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Author Topic:   Cooler Bake-Off

jimh posted 01-29-2012 09:38 PM ET (US)
Below is a link to a rather long and boring video presentation of a cooler bake-off or perhaps I could say cooler ice-off. The test consists of putting a six pack in a cooler with 50-lbs of ice, and checking to see how long the ice lasts over a ten day period. The results are interesting. If nothing else, you will learn the brand names of two or three very expensive coolers you never heard of before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-TE4RnqT0U
contender posted 01-29-2012 10:08 PM ET (US)
Have to go with the Coleman xtreme, per the cost it probably 1/2 the Engle, and if you are in a boat more than 10 days, you are either at drift, on a cruise, or on a boat big enough to make its own ice.
David Pendleton posted 01-30-2012 01:41 AM ET (US)
Thanks for the link, Jim.
I own that very same IRP and have experienced superior performance.
I've also had good luck with Igloo's "Marine" coolers, they just don't hold the cold as long.
Dave Sutton posted 01-30-2012 11:05 AM ET (US)
Nice test! I often do 5-10 day offshore trips, and keeping food/drinks cool is always a challenge, even with an icemaker and (2) small refrigerators. Who ever heard of IRP or Engel?
Hmmm.... anyone want to buy a pair of 96 Quart Igloos?

Dave
.
AZdave posted 01-30-2012 12:21 PM ET (US)
The guys who produced the video have an advertisement to purchase two of the expensive cooler brands from them. I have always liked Igloo because I can get replacement parts for it. If I were going out for that long the food in the cooler would be bagged and frozen, the lid taped down, and it would be wrapped until needed. The Coleman seemed to do well. I have not used their coolers for a number of years because I was so disappointed in the other products with that brand name.
Dave Sutton posted 01-30-2012 01:17 PM ET (US)

"I have always liked Igloo because I can get replacement parts for it"
Uhh.... this is strange logic: Igloos NEED replacement parts because their latches *absolutely suck* and break constantly.
Wouldn't you prefer a cooler that didn't NEED replacement parts? (Imagine that!)

Even when Igloon latches are not broken, they are usually worn-out, resulting in a "not so tight" seal and subsequent loss of insulation. Take it from a guy who owns a half dozen of the darned things.
Observation: There's a huge difference between keeping beer cold for a day, and living out of a cooler for a week. When we are offshore we have the "It gets opened once a day by the cook ONLY to get a full days worth of stuff out" coolers and then we have the "Help yourself to a cold drink (while the ice lasts)" coolers that are opened by guests. Ice lasts in the former for a week or more (when we can get it, dry ice helps a lot too). Ice lasts in the latter for, oh... about two days.
My guess is that most Whaler users are more in the "Keep it cold for a day" school of boating and any old cooler will do just fine.
Dave

.

