Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/20/arts-crafts-build-a-yeti-st.html
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I always wondered if there was a benefit by just using spray foam in the hollow plastic? The cooler in a bin looks like a champ, but definitely a space issue.
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There are some pretty good Yeti knock-off coolers available for a fraction of the price. I bought a Lifetime brand cooler for $89 a couple years ago. It’s about the same size as the $400 Yeti, and holds ice for 2 or 3 days just fine. Haven’t tested it beyond that.
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Not a fan of Yeti coolers simply because of the price. You are paying for extra insulation which basically has a million percent markup.
I don’t need my coolers to keep things cold for eons, I need them to keep things cold for a reasonable time frame. Like from the supermarket to home, or from home to the beach, or for a few hours in the shade on the deck while I pull things out to grill in stages.
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Got a Coolest Cooler free like half a year back. It was part of a Pepsi Points promotion and my dad managed to get hundreds of codes from bottle caps people threw out at work haha
(Although I feel bad people still waiting on theirs from the Kickstarter)
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The guy had me up until he said Pepsi.
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Coleman and Igloo both make coolers that are just as capable of keeping shit cold or frozen as long (or longer) then Yeti and other rotoformed coolers. Normal beach sized ones with less insulatng power can be had as cheap as the $30 to $50 dollar range. And the large keep ice frozen for 14 days level fishing and camping coolers seldom go for more than a $100 even at full price. The best of them will keep stuff cold for a hell of a lot longer than a yeti. And all of them give you a hell of a lot more internal space than a rotoformed cooler of the same size.
Forget igloo’s mark for it but for Coleman its the Xtreme line. I haven’t seen much besides Coleman Xtreme coolers when i get involved in my parents whole off the grid live on an isolated beach for months RVing, nor among fisherman and most other sorts of campers. Though i gather the rotoformed ones have a following for bear proofness. They seem to mostly crop up and beer festivals, tailgates and soccer practice. The sort of situations where weight or capacity aren’t big concerns.
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About 10 years ago I picked up one of these Coleman Coolers from K-Mart and scoffed at the “Keeps Ice Frozen for 5 days!” marketing sticker on the side. But amazingly it works as advertised. Put in a bag of ice with some already cold stuff and the ice will still be there almost a week later as long as you don’t open it too much or put it out in the sun all day. When I was growing up coolers rarely kept ice frozen for more than a day or two. Enough for the weekend camping trip, but that’s it.
The only problem with the cooler is that mine leaked like crazy around the drain plug. I had to use some silicone sealant to keep it from leaving wet spots everywhere.
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Coleman Extreme cooler; holds ice (block ice, admittedly), for a week in 90 degree weather. Under $100.
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More of an RC Cola man, eh?
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If I could only buy Jones Soda in Tijuana…but I do have Mexican Coke anytime I want, so that’s ok.
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My Yeti keeps cube ice frozen and food/beer safely cold for at least five days which includes opening the cooler multiple times a day. Lots of coolers will keep block ice frozen for days if you never open them. Change it to cube ice and actually use the cooler and that’s where the cheapies fall down. The performance of my old beach cooler vs the yeti over a long weekend of car camping is night and day. It was money well spent.
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Great project, very cool.
Sweet!
Uh, I mean, it is sweet, but, um.
“Nice!” 
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Bags of loose ice only last a day in my cooler, but that’s because I’m also using it to make drinks.
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He really needed to drape a sheet across the garage, though. That car was way too distracting.
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So put one of those medium coolers inside a larger one - voila! No work needed.
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Our fridge coughed its last about two weeks ago. We looked at buying a replacement as the repair was nearly $1k. Living out of coolers for two weeks was much like camping. A few tips for making them last longer… wrap the thing in a sleeping bag. Put a folded over sleeping bag on top. Much higher R value means longer cooling. We bought ice for a while (no block ice available? bah!) then I realized I could create my own block ice in the garage chest freezer by making it in lidded containers (keeps the water level to a minimum). We were working the chest freezer pretty hard so I put a sleeping bag on top of that too (really helped). Don’t wrap a chest freezer as the thing vents waste heat or something something from the sides (at least our model does).
Went with the repair in the end as the style mismatch made Enkwife reject new units.
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I second this recommendation. We took a $90 knock off to Alabama about a month ago, during a heat wave. It sat in 90+ degree heat for 4 days without adding ice. We may have cheated a bit by salting the ice, but the cooler performed well above expectations!
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Another happy Coleman Extreme cooler user. I’ve had mine for years, and it holds ice for days.
I honestly don’t understand the whole YETI thing. Yep, marginally better than a Coleman Extreme. Lots better than the rock-bottom Coleman. But a $25 Coleman will keep my drinks cold with a daily or every-other day ice run, the Coleman Extreme (under $100) will last up to 5 days between ice runs. Yeah, the $400 Yeti may hold my drinks cold for 7 days between ice runs* but a $600 Dometic will hold my food cold indefinitely** and never need ice. When I’m somewhere where I can buy ice, even using the normal Coleman, I can buy a LOT of ice for the price difference. When I’m somewhere where ice is a problem, the YETI will still run dry relatively quickly… and the price difference between the Extreme and the YETI will buy a LOT of ice.
Even as Overlander Status Symbol (which I don’t care about), an Engel or a Dominic is going to impress me a LOT more than a YETI will…
It’s like - it’s a weird half-step that is almost as expensive as the real, good solution.
- But let’s be honest here. That’s keeping the food in the cooler cold. If you take warm drinks to put into the cooler as you drink the cool drinks that you put in there on day 1, your ice is not going to last as long.
** but it needs power. If you’re careful, it will work off your car battery. But if you’re not careful, you may need a jump. You could get a second deep cycle battery for it, and some solar panels, and just start the car or the generator when the charge gets too low to charge the battery. But all that stuff does not come cheap…
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