Does anyone have any information on the industry program pricing for YETI Coolers? I was getting ready to take the plunge on a YETI Cooler, but while researching and shopping around I came across their industry website which offers discounts to guides, first responders, military and so on. They've moth balled the program due to high retail demand, but they expect it to be up an running again by 2016, so hopefully another month or so and they will be back at it. But i'm curious as to the pricing. If it isn't that great of a deal, I'll just go ahead and do it now. But there are a lot of these types of programs out there, and i've found discounts from 10-50% off. 50% off a YETI would be a great buy. Anyone have any info?
Whatever you decide on the timeframe, you'll not regret purchasing a yeti cooler.. Get one of their tumblers too, keeps the coffee hot and the gin cold
The discount must be pretty substantial.....I bought one from a guy on E-Bay that was liquidating some he had bought on that program.....paid $200 for a $350 cooler....
My brother owns 2 Icy Tek coolers that he bought probably 10-15 years ago , they are lifetime coolers made in the USA. Yeti bought them out and started making them overseas . I think all current produced coolers are pretty comparable, I would choose them on price only.
It gets a fair bit warm during fire school here in July.
Filled em both up and the one we never needed anyting until Wednesday. 3 days after filling. Fire grounds were around 125 on the pavement. Coolers both in the back of my truck in the sun with an AL shell cap on top.
Engel full of ice, Coleman a bit of ice left mostly cold water.
I was actually amazed at the difference.
We opened each one to get out a bit of water and gatorade and closed again.
Then we never got anything out again. Went home and on Saturday, the Coleman had everything warm in it, and the Engel had the slighgest bit of ice and everything cold in it again.
I'm sure thats not scientific enough, and I generally don't like the cost or weight of the better coolers but I retain an Engel to this day because of the specific tasks it does better.
The colemans we run in AK in the fall, they hold ice for a week no problem, sometimes 2 weeks. But then again its often not over 50 degrees during the day...
I have a $20.00 gyppo cooler in my work truck 365 days a year and it holds ice well in summer months. It will be in the landfill years before I will wear out the Yeti...
I've done the math. I will not live long enough to justify the expense of a Yeti cooler. Some of you guys hunt, camp, work, etc far from town in the mountains, wilderness, or desert and a Yeti might make sense. Other folks just want to own "the best" and there is nothing wrong with that. It's your money; buy what makes you happy.
I have two good Rubbermaid coolers and where I use them, I am seldom more than 10 minutes away from someplace that will sell me a bag of ice for a couple of bucks. We fill the cooler with ice from home before we leave. I figure we spend about $10 a year on ice away from home. I would need to be camping and bicycling and eating meals out of a cooler when I am 90 to break even on a Yeti....
Bottom line, the MUCH cheaper cooler kept ice longer. End of story...
something is phugged with that test because i had ~60 quart Coleman Extreme and Yeti and the Yeti kicked the the Colemans arse by a long shot when both were in a black vehicle(my exwifes GMC Yukon) during our summer when temps in the car were well over 100.....threw both in with similar loads and the Yeti held ice for several more days than the Coleman...
Granted I like Coleman Extremes, they are hell of a bang for the buck and 90% of people are never gonna need more than they can provide, but Yeti(or similarly constructed cooler) definitely keeps stuff cold longer.....only question is if you need that, most really dont.....and as shrap said, prolly a good thing Coleman Extremes are cheaper cause they are no where near as durable....
its amazing to me that igloo and some of the other cheap cooler makers don't figure out a way to beef up the hinges. That to me is my biggest issue with a cheap cooler. I got sick of hinges breaking so I ended up with an IRP that I have owned for years. wanted a smaller cooler so I bought a cheap igloo island breeze. the stupid lids comes off everytime you open it. I like everything else about the cooler.
I give Yeti credit for actually thinking about building a cooler that lasts and holds ice, when it wasn't a priority for Coleman and Igloo. I had a "Coleman Extreme!" cooler that was supposed to keep ice 5 days in 90° weather - that actually kept it about two days And at one Quemado gathering, I saw a Yeti keep ice much longer than other coolers. That pretty well sold me, so I now have three of them.
