MasterBlaster,
I hear ya on expensive! I've never been able to stomach the cost of Yetis, but everyone I know that's used em, loved em. I've been quite pleased with Igloo Max coolers and been running them for years. They keep ice for the time you speak of, but they're not Yeti by any means.
In case you haven't heard of them, check out Ice Kool as well. Yeti type coolers at much more affordable prices:
http://icekool.net/loder
