Anyone use premium ice chests?

[Yorkie]

Full disclosure - I work for Pelican so I will try and provide some unbiased advice. If you are simply looking for a cooler for the weekend and are ok about replacing it every couple of years then buy an Igloo or a Coleman. They are good coolers and will be fine for light applications. If you are into sports fishing or like to buy "lifetime" products then look at the higher end coolers like Yeti and Pelican as they are built to keep your contents fresh for 7-10 days (depending upon how often you open the lid) and are made with quality materials. Those of you who have been in the service over the past 20 years may have used Pelican cases for your deployment equipment and we build our coolers to the same standards and build them here in the US. But they are not inexpensive so look hard at the Colemans and Igloos first.

If you want to build your own kick-ass cooler use Vacuum Insulated Panels. We have a division that supplies the medical market with coolers for biopharma applications and we use VIPs to really ensure that the contents stay within 2-8C for days on end.

[SIR70T]

Most sides (and lids) of the cheap coolers are hollow -- fill them with this

GREAT STUFF 16 oz. Gaps and Cracks Insulating Foam Sealant-162848 - The Home Depot

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by rusnak

I have been looking at ice chests at the local hardware store because my old Coleman one has a broken hinge, and I found out that the new hinge parts don't fit. I've been using one large Coleman and one Cube forever.

The Yeti ice chest is around $500. I just can't get my head around that much money for an ice chest. I think it's a status symbol, which is stupid.

Then online I saw a Pelican cooler. No affiliation with Wayne I'm guessing. It's around half that price.

Then there are the stupid bling ones with built in speakers, bluetooth, and blenders. I won't be buying one of those.

This is for work. I have a crew of around 12 people who will be opening and closing it all day for around 3 months. I will probably use it in the truck and stuff in the off season, so it's got to be durable.

Anyone else have experience with high end ice chests?

A standard (not frost free) refrigerator with a solar setup will certainly beat the price of ice over your time period.

[jrj3rd]

RTIC Coolers - Reserve Now

They should look familiar. Get them before Yeti files the inevitable lawsuit

[Rusty Heap]

This Techni-ice is awesome. lasts a long long time keeping things cold.

comes as a flat as paper sheet, that you then hydrate to fill/plump up.

you can also cut the quilted sheets to what-ever size you want.

conforms for wrist / knee injuries too under an ace wrap.

Super sweet stuff, not very well known made in Australia.

google different ebay deals and amazon or other sources. this is cool sheet!

Amazon.com: Techni Ice HDR 4 Ply Reusable Ice & Heat Packs 20 Sheet Special

[URY914]

I have also used frozen salt water in plastic bottoms in the cooler instead of just ice cubes. It worked but I don't know if it was worth the effort.

[Porchdog]

I clean out and freeze ice in 1/2 gallon cardboard juice cartons. I squeeze the carton before I cap it, otherwise the ice expanding splits the carton.

These cartons of ice are a convenient dimension to fill a cooler. The ice keeps longer and as they do start to melt you can pour drinking water off of individual cartons.

If you are storing food a couple of these keep the whole cooler cold.

My dad started this years ago - I don't know if he came up with it himself or if he learned it from someone.

These don't work the best for beer or other beverages - but who keeps beer on ice for a week?

[M.D. Holloway]

oh, that chest...sorry