I'm sure there are others that work nearly as well, but they aren't commonly found around here, and aren't much cheaper than the Yeti. And it's expensive to ship them.
Count me in the "most bang for your buck" category. We just got a couple of the 150 qt. Coleman Marine Extremes (w/ stainless steel hardware) for $100 ea. at Coleman. I saw a 160 qt. Yeti yesterday for $680. I didn't know they came with accessories available. A seat cushion for the lid was $180. As rough as we are on coolers, I don't see a Yeti outlasting 6 or 7 of the Coleman's. We rarely have to buy ice anyway. To each his own.
Count me in the "most bang for your buck" category. We just got a couple of the 150 qt. Coleman Marine Extremes (w/ stainless steel hardware) for $100 ea. at Coleman. I saw a 160 qt. Yeti yesterday for $680. I didn't know they came with accessories available. A seat cushion for the lid was $180. As rough as we are on coolers, I don't see a Yeti outlasting 6 or 7 of the Coleman's. We rarely have to buy ice anyway. To each his own.
If it were not for the ability to hold ice quite a bit longer in certain instances, I"m with you totally... run other coolers and can replace.
Though Coleman/igloo rarely last more than a few years for us lately. If the replacment hinges etc... were not half the cost of a new cooler sometimes it would make sense.
Why Coleman/igloo couldn't toughen their parts, and coolers and then give em double thick insualtion, for only double the cost and beat the heck out of the big boys is beyond me.
I'm still liking my 100 engel though I got somewhere a long while back for 120 bucks... Its outlasted 2 new igloos so far.
He used it the first time a month ago. Put ice and such in his big coleman.
And iced his beer in the pelican. For some reason the beer had a bit of slush in it in the pelican which I don't understand.
The ice in it stayed all weekend. THe ice bags we used in the coleman were partially, like 15-25% melted.
IMHO all the "industrial" coolers are about teh same. BUt I have not run a side by side obviously but if you simply look at them, they run the same theory.
I have a yeti on my boat. Works as a seat and casting platform.
I put ice in on Friday afternoon and fish til Sunday early evening and the ice is still in there. In July every day was triple digits for the month.
Yeah it's expensive but nothing I've ever used has lasted or functioned as well.
I put a boned out wild hog in it in California last sept. Drive two days home with some ice poured over the top. The cubes were still frozen together in big clumps when we got home.
The best bang for the buck especially flying home with meat is the nor chill marine cooler bag.
Left marathon Florida at 5am. ( 8 pacific) drive two hours plus to Miami flew to Atlanta layover there. connected to Portland or. arrived at 9 pm drove 3.5 hours home and that 28 pounds of fish filets was as hard as rock after 16-18 hours of travel.
Another happy Yeti owner here. I covered the bottom of mine with a layer of canned beer and filled it up with ice at 0700 on Friday the 13th and it still has ice today. Some of the Coleman and Igloo guys were needing ice by the following Sunday. Same place, same conditions. I'm not promoting Yeti, buy what you want, but they work well. If you used one everyday on the job, its probably worth it. Any discount would be welcome!
that video is pretty unscientific. First of all the sizes are not the same, so you would expect the RTIC to last longer with more ice mass. Secondly, did they open and shut them at the exact same time? Without knowing, you cannot determine if it was a fair test. Maybe it was. I just dont know. It did appear to be very similar, however. And at half the price, they are intriguing.
All I know is that I will put water in my Yeti and in less than 2 hours it has turned into ice...
I saw an article where a yeti cooler was in a truck fire. The cooler sustained quit a bit of melted damage on the outside, but the ice inside was still solid. But what was really amazing, is the cooler actually pulled the driver from the burning wreckage and administered CPR until the medics arrived. Never heard of no igloo doin that!
They've moth balled the program due to high retail demand, but they expect it to be up an running again by 2016, so hopefully another month or so and they will be back at it. But i'm curious as to the pricing.
People with big mouths are the reason most deals are shut down, not retail demand.