20dauntless posted 01-30-2012 01:18 PM ET (US)
I recently bought this cooler for my 3 month trip up the Inside Passage this summer. I'll have no other refrigeration on the boat.
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-100-Quart-Xtreme-5-Day-Cooler/dp/ B0019QD8HQ
I considered the Yeti and Engle but couldn't justify the extra cost. It doesn't usually get that hot in my part of the world and the Coleman seemed to offer a good balance of price and performance. I'd say the quality is good but not exceptional, certainly better than the standard Coleman or Igloo coolers I've used in the past but not up to Yeti and Engle.
I used it on a 4 day boat trip earlier this month and it worked great, but it wasn't much of a test since it was in the 20's most nights and the 30's and 40's during the day.
David Pendleton posted 01-30-2012 02:39 PM ET (US)
I had never heard of Engel before.
IRP stands for Iowa Rotocast Plastics. They don't make the model depicted in the video any more.
Jessielove posted 01-30-2012 05:04 PM ET (US)
The skeptic in me makes me think this is an ad and not an actual test. As I watched the video, I noticed the clothing never changed from day 1, to day 4, to day 8.
As I watch the summary I decided to look for something on their clothing I could reference to day 1 just in case they are washing their clothes and re-wearing them for continuity purposes. Looking for something subtle that you would expect a change from day 1 to day 8 I notice that the guy's belt on the right has a silver tip. If you look closely there is about 1/2 inch of belt visible between the belt loop of his pants and the silver tip. I would expect some variation in this area from day 1 to day 8 but it is the same. Moreover, listening to the energy level and tone of voice from the guy opening and closing the cooler I would expect some variation if even from minor changes in microphone placement and mood changes from day to day but the speaker's voice is unusually consistent.
My gut tells me the results may actually be representative of real-world performance, but I suspect it is a fake staged test as presented in the video.
On another note, I own a couple SSI coolers that are very high quality (durability/build wise), but are quite a bit larger than the ones "tested" in the video. Have any of you used them for extended periods of time? I've only used mine for 1-2 days at a time and wonder what your experiences may be for extended periods of times.
http://www.ssicustomplastics.com/Coolers.htm
home Aside posted 01-31-2012 08:47 AM ET (US)
I agree with Contender...
"if you are in a boat more than 10 days, you are either at drift, on a cruise, or on a boat big enough to make its own ice".
I've been on a couple of remote boat trips, Isle Royale National Park out in Lake Superior is a good example. We were out there 6-7 Days Ramp to Ramp....IRNP has no electricity or ammenities that require electricity available to the general visiting public, with the exception of Ranger Station/Visitor Centers basically at each end of the Island (47 miles long if memory serves).
Even though our purpose was to do remote boat camping, it still was no problem picking up a couple of bags of ice for the coolers when we passed / stopped at the visitor centers during our cruise.
I use two Igloo Marine 94 quart coolers, every day use drinks, snacks, etc, in one. I freeze all my meat, chicken, etc and prepared meals ahead of time & keep them in a seperate cooler, I usually freeze a case of bottled water to keep in this cooler, as memntioned by others I try to open it once a day to take out the days food & water. Haven't had any problems keeping food/drinks cold on these trips.
Now that it's mentioned, I can't think of of any place I might go boating where I would be that out of the loop long enough to worry about it.......maybe 10 days on Lake Nipigon????
Pat
Kanawha1 posted 01-31-2012 09:10 AM ET (US)
One old trick to help keep ice longer during extended trips is to buy a small amount of dry ice (available at most welding supply shops) and put in the bottom of the cooler before adding regular ice. Beware though, too much dry ice and everything in the cooler will be frozen solid!
Russ 13 posted 01-31-2012 10:08 AM ET (US)
In Fl where it is hot most of the time.
The one Yeti cooler I own, keeps the ice twice as long as the several Igloo marine coolers I have.
It's too bad the Yeti's are so expensive.
If they were even twice the price of the same size Igloo,
I would get rid of the igloos, due to the poor latch & hinge design, and the lack of insulation.
...
When you look at the cost of kayak's, Roto moulding a cooler, should not be that expensive to produce.
...
Guess it goes back to they can get it $$, so they do.
leadsled posted 01-31-2012 10:42 AM ET (US)
I make my own blocks of ice using tupperware containers. I have two 128 qt coolers. I fill up a 48 qt cooler with blocks of ice and put it inside one of the 128 qt coolers and even though the 128 is in the sun the ice in the 48 qt lasts a lot longer.

