Trying to find a 3rd job so that I can really start stocking away $ for hunting and fly fishing stuff.

There a particular cooler that you cant live without hunting the back country? I will be hunting bear once this darn snow melts, then antelope/elk/deer this summer and fall.

Those Yeti coolers look awesome, but to get one that will hold morning than a milk jug the price tag is higher than my bow!

Just get a regular cooler and put about a pound of dry ice in it. Will stay cold for days, even in FL.

I have a stable of coolers, and after getting one of the expensive ones (I got an Engel), I'm convinced that you get what you pay for. The Engel really does keep ice for 5 days or longer in warm to hot weather; my Coleman that is their 'best' one may keep ice for 2 days in similar circumstances.
I guess it depends on whether you want to constantly replace ice, or how long you will be needing to keep stuff cold.

My problem with a Yeti or other high end cooler is I would not feel safe leaving it in camp.  To easy to grab and go.

When I need to keep something frozen I use a smaller cooler inside of a big one and add dry ice to the small one.  Have had frozen meat ten days into an elk hunt before.

Mike

The Yeti's sure look nice but are out of my budget! If you go with a cheaper one I would go with the Rubbermaid because their hinge design on the lids holds up the best IMO.
One thing we do is to dig a 4 ft. deep pit to put our coolers in and cover with a canvas tarp. Ice will last double the time even in a cheap cooler.

Regular cooler and cover it with an old sleeping bag. The white coolers keep ice longer than the dark coolers also cause they reflect heat off instead of absorbing it. Really important to cover the cooler going down the road too if you have it in the back of your truck as the wind passing over the cooler will lower it's insulation efficiency. We make or own block ice from two liter soda bottles and have no problem keeping ice over a week in the mountains.

Consider this: last year I used a very expensive high end roto molded cooler and a Coleman extreme 5 cooler that is not very expensive. I had the exact number of ice blocks and elk quarters/meat in both. The high end cooler was a lot bigger and had a lot of air space. The Coleman was completely full with no air space and the ice held up better in the cheaper cooler that was packed full. So what I learned is a lot of air space is not good. I would imagine if both coolers were the same size packed full with no air space the higher end cooler would have worked better. Now I only use a cooler large enough to keep what I want inside cool without having a lot of open space.

I can't keep folks from stealing mine out of my truck. If I ever figure that part out I might spring for a good one.

CHECK OUT THE COOLER TEST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-TE4RnqT0U

Pelican and Grizzly make high end coolers now like the Yeti.  Not sure if they are a less expensive or not.  Dry ice in a regular cooler in the shade work awesome too but if can be hard to find dry ice in a lot of states.

If you don't want to spend the money on a designer cooler like a Yeti, the very best coolers that can hold all your food and game (and then some) is a smaller, non-working chest freezer.

I found mine for under 50 bucks, it has 2 inches of rigid insulation, holds ice forever and with a hasp is about as secure as anything else.  Having this allows me the luxury of not having to rush back away form the hunting if I down an animal, regardless of the temps.
I cut a plug out of 1-1/2 inch thick blue rigid insulation that lays on top of smaller volumes in the cooler when its hot to extend the ice.

Joshua

check out the new Ice Mule coolers.

wow!

"Colman Extremes" were a very close second in tests to the high end coolers.  I can by 8 of them for the price of one Yete.

I spend around 12 days camping in Aug. at Wounded Knee, SD. We have good luck digging a hole and putting the cooler down in the hole. Hole is about 2 feet deep.

QuoteOriginally posted by tracker12:
"Colman Extremes" were a very close second in tests to the high end coolers.  I can by 8 of them for the price of one Yete.

X2
The Coleman that I have keeps ice better than any cooler that I have ever used.  

Coleman Extreme 5 works great for me and got it on sale at Academy Sports for less than $50...

after a lot of research, here is another vote for a engle cooler.  we do a lot of multi day river floats in 90-100 degree days and a good cooler does make a pretty big difference, a 65 qt fits perfectly in my canoe. a lot can be learned from the river rafters out west that might be out two weeks.. its important to cover your cooler with a white towel or something, I use a white beach towel that I keep wet, and a insulated pad that goes inside the cooler on top of the ice and its contents, this makes a big difference, the problem with dry ice is that it can freeze everything in your cooler and some coolers will crack from the cold. ice management makes a huge difference as well, just get in the cooler when needed, and don't leave it open
 here is some good info for keeping ice for extended periods:
    https://rrfw.org/RaftingGrandCanyon/Cooler_Type_and_Packing  

I do agree that a coleman extreme is probably the best cooler of the "regular coolers"  I have a 48 qt and a 65 qt

For most usage, I just don't think the really high end units are worth the price. Some of the less costly coolers will serve most hunters very well. Now, if I were shipping meat from very far away, I might re-think the issue, but for the present I'll just catch a Coleman on sale and go for it.

Most bang for your buck...clearly the Coleman Xtreme.

Thanks for sharing the test Mr. Schindler.

Some of the events we end up at getting to a place to buy ice is a real ordeal.We use a Yeti and love it.Yes they are expensive,worth it?personal choice.I would buy another Yeti if I needed another ice chest.That being said.Ice chests are like bows being a bunch to choose from .