Sams Clubs sells an Iglo Sportsman that is a roto-molded yeti knock-off for $200 bucks. Very well built, 90% as good as the $400 Yeti. My buddy runs one daily in the back of his truck. I have 2 yetis right now and have bought over 20 of them. At full retail I am not sure I would buy them, at a discount, they are great. I am sick of the chitty hinges on cheap coolers. They last me one season and become 2-piece coolers. Yeti does NOT support the warranty on their previous coolers- only the Tundra. I suppose in a couple of years when the come out with an updated model they will not warranty the Tundras. I don't like that. When I pay big bucks for a life time warranty, I expect it to be for the life of me- not the life of the cooler!
I have some yeti products and they work much better than what I had before. All of the yeti tumblers and the coulster are great. You won't regret them if you spend the money. I have a small and large Yeti Tundra. Some people say a coleman extreme is comparable for keeping Ice. In my experience the yetis keep ice almost twice as long. When I am at deer camp and don't want to drive several miles to town for ice on the 3rd day the Yeti starts getting way cheaper. The convenience of having the best products when you are having fun is worth it. Just like clothes that keep you warm and dry or scopes that allow you to maximize your shooting time and ability. They are top notch gear.
In my opinion, it really comes down to personal preference. I have a Pelican 95, my brother has a Yeti 65.
They are both very good.
Yeti is a bit more expensive, both are heavy as hell, both keep ice for a long, long time....
Personally, I like the latches on the Pelican. My brother prefers the latches on his Yeti.
Just my two cents
That is my impression too. I went with the Pelican, since I found a deal that was crazy cheaper then the Yetis. It also has steel-reinforced hardware and I believe that the Yetis do not.
The Pelican I bought via an Amazon third-party provider and I also bought a couple of stainless restaurant serving trays that fit inside. I put the ice inside those and my food stays dry and super cold.
That said, there seems to be nothing wrong with the Yetis otherwise. I hear that they work great.
I will say this....as a slight negative to any of these monsters, the size and weight can be a problem.
Here in CA, many of the the National Parks require coolers - even the ones rated as bear proof - be stored inside a bear locker. This has posed a problem as my Pelican 95 won't fit inside of some of them.
On the tumblers, the Yeti work great! Many a morning I have awoken to a cup half filled with cubes...holdovers from the evening before....still smelling of Gin.
Looks like Big Dave is on to something. Buy the RTIC and use the 50% savings to buy a boatload os ice!
X2 I received my RTIC 45 cooler a few days ago. They said it would ship in 6 weeks. Got it 5. For me it was worth the wait to save 50%. Basically the same as a Yeti but the RTIC is $175 verses $350. The RTIC 45 holds 45 quarts. The Yeti 45 doesn't, it's a 36.8 quart cooler. RTIC 65 is a 65 quart cooler and the Yeti 65 is a 57.2 quart. Happy. https://www.rticcoolers.com/compare-rtic-45-to-yeti-tundra-45-cooler
A heads up for all you Yeti lovers (and all those who can't believe folks spend so much $$$ on this kind of stuff), Yeti Holdings is planning an IPO here pretty soon. With all their suckers, er, I mean profit margin, you'll make a killing.
A heads up for all you Yeti lovers (and all those who can't believe folks spend so much $$$ on this kind of stuff), Yeti Holdings is planning an IPO here pretty soon. With all their suckers, er, I mean profit margin, you'll make a killing.
Sams Clubs sells an Iglo Sportsman that is a roto-molded yeti knock-off for $200 bucks. Very well built, 90% as good as the $400 Yeti. My buddy runs one daily in the back of his truck. I have 2 yetis right now and have bought over 20 of them. At full retail I am not sure I would buy them, at a discount, they are great. I am sick of the chitty hinges on cheap coolers. They last me one season and become 2-piece coolers. Yeti does NOT support the warranty on their previous coolers- only the Tundra. I suppose in a couple of years when the come out with an updated model they will not warranty the Tundras. I don't like that. When I pay big bucks for a life time warranty, I expect it to be for the life of me- not the life of the cooler!
