Test Kitchen rated a bunch of high end coolers

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LostWoods

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Smells like sponsored content.

Yeti is good. ORCA is good. Engel is good. RTIC is good. Honestly you can't go really wrong with any of the top rotomolded contenders compared to a traditional cooler and how you use them (e.g. pre-chilling, filling properly, and where you keep it) is going to have a lot more impact on how well they retain cold than one brand to the next. Just get what you can get a deal on and be happy.
 
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Yes, nobody who's into outdoor activities would ever buy or ask about a Yeti, so it must be sponsored content. ATK doesn't do or accept advertising, they are like the consumer reports of the cooking world.
 
LostWoods

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Still sounded like a sales pitch. I mean people have done review and test videos ad nauseum and the differences might as well be within the margin of error. Yeti to me is paying for a name but if you're happy with it be happy with it - no reason to look for justification in these videos.
 
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WAYAWAY

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LostWoods said:
Smells like sponsored content.

Yeti is good. ORCA is good. Engel is good. RTIC is good. Honestly you can't go really wrong with any of the top rotomolded contenders compared to a traditional cooler and how you use them (e.g. pre-chilling, filling properly, and where you keep it) is going to have a lot more impact on how well they retain cold than one brand to the next. Just get what you can get a deal on and be happy.
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Meaning "That Joe guy is a shill" ?
Nope. Just a fan of how ATK compares products, thought it was cool.
 
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WAYAWAY said:
Meaning "That Joe guy is a shill" ?
Nope. Just a fan of how ATK compares products, thought it was cool.
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Nah just the overall tone and how things were presented as I skipped through. The internet has made me a pessimist and more things are sponsored content than the average person realizes. Even content that isn't sponsored has an ulterior motive half the time.
 
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LostWoods said:
Nah just the overall tone and how things were presented as I skipped through. The internet has made me a pessimist and more things are sponsored content than the average person realizes. Even content that isn't sponsored has an ulterior motive half the time.
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Sounds like @LostWoods and YETI had a nasty break-up. I hope there are no kids involved.

Seriously though, YouTube requires sponsored content to be labeled as such. It's a policy. There's no way a large channel like ATK is going to get away with publishing videos with sponsored content that isn't labeled as such. Smaller channels can fly under the radar, but if YETI sponsored that video in any way then it would be obvious.

Not sure why the focus is on bashing YETI anyway, they weren't even the most expensive cooler tested.
 
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I thought it was interesting but ATK missed the mark I think. I would be surprised if most people were cross shopping an Igloo and Yeti (or other top line cooler). For me the surprise would be a low priced cooler that can run with the high dollar choices so we can make an informed economic choice. There are a ton of "ice chest challenges" out there on the internet and some are actually quite entertaining. I find the real world rarely matches the test environment anyway-I rarely fill a 60 qt cooler 95% with ice and put 5 cans of something in it when I am camping so the X days cold is pretty useless statistic. I think all of the coolers recommend pre-chilling cooler and contents and using at least 50% of the cooler volume for ice. I use some expensive ones and some less expensive Coleman Extreme and there are pro and con about each one.
 
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Ragman said:
I thought it was interesting but ATK missed the mark I think. I would be surprised if most people were cross shopping an Igloo and Yeti (or other top line cooler). For me the surprise would be a low priced cooler that can run with the high dollar choices so we can make an informed economic choice. There are a ton of "ice chest challenges" out there on the internet and some are actually quite entertaining. I find the real world rarely matches the test environment anyway-I rarely fill a 60 qt cooler 95% with ice and put 5 cans of something in it when I am camping so the X days cold is pretty useless statistic. I think all of the coolers recommend pre-chilling cooler and contents and using at least 50% of the cooler volume for ice. I use some expensive ones and some less expensive Coleman Extreme and there are pro and con about each one.
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I don't even use ice.
I have some of those gel filled ice packs that last WAY longer than frozen water.
 
