Are Yeti coolers worth the $$?

[Wabujitsu]

I have ran my ARB fridge for months on end from the Jeep stock battery. Think like six plus months straight. My ARB fridge will run for 3 days without starting the Jeep.

Ted, is your fridge a compressor-driven one, or a thermoelectric cooler?

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[jadmt]

The ARB 50 cooler is over $1,000, and needs a power source.
A 10+ day trip in the wilderness might not be the best place for the ARB, unless you want to constantly run your Jeep or have a generator hooked up to it.
It seems any newer, inexpensive(around $100+-) cooler will do a good job, with the right prep work and a couple of blocks of dry ice.

They run 3 or 4 days without starting a jeep and will actually shut down before running your jeep battery too low to start. I have a Jackery 1000 and it will run the arb and charge while driving. My Arb has been run 24/7 for 10 years and when not in the jeep I use it to keep my beer in.

 

[jadmt]

Ted, is your fridge a compressor-driven one, or a thermoelectric cooler?

ARB's are compressor driven. They rarely kick on. I have slept in my jeep with my head next to it with no issues

 

[Odyssey USA]

Just go to Wally World and get a Lifetime cooler if someone wants something sturdy, bear resistant, lockable, and will let you go a few days without adding ice. In ‘21 I got our 55L for around $170.

Double checking myself, I see Amazon has them on sale right now.
Lifetime 90820 55 Quart High Performance Cooler, Grey
https://a.co/d/6GMAUIE

 

[mwilk012]

Ted, is your fridge a compressor-driven one, or a thermoelectric cooler?

Thermoelectric coolers are horribly inefficient, practically useless.

 

[dragoneggs]

No

Agree. No… but. I do use the heck out the two soft sided ones. For hard side, a 12v Ecoflow Glacier has been my go to. Never leaves my Jeep. Whether on the trail or a trip to the grocery store. Nice not to have to go straight home after buying refrigerated or frozen goods.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Not remotely worth the money. They don't perform any better than the other rotomolded coolers on the market. Lifetime or Ozark trail coolers retain ice just as well at 1/4 the price. They still have bear resistant latches too. You're paying for the name period.

 

[wibornz]

Ted, is your fridge a compressor-driven one, or a thermoelectric cooler?

It has a compressor. It is 5+ years old and it is plugged or in the Jeep most of the time.

 

[Whaler27]

Here is a comparison.. Yeti is good but expensive. But we knew that. lol.

Thanks for linking these comparisons. They’re the end of the discussion for me, and the overall picture is consistent with my experience. I have a couple Yetis that are six or seven years old, and five or six of the cheap Walmart knock-offs. All work well for trips of a few days, even when it’s into the upper 80s and 90s. On the rare trips that are longer we’ll have to add some ice, with slightly more going into the cheaper coolers (or the coolers that hold soft drinks). If the kids are in and out of the cooler grabbing Cokes all day a high-end cooler will lose it’s ice quickly too.

On a multi-day offshore trip in the heat, a high-end cooler may be worth it, especially if it’s going to stay closed to preserve ice for use near the end of the trip. Otherwise, the cost, convenience, and ease of moving the lighter coolers wins the day for me. My Walmart coolers get much more use.

 

[deserteagle56]

I refuse to buy a Yeti product...they have supported shutting down many OHV trails here in the west.

Their motto is "to keep wild, wild". You won't see a Jeep or other off-highway vehicle on their website.

https://www.yeti.com/esg.html

 

[OminousSkitter]

I refuse to buy a Yeti product...they have supported shutting down many OHV trails here in the west.

Their motto is "to keep wild, wild". You won't see a Jeep or other off-highway vehicle on their website.

https://www.yeti.com/esg.html

That mission makes sense for them. I don’t know about you, but when I backpack I always hire a couple sherpas to carry my Yeti with ice and supplies, when I kayak I tow an inflatable cooler raft, etc etc. </s>

 

[S2k Chris]

I don’t have their coolers but you can have my tumbler when you pry it from my cold dead hands. I love this thing.

 

[LukeDagny]

I don’t have their coolers but you can have my tumbler when you pry it from my cold dead hands. I love this thing.

I cheated. I bought an Ozark Trail coffee mug, and added a Yeti resealable cap. The Yeti cap cost almost as much as the mug.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Tr...cuum-Sealed-Stainless-Steel-Tumbler/178742177

https://www.yeti.com/drinkware/drinkware-accessories/21070060010.html

 

[S2k Chris]

I tried a whole bunch of water bottles and this ultimately met all of my needs (including fitting, kinda, in the Jeep cupholder). I probably spent $40 on it 3-4 years ago, but I use it every single day so my “cost per use” is basically $0 at this point. Buy once cry once as they say.

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