I am on my fourth year using a Yeti knock off the Igloo Sportsman, it is a great cooler. Start of Deer season out here was in the mid 80's every day, I toss 3 blocks of ice in it a day before I pack it to leave so it is cold when I load it. Then on the day I load it I toss a small bag of ice on top of everything packed, when I got home 10 days later the 10 lb blocks still weighed close to 7 lbs each.
1]. Look just like Yeti. From the tests I have seen on YouTube, ice retention is same same.
2). Paid less than half, i.e., bought two RTIC 45s for less than just one Yeti 45 costs, and STILL think I paid a helluva lot for a cooler. I tell myself I probably won't be needing a cooler for many years to make myself feel better.
3). RTICs take a long time to ship. I ordered in July, was told ship by August 30, which came and went, and they shipped September 9-ish.
4) The RTICs charge no tax, and ship free. Very cool and adds up! They ship with very little padding ... A one-ply cardboard box and the cooler wrapped in a clear plastic bag. One of mine arrived with a small gouge in a corner, but I decided to live with it since it's a cooler after all.
5). I put a very bright light source inside each cooler, turned off the room lights, and neither seems to have any insulation voids. That's good. I have seen videos on YouTube where this type of cooler (called rotomolded) had insulation voids.
6). Rotomolded coolers are heavy, no matter the brand. The RTIC 45s weigh 25-ish pounds. They have an actual internal capacity of 45 quarts (for some reason, 45-quart Yetis have less?). 45 qts = 11.25 gallons. Water weighs 8.35 pounds per gallon, which means a 45-quart RTIC filled with water weighs:
11.25 gal x 8.35 lbs/gal + 25 lbs = 119 lbs
Sure, the contents of a cooler are going to be lighter than 100% water, but you get the point. 100 pounds for a full 45-qt cooler, give or take. For my uses that's manageable.
Jump to a 65 quart RTIC, which is only $25 more, but which weighs 36.5 pound empty, and your filled-with-water weight jumps to 172 pounds! (16.25 gal x 8.35 lbs/gal + 36.5 lbs = 172 lbs.). I figure you're looking at a 140-150-pound cooler when full. Could I get it into the back of the pickup alone? Yes. Do I wanna do that for the next 25 years? No. Plus, I don't need a 65-quart cooler for a lot of the short-range stuff I do. One 45-quart is plenty for those purposes.
Which is a long way of explaining why I got the two 45's. More insulation per quart of capacity, ability to separate stuff like bloody game bags or fish from food and drinks,for instance, and to break up the weight into more manageable chunks, or to travel light.
One last thing, in the Keys, every dang Hells Bay seems to have a Yeti on it in front of the console, and sitting/standing on them is NO PROBLEM. I never saw a warped top. Thinking I can use some of my old stock paint to camo up one of these bad boys for when I want to shoot doves close to the truck and the cold beverages.
Yeti deserves a bunch of 'distractors'. They are over priced. They are no better then 'copy cat' brands that cost a fraction of th eir price. They are all made in China anyway.
Be interested to know how you like that SoftPak. Been eyeing a lunchbox-sized one as well as something a bit bigger for the truck cab as well as for airline travel.
Edited to add: went to the RTIC website, and the ship date for the soft-sided stuff is 10/8, which is only a week away, but for either the 45 or 65 rotomolded, it is 11/24 if ordered today. That's Thanksgiving. Based on my experience, I'd be thinking now's the time to order if you want a hard-sided RTIC in time for Christmas.
Rick, I noticed you mentioned RTIC here awhile back so I checked them out. No way I'm paying $350 for the Yeti version and the flip top lid on the RTIC appears to be way better anyway.
The zipper is probably gonna eventually go to hell but I use ice packs(no melted ice..) so will probably just flip the lid shut and call it good.
Side note....
Just ordered spare lids for the uber awesome Yeti bottles and coffee cup. (36 and 18 oz bottles are the chizzle....)
Noticed in the gear/accessories department they sell a 3/4 lb. bottle opener....
1]. Look just like Yeti. From the tests I have seen on YouTube, ice retention is same same.
