Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Coolers, the best and the rest

Gotta new fishing boat that required the purchase of a couple of new coolers.

It got me shopping for quality coolers for the first time in quite a while.

First and foremost there were size specific requirements, the boat don't have any seats, it's a serious fishing boat not a lounge boat.

The boat has more of a 'butt rest' than a seat behind the counsel which provides a space beneath the 'butt rest' for a cooler but with tight size limitations.

In front of the console there is a 4 foot wide space for a decent sized cooler/fishbox/seat if anyone cares to ride along and wants to sit down.

Unexpected lmitations arose immediately, far too few of these cooler manufacturers offer the option of a padded top on a stout enough cooler to double as a seat, so a Yeti it had to be.

160 quart Yeti, padded top, baskets and divider went north of the B.O.A.T. barrier right away.

But it's not just a cooler, it's seating for two and boat seats are exspensive so there was that justification and you know a true fishing gangster can't be flaunting fake gold.

Well that didn't leave much in the coffers for the second, smaller cooler that goes under the 'butt rest', so I had to get serious with the shopping.

Fortunatly the size restrictions limited the search to a just a few.
The Grizzlies and Rtics and the like have jacked their prices up to be just barely less than the Yetis, but I found these 'CaterGators' coolers that nailed the size I was seeking, came in camo, appeared to be of quality and priced far below any competitors.

LINK



The $199, 65 quart CaterGator sitting here beside it's larger, wealthy American Yeti cousin looks like it rolled off the same assembly line.

The brand is a valid option.

Thanks...

I have one Yeti, one Lifetime and 4-5 lesser junkers.

The Yeti is great.

The Lifetime is not great after a few years.

$200 on a quality 65 Qt. is a very good deal.

My wife buys these clearance coolers that are like Susan Komen or whatever and $5 gets donated. Eventually they go on clearance and wife buys them for $20. I'm not spending $200 on something to put dead fish in. You can find coolers on Facebook marketplace too.

Maybe a link... iffing ya wanna be helpful like Jeff.

Pard,

Good to know pard.

I might get one myself pard.

Stay pard, pard.


Your pard,
Pard

No.

Round of applause to Iowa.

Interesting. Thanks for posting the video. Couple years ago I got a 62 qt. 316 series Coleman cooler at Wal-Mart after looking at the higher price point stuff. I realized that I didn't need to keep ice for days & days, as it usually gets used for fishing trips on Lake Ontario. Long as I can keep salmon, lake trout, etc. on ice for 24 hours or so until it gets to where it needs to go, then I'm happy. It also has a nice handle and wheels at one end so us old guys don't have to carry it around. If I ever need to keep ice longer, I'll consider all those other options that are available. I think Yeti has some serious competition at a slightly lower price point.

Got yeti and artic, both good

By golly I have a green metal hardsided Coleman I bought in 19 and 71. It stays in the back of my 19 and 81 Toyota puckup with pizza cutter narrow tires. Ready for action in Ocala nf. Can put a whole button buck in that 30 quart cooler.

IGNORE

Yetis and their imitators are good (I have one) but they're heavy as an SOB not to mention the $$$$. I just look for a good Igloo on sale any more.

On the most recent boat remodel coming out of my shop, the boat had a large livewell in a front cross seat. Pulled that livewell out and spray foamed the outside of it, shaved the foam to fit then re-installed it.

It still can work as a live well which I don’t need but it’s an excellent long lasting ice cooler with a drain built in.

Osky

They made those new for a while a couple years ago.


Family bought me one for Father's day. I love it.




Sorry for the interruption......back to your sc9lding.

Living in Arizona.most.of.my.life, it helped to have external insulation.to.keep the.cooler.cool. Sleeping bag, wet towel etc., depending upon the situation. Also, if you could get solid ice.and.not compacted crushed ice.

I got a ton of good gear, and very little of it bought from a store. All you have to do is raise 5 kids on a single income and you learn how to find stuff.

Rtic 45 quart cooler; $40.00 on Craigslist…

I have one of these and it works well enough. It was free…

Cash;
Top of the morning my cyber friend, I hope that this second Sunday of October finds you all well.

If you're inclined, I'd be curious to know what the issues with the Lifetime cooler have been?

We picked one up a grey 55 quart cooler when they first showed up at our local Wally World but honestly haven't taken it out too, too many times camping.

This past summer it kept our canned drinks cold for 4 days in temps that were into the mid 90's during the day, but the cooler was in the shade.

Also, we threw a heavy wool blanket on it as well, the theory being the wool blanket might keep more heat out that in?

It was about half the price of a similar sized Woods rotomolded cooler and then for a Yeti up here we could have almost bought 3 of the Lifetime for one of them.

Thanks in advance, all the best and good hunting.

Dwayne

From what Ive seen, theres more than one “grade” of Lifetime coolers.

Both were made in USA.

The walmark model had a flimsy lid.

The higher end model at Sams was more like a yeti / rtic / etc.. But more $$$

Do you use a camo cooler to hide your beer from your buddies?