Cooler ?
- Thread starter slowdog
- Start date
I've seen the ssi coolers and they are great, IF (big if) you keep them sealed.
is it worth 4x a igloo 5 day? it depends... for me, no.
OTOH, the medical community uses them for organs. which speaks for itself.
is it worth 4x a igloo 5 day? it depends... for me, no.
OTOH, the medical community uses them for organs. which speaks for itself.
Probably a little of both.
They look to be pretty dang tough and might even come close to living up to the hype but my Coleman Marine 5 day cooler does what I need. ( I got it "free" by way of performance points from work)
I guess it would depend on what you need out of a cooler. Do you really need a cooler that will stand up to a bear attack on a sailboat?
My theory would be to buy a less expensive cooler. You could buy an awful lot of ice for the difference in price between one of the better Coleman or Igloo jbs and a comparable size Yeti
They look to be pretty dang tough and might even come close to living up to the hype but my Coleman Marine 5 day cooler does what I need. ( I got it "free" by way of performance points from work)
I guess it would depend on what you need out of a cooler. Do you really need a cooler that will stand up to a bear attack on a sailboat?
My theory would be to buy a less expensive cooler. You could buy an awful lot of ice for the difference in price between one of the better Coleman or Igloo jbs and a comparable size Yeti
They are tough as hell. But with air temps of high 80's the best you can expect in 3 days is ice that turned into cold water. Bob
looks like to me you could pay a little more and get an Engle fridg and be don with it..... 4 and 5 hundred dollars for a place to put 4 dollars worth of ice is a lot of money ...but on the other hand it might make a good gun safe ......
regards
woody
regards
woody
IMHO, on a boat, cruising for up to about a week, if you don't have (or want) refrigeration, you need only two reasonable "Igloo" type cooler ....
Your cooling storage needs depend on what you are using the cooler for.
Use one cooler to keep non frozen items, ie drinks, produce, etc., "cool" with ice or (better) a couple of gal jugs of water frozen prior to departure, ( then ice purchased every couple of days along the way).
Use the second cooler for frozen items and keep them frozen with a 5 lb piece of dry ice placed in the bottom of the cooler. 5 lbs of dry ice will last about 4-5 days, keep frozen items well frozen, and should cost no more than a few bags of ice, (it's available in local grocery stores here for $1.99/lb)
Save all the money you are thinking of spending on expensive coolers and buy more beer instead.
Your cooling storage needs depend on what you are using the cooler for.
Use one cooler to keep non frozen items, ie drinks, produce, etc., "cool" with ice or (better) a couple of gal jugs of water frozen prior to departure, ( then ice purchased every couple of days along the way).
Use the second cooler for frozen items and keep them frozen with a 5 lb piece of dry ice placed in the bottom of the cooler. 5 lbs of dry ice will last about 4-5 days, keep frozen items well frozen, and should cost no more than a few bags of ice, (it's available in local grocery stores here for $1.99/lb)
Save all the money you are thinking of spending on expensive coolers and buy more beer instead.
Even with refrigeration, we found it useful to have a cooler to get in and out of for drinks. That took a lot of opening of the 'fridge away and I believe saved battery power and reduced frost buildup. So like it or not coolers are going to part of cruising for the foreseeable future.
coolers are a part of cruising if you enjoy having things in your way when you need to access the space below the cooler...then the next place whereto you moved said cooler and you will find you are no longer using said cooler and give it away, as did i.. i am in tropics without fridge or cooler and having a grande time. enjoying all and eating well. i
have had no cooler nor fridge in my own boat since 1990, except for short intervals after which someone got a pricey cooler.
have had no cooler nor fridge in my own boat since 1990, except for short intervals after which someone got a pricey cooler.
Another thought....the really nice plug in fridges that resemble coolers. What do you think it would take to have a strong enough battery bank to use one of these?
It would probably be cheaper to have a cooler and buy ice if you figure that with the fridge you have to up your battery bank, possibly add solar, or go into a marina quite frequently to keep your batteries up. Any thoughts on this?
It would probably be cheaper to have a cooler and buy ice if you figure that with the fridge you have to up your battery bank, possibly add solar, or go into a marina quite frequently to keep your batteries up. Any thoughts on this?
Yes and Yes
We have an Igloo Max Cold wheeled cooler that is very impressive.