2). Paid less than half, i.e., bought two RTIC 45s for less than just one Yeti 45 costs, and STILL think I paid a helluva lot for a cooler. I tell myself I probably won't be needing a cooler for many years to make myself feel better.
3). RTICs take a long time to ship. I ordered in July, was told ship by August 30, which came and went, and they shipped September 9-ish.
4) The RTICs charge no tax, and ship free. Very cool and adds up! They ship with very little padding ... A one-ply cardboard box and the cooler wrapped in a clear plastic bag. One of mine arrived with a small gouge in a corner, but I decided to live with it since it's a cooler after all.
5). I put a very bright light source inside each cooler, turned off the room lights, and neither seems to have any insulation voids. That's good. I have seen videos on YouTube where this type of cooler (called rotomolded) had insulation voids.
6). Rotomolded coolers are heavy, no matter the brand. The RTIC 45s weigh 25-ish pounds. They have an actual internal capacity of 45 quarts (for some reason, 45-quart Yetis have less?). 45 qts = 11.25 gallons. Water weighs 8.35 pounds per gallon, which means a 45-quart RTIC filled with water weighs:
11.25 gal x 8.35 lbs/gal + 25 lbs = 119 lbs
Sure, the contents of a cooler are going to be lighter than 100% water, but you get the point. 100 pounds for a full 45-qt cooler, give or take. For my uses that's manageable.
Jump to a 65 quart RTIC, which is only $25 more, but which weighs 36.5 pound empty, and your filled-with-water weight jumps to 172 pounds! (16.25 gal x 8.35 lbs/gal + 36.5 lbs = 172 lbs.). I figure you're looking at a 140-150-pound cooler when full. Could I get it into the back of the pickup alone? Yes. Do I wanna do that for the next 25 years? No. Plus, I don't need a 65-quart cooler for a lot of the short-range stuff I do. One 45-quart is plenty for those purposes.
Which is a long way of explaining why I got the two 45's. More insulation per quart of capacity, ability to separate stuff like bloody game bags or fish from food and drinks,for instance, and to break up the weight into more manageable chunks, or to travel light.
One last thing, in the Keys, every dang Hells Bay seems to have a Yeti on it in front of the console, and sitting/standing on them is NO PROBLEM. I never saw a warped top. Thinking I can use some of my old stock paint to camo up one of these bad boys for when I want to shoot doves close to the truck and the cold beverages.
I read an interesting article in a corporate rag (INC. I think) awhile back about the origin of Yeti. It was originally designed to be a casting platform for redfishing on the flats. Keeping stuff cold for a long time was an added bonus.
I don't have either, but I would guess the RTIC would hold up the same since it is rotomolded as well.
I won a 65 quart yeti, only had it a couple months. Been freezing a few gallon water jugs, throwing a a bunch of beers/drinks in there. Leave it on the back porch or in the truck. It keeps for a while, then drink the water.
Wouldn't mind a smaller cooler, not sure I'd get a yeti or another brand. We'll see.
I remember when my wife and son's bought me a Yetti tumbler (?) for Father's Day a few years ago. I dumped my normal on the rocks martini in and, as time went on, there was no thawing. Stiff to start, stiff to finish. I no longer use my Yetti for martinis...
If this works as well as their tumblers I can see a half dozen in my future. http://yeti.com/colster/
We have two of the Ozark Trail can coolers. They are identical to the Yeti Colster but cost about $8 versus about $30 for the Yeti.
For cup holder fit in cars, boats, etc., the Ozark Trail can cooler is approximately between 3/8"-1/2 "(+/-) wider in diameter across the bottom than both the 20 oz and 30 oz O.T. tumblers (which are also identical to the Yeti 20 and 30 oz tumbler). Both the Yeti Colster and Ozark Trail can cooler could be a little bit uncomfortable for smaller hands.
Barely one degree difference between the Yeti, Ozark Trail and Thermos can coolers after 4 hours, but a big difference in price.
And at one Quemado gathering, I saw a Yeti keep ice much longer than other coolers. That pretty well sold me, so I now have three of them.