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When I bring a cooler its freezing as much of the contents as possible, pre-cooling, and ice packs.

But when you're starting to get up in the higher end coolers you're also getting pretty close to considering upgrading to a lower capacity fridge (given you don't need the space for ice).
 
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Kilo Sierra said:
When I bring a cooler its freezing as much of the contents as possible, pre-cooling, and ice packs.

But when you're starting to get up in the higher end coolers you're also getting pretty close to considering upgrading to a lower capacity fridge (given you don't need the space for ice).
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I'm in the middle of a ton of decisions around a re-do of my 4Runner.
 
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Ragman said:
I thought it was interesting but ATK missed the mark I think. I would be surprised if most people were cross shopping an Igloo and Yeti (or other top line cooler). For me the surprise would be a low priced cooler that can run with the high dollar choices so we can make an informed economic choice. There are a ton of "ice chest challenges" out there on the internet and some are actually quite entertaining. I find the real world rarely matches the test environment anyway-I rarely fill a 60 qt cooler 95% with ice and put 5 cans of something in it when I am camping so the X days cold is pretty useless statistic. I think all of the coolers recommend pre-chilling cooler and contents and using at least 50% of the cooler volume for ice. I use some expensive ones and some less expensive Coleman Extreme and there are pro and con about each one.
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That's the trouble with ATK. They only test national brands so they don't often test store brands. I'm guessing their thinking is the average Test Kitchen viewer is going to go with a name brand cooler that they can find at an large outdoor store.
 
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WAYAWAY said:
I'm in the middle of a ton of decisions around a re-do of my 4Runner.
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I actually ditched the cooler and kitchen set up out of frustration of setting up, cleaning, and tearing down (not to mentioned extra space). I considered creating a whole "Ingenious collapsing quick setup kitchen" but couldn't justify the weight gain with building everything and the space required. Our cargo area is a simple shelves and totes. I'm also planning a slight rebuild.

Currently the GF and I go with Mountain House Meals for dinner and shelf stable food and fruit for snacks. I only carry a single burner Coleman to boil water for dinner and coffee in the morning. Its worked for us because we generally don't hang around camp for long as we usually like to be on the trail. Breakfast is usually coffee and a muffin, lunch we snack, and dinner freeze-dried with some fruit on the side.

Having said that, we have discussed incorporating a fridge in our system, but keeping space at a minimum. We don't want to go full kitchen. I can see us putting simple items in freezer bags (deli meat) and drinks but keeping meal prep to a minimum.
 
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I have 2 fridges once is a Alpicool 16 Qt that I bought a year ago. It's great as a stand alone freezer or also for picnics and the such. Shortly after I got it I took it on a 3 day trip and was able to put all the perishable items for meals including a bottle of wine in it with no problem.

My other fridge is a Dometic 52 Qt that I bought 6 years ago. Since buying that I rarely use a cooler anymore.
 
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ChadHahn said:
nobody who's into outdoor activities would ever buy or ask about a Yeti
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i dont know, i see a LOT of fishermen down here use yeti. every charter fishing boat carries yeti coolers...i think they are pretty good since i see so many in use down here where it is really hot. even a lot of the local hardware stores carry yeti
 
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grubworm said:
i dont know, i see a LOT of fishermen down here use yeti. every charter fishing boat carries yeti coolers...i think they are pretty good since i see so many in use down here where it is really hot. even a lot of the local hardware stores carry yeti
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I was being sarcastic.
 
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WAYAWAY said:
I don't even use ice.
I have some of those gel filled ice packs that last WAY longer than frozen water.
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Just getting into Yellowstone via Gardiner, there is a gas station with a green dinosaur (Sinclair?) That offers block ice. I filled my cooler with regular tube, broken ice and my brother in law bought a block. The win went to the block, no contest. Could I put a block in my coleman and crushed in a yeti and beat it out? Probably
 
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