of water, 1°F. So to get one pound of liquid water from 32° to 212°F only takes an addition 180 BTU/lb. (212-32=180)

Changing from water to steam, however, takes 970 btu/lb at 212°F at 14.7 psia. Lots of energy in steam.

Interestingly, a ton of refrigeration capacity is 12,000 btu/hr and is based on the old practice of using 1 ton of ice to cool buildings and commodities for one day. 143 btu/lb * 2000 lb per ton / 24 hour per day = 12,000 BTU/hrs or 1 ton

If you take one stick match and let it burn completely, its about equal to 1 BTU.

-Engineer out. p.s. Sorry for the info dump

I've got an Igloo Maxcold, not impressed. It seems to keep stuff cold for the same amount of time as the older Colemans I had before.

I've heard that if you put rubber weather stripping on a cheap coleman or igloo cooler to make the lid seal better it suddenly rivals a yeti. I also think getting a bungie cord that goes around the cooler to HOLD the lid shut while not in use would go a long way, some of the cheap coolers don't close well.

Have not tested either method scientifically.

EDIT: also, if space is not an issue, can you put a cooler inside a bigger cooler?

Go back and read the links that bigdaddylee and I posted. Yeti is kinda overrated, and Coleman is pretty damn good.

Robbie wrote: I've heard that if you put rubber weather stripping on a cheap coleman or igloo cooler to make the lid seal better it suddenly rivals a yeti. I also think getting a bungie cord that goes around the cooler to HOLD the lid shut while not in use would go a long way, some of the cheap coolers don't close well. Have not tested either method scientifically. EDIT: also, if space is not an issue, can you put a cooler inside a bigger cooler?

Robbie, aren't you near Crete? If so, go buy this: http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/spo/5576737769.html

A friend does long rafting trips and the thing they've learned is that a cooler (nearly any) will keep ice in it for 5-7 days if unopened. So they tape each days cooler shut at the start of the trip and only break the seal of each one on it's day.

It's how you use a cooler that matters more than anything, leave the lid shut.

Keith Tanner wrote: I've always wondered - given that the state change is the big sucker of energy, is there a benefit to draining a cooler? Or should you keep that water, right at 32F, in there as long as there's some ice as well? Probably has to do with rate of heat transfer.

I'd leave the water in it for more thermal mass.

That makes sense. I see guys draining their coolers when they're half-full of ice and I've never understood why. Probably something their papa told them.

mtn wrote:

Robbie wrote: I've heard that if you put rubber weather stripping on a cheap coleman or igloo cooler to make the lid seal better it suddenly rivals a yeti. I also think getting a bungie cord that goes around the cooler to HOLD the lid shut while not in use would go a long way, some of the cheap coolers don't close well. Have not tested either method scientifically. EDIT: also, if space is not an issue, can you put a cooler inside a bigger cooler?

Robbie, aren't you near Crete? If so, go buy this: http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/spo/5576737769.html

Yup, that is quite close to me in chicago area terms and a seemingly good deal.

Fun is putting 15lb of dry ice in a 40 qt yeti with water in to to the drain plug, tucking the rubber bungees standing back a good 60ft and waiting for the hinges to blow