TexasKayakFisherman.com

I'm going to pick up a Yeti Cooler - with my REI dividend and 20% off coupon it'll be near free, and I'm sick of my el-cheapo Igloo cooler.

This is not a debate over brand - I'm sure Engel and Pelican the others are great too, REI has Yeti so that's what I'll get.

I'm considering the Yeti 50, 65 and 75 quart coolers. You can find it following this link. My application will be 2-5 day car camping overlanding trips out of a truck, want to keep food & barley pops cold for up to 4 people. Leaning towards the Yeti 65, seems like a reasonable size/weight to move by myself, but large enough for what I want to do.

So post up what size cooler you use, how you use it, and any other general feedback. Did you buy one that's larger than you need, and its annoying to move by yourself? (my concern with the Yeti 75) Or do you wish you'd bought a larger cooler, cant fit enough snobby craft beer for a week of camping? Thanks.

I have a Yeti 65 and for me it's fine for food/drinks but that's about all. It was given to me no way I would have spent that kind of money on one. I have a 110 Igloo that is as good as my Yeti 65, is big enough to hold deer meat, most fish I catch or lots of food and has wheels for a fraction of the cost.
https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/igloo- ... led-cooler

To me the biggest difference in coolers is not the thickness of the sidewalls but how well the lid seals with the cooler and the amount of insulation in the lid. I've modified a $15 Igloo cooler by adding a lid gasket and EPS insulation in the lid so that it holds ice like most $50 "five day" coolers.

Also if you have some quality ice packs combined with ice your cooler will stay cold much longer than with just ice. I've found these to be worth the money.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XH9GB75/?c ... _lig_dp_it

I use this 13q Engel for a perfect fit in my T160 well, doubling as a dry box, along with a milk crate.
It's everything I need for one day on the water.
I never use ice - blue ice and gel-ice packs - except will buy a bag of ice to float fillets.
If I need more, can use my large Ice Mule behind
The Large Ice Mule is 23-liter, and they make an extra large.
I've kept food for 3 days in the ice mule using only ice packs and beginning with frozen meats.

and also use the Ice Mule for deep bow ballast in my Kestrel


You probably can't go wrong with Yeti, but I would think hard about space in the kayak and ballast on your draft and stability v. what you'll really need for cold space.
I know folks who've kept their Yeti cold for a week on a single ice charge.
You can always supplement with other smaller coolers for day access.
Mulling your application, it's not really boat, but vehicle - 8.8 lbs/gallon at water density, maybe calculate how big you're willing to lift.
More than 50q is a boat seat in a center console - that's the size cooler you never want to move.

https://www.rei.com/product/144839/dome ... red-cooler

Just to throw in something entirely different, if money were no object and I was shopping REI with a dividend etc. for my overlanding, camping needs I am going to go with an electric cooler/freezer. When you take the ice out of the equation you can take a lot of supplies. Run it off the vehicle on the road and a small solar panel and battery at camp.
For long trips or special mucho cervezas (?) trips pack the el cheap with beer an ice. That way the drinks are wet and cold and the food stuffs are cold and dry.


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I worked on a peltier cooler as an RA. We had a closed-cycle cryogenic refrigerator to run off satellite waste and solar heat - 3 stages, and peltier was the 1st stage.
Nitrous oxide was the 2nd stage - prolly shows

I have a Yeti 65 and an Ozark Trail 16 for lunch, and Ozark Trail 26 I keep cold drinks in the car, and a rolling Ozark Trail 65 (I think, its the older one, the new one is 45) But for 3-4 day camping trips my Treeline 20 is good enough and takes up less room than my Yeti. But when I go to Louisiana from Florida I take the 65 and fill it with a sack of mudbugs for the trip back.