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Author	Topic: Cooler Bake-Off
jimh	posted 01-29-2012 09:38 PM ET (US) Below is a link to a rather long and boring video presentation of a cooler bake-off or perhaps I could say cooler ice-off. The test consists of putting a six pack in a cooler with 50-lbs of ice, and checking to see how long the ice lasts over a ten day period. The results are interesting. If nothing else, you will learn the brand names of two or three very expensive coolers you never heard of before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-TE4RnqT0U
contender	posted 01-29-2012 10:08 PM ET (US) Have to go with the Coleman xtreme, per the cost it probably 1/2 the Engle, and if you are in a boat more than 10 days, you are either at drift, on a cruise, or on a boat big enough to make its own ice.
David Pendleton	posted 01-30-2012 01:41 AM ET (US) Thanks for the link, Jim. I own that very same IRP and have experienced superior performance. I've also had good luck with Igloo's "Marine" coolers, they just don't hold the cold as long.
Dave Sutton	posted 01-30-2012 11:05 AM ET (US) Nice test! I often do 5-10 day offshore trips, and keeping food/drinks cool is always a challenge, even with an icemaker and (2) small refrigerators. Who ever heard of IRP or Engel? Hmmm.... anyone want to buy a pair of 96 Quart Igloos? Dave .
AZdave	posted 01-30-2012 12:21 PM ET (US) The guys who produced the video have an advertisement to purchase two of the expensive cooler brands from them. I have always liked Igloo because I can get replacement parts for it. If I were going out for that long the food in the cooler would be bagged and frozen, the lid taped down, and it would be wrapped until needed. The Coleman seemed to do well. I have not used their coolers for a number of years because I was so disappointed in the other products with that brand name.
Dave Sutton	posted 01-30-2012 01:17 PM ET (US) "I have always liked Igloo because I can get replacement parts for it" Uhh.... this is strange logic: Igloos NEED replacement parts because their latches absolutely suck and break constantly. Wouldn't you prefer a cooler that didn't NEED replacement parts? (Imagine that!) Even when Igloon latches are not broken, they are usually worn-out, resulting in a "not so tight" seal and subsequent loss of insulation. Take it from a guy who owns a half dozen of the darned things. Observation: There's a huge difference between keeping beer cold for a day, and living out of a cooler for a week. When we are offshore we have the "It gets opened once a day by the cook ONLY to get a full days worth of stuff out" coolers and then we have the "Help yourself to a cold drink (while the ice lasts)" coolers that are opened by guests. Ice lasts in the former for a week or more (when we can get it, dry ice helps a lot too). Ice lasts in the latter for, oh... about two days. My guess is that most Whaler users are more in the "Keep it cold for a day" school of boating and any old cooler will do just fine. Dave .
20dauntless	posted 01-30-2012 01:18 PM ET (US) I recently bought this cooler for my 3 month trip up the Inside Passage this summer. I'll have no other refrigeration on the boat. http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-100-Quart-Xtreme-5-Day-Cooler/dp/ B0019QD8HQ I considered the Yeti and Engle but couldn't justify the extra cost. It doesn't usually get that hot in my part of the world and the Coleman seemed to offer a good balance of price and performance. I'd say the quality is good but not exceptional, certainly better than the standard Coleman or Igloo coolers I've used in the past but not up to Yeti and Engle. I used it on a 4 day boat trip earlier this month and it worked great, but it wasn't much of a test since it was in the 20's most nights and the 30's and 40's during the day.
David Pendleton	posted 01-30-2012 02:39 PM ET (US) I had never heard of Engel before. IRP stands for Iowa Rotocast Plastics. They don't make the model depicted in the video any more.
Jessielove	posted 01-30-2012 05:04 PM ET (US) The skeptic in me makes me think this is an ad and not an actual test. As I watched the video, I noticed the clothing never changed from day 1, to day 4, to day 8. As I watch the summary I decided to look for something on their clothing I could reference to day 1 just in case they are washing their clothes and re-wearing them for continuity purposes. Looking for something subtle that you would expect a change from day 1 to day 8 I notice that the guy's belt on the right has a silver tip. If you look closely there is about 1/2 inch of belt visible between the belt loop of his pants and the silver tip. I would expect some variation in this area from day 1 to day 8 but it is the same. Moreover, listening to the energy level and tone of voice from the guy opening and closing the cooler I would expect some variation if even from minor changes in microphone placement and mood changes from day to day but the speaker's voice is unusually consistent. My gut tells me the results may actually be representative of real-world performance, but I suspect it is a fake staged test as presented in the video. On another note, I own a couple SSI coolers that are very high quality (durability/build wise), but are quite a bit larger than the ones "tested" in the video. Have any of you used them for extended periods of time? I've only used mine for 1-2 days at a time and wonder what your experiences may be for extended periods of times. http://www.ssicustomplastics.com/Coolers.htm
home Aside	posted 01-31-2012 08:47 AM ET (US) I agree with Contender... "if you are in a boat more than 10 days, you are either at drift, on a cruise, or on a boat big enough to make its own ice". I've been on a couple of remote boat trips, Isle Royale National Park out in Lake Superior is a good example. We were out there 6-7 Days Ramp to Ramp....IRNP has no electricity or ammenities that require electricity available to the general visiting public, with the exception of Ranger Station/Visitor Centers basically at each end of the Island (47 miles long if memory serves). Even though our purpose was to do remote boat camping, it still was no problem picking up a couple of bags of ice for the coolers when we passed / stopped at the visitor centers during our cruise. I use two Igloo Marine 94 quart coolers, every day use drinks, snacks, etc, in one. I freeze all my meat, chicken, etc and prepared meals ahead of time & keep them in a seperate cooler, I usually freeze a case of bottled water to keep in this cooler, as memntioned by others I try to open it once a day to take out the days food & water. Haven't had any problems keeping food/drinks cold on these trips. Now that it's mentioned, I can't think of of any place I might go boating where I would be that out of the loop long enough to worry about it.......maybe 10 days on Lake Nipigon???? Pat
Kanawha1	posted 01-31-2012 09:10 AM ET (US) One old trick to help keep ice longer during extended trips is to buy a small amount of dry ice (available at most welding supply shops) and put in the bottom of the cooler before adding regular ice. Beware though, too much dry ice and everything in the cooler will be frozen solid!
Russ 13	posted 01-31-2012 10:08 AM ET (US) In Fl where it is hot most of the time. The one Yeti cooler I own, keeps the ice twice as long as the several Igloo marine coolers I have. It's too bad the Yeti's are so expensive. If they were even twice the price of the same size Igloo, I would get rid of the igloos, due to the poor latch & hinge design, and the lack of insulation. ... When you look at the cost of kayak's, Roto moulding a cooler, should not be that expensive to produce. ... Guess it goes back to they can get it $$, so they do.
leadsled	posted 01-31-2012 10:42 AM ET (US) I make my own blocks of ice using tupperware containers. I have two 128 qt coolers. I fill up a 48 qt cooler with blocks of ice and put it inside one of the 128 qt coolers and even though the 128 is in the sun the ice in the 48 qt lasts a lot longer.