We bought it when my wife was sent back to Biloxi, Mississippi to reopen the hospital at Keesler AFB after Katrina. She was reassigned there a few months short of the one year anniversary of the storm the kids and I stayed here in Florida. She would drive out early on Monday and return Friday evening. Things were still pretty bad and the grocery stores that were open were not stocked well and ran out of favorites quickly. She would load up the cooler with frozen dinners when she left here at 0400 the cooler sat in the car until she got to her apartment sometime after 1800 and everything was still frozen solid.
I went on a cruise with a friend to the key on his trawler he had a Yeti and I brought our Igloo Mine was easier to carry absolutely did not worry about banging it around and it worked as well easily and actually probably better than his. The difference may be in technique. I have done lots of weekend camping and you get better at organizing and minimizing opening times.
The most impressed I have been with the cooler was after taking it out on a day long boat cruise one Saturday in May after getting home I forgot to take it out of the truck, out in the full sun with a black bed liner. Sunday afternoon I noticed it while cutting the grass and grabbed a drink, still full of ice. I decided to leave it as a test. Wednesday morning there was no ice but the drinks were still cold by the afternoon it was time to throw the left over drinks in the fridge.
Do you need a Cadillac cooler or is good enough good enough?
We have an Igloo Max Cold wheeled cooler that is very impressive.
We bought it when my wife was sent back to Biloxi, Mississippi to reopen the hospital at Keesler AFB after Katrina. She was reassigned there a few months short of the one year anniversary of the storm the kids and I stayed here in Florida. She would drive out early on Monday and return Friday evening. Things were still pretty bad and the grocery stores that were open were not stocked well and ran out of favorites quickly. She would load up the cooler with frozen dinners when she left here at 0400 the cooler sat in the car until she got to her apartment sometime after 1800 and everything was still frozen solid.
I went on a cruise with a friend to the key on his trawler he had a Yeti and I brought our Igloo Mine was easier to carry absolutely did not worry about banging it around and it worked as well easily and actually probably better than his. The difference may be in technique. I have done lots of weekend camping and you get better at organizing and minimizing opening times.
The most impressed I have been with the cooler was after taking it out on a day long boat cruise one Saturday in May after getting home I forgot to take it out of the truck, out in the full sun with a black bed liner. Sunday afternoon I noticed it while cutting the grass and grabbed a drink, still full of ice. I decided to leave it as a test. Wednesday morning there was no ice but the drinks were still cold by the afternoon it was time to throw the left over drinks in the fridge.
Do you need a Cadillac cooler or is good enough good enough?
I get that you don't like coolers!
I posted before your post and had not read it - I would have taken care to not sound like I was dismissing your post. 'Cause it's really a matter of opinion and yours is at least as good as mine.
Anyway, I thought cruising is an exercise in moving stuff around ...
We have an engel cooler that we run as a freezer. Draws maybe 40 ah per day. Lless than the AB refer. Keeps steak and ice cream rock hard. Tough on beer cans though.
ok guys...wanna hear the plan???
as i am not a cooler or fridge person, to date...i am going to be renovating my formosa..it has a bad beam under where fridge drained on it for ever, and rotted it out..this beam also is mizzen step and support for battery box..
ok
so we are going to get to guaymas to do this... remove the crap that is rotted, and shore up the beam and make a space to install 1 or 2 engel or dometic or some such..one either ice maker or freezer and one fridge..
omg, you say. that one is gonna do a fridge!!?? the world must be coming to an end...havent had that luxury since i left my apartment in 1990 for my first boat.
whoot...lol...we gonna be living larger....lol
so, when the time comes, with pictures and arrows and a paragraph on the back, we will present the conversion in `pix on forum when it happens... should be within the next couple of years....first engine, then tank, then beam... then ......
and the magic boxes will be installed and not travelling in their own circles as i sail.....
cruising is repairing boat in exotic locations, not dying on the mess made inside the boat as you try to sail.....
as i am not a cooler or fridge person, to date...i am going to be renovating my formosa..it has a bad beam under where fridge drained on it for ever, and rotted it out..this beam also is mizzen step and support for battery box..
ok
so we are going to get to guaymas to do this... remove the crap that is rotted, and shore up the beam and make a space to install 1 or 2 engel or dometic or some such..one either ice maker or freezer and one fridge..
omg, you say. that one is gonna do a fridge!!?? the world must be coming to an end...havent had that luxury since i left my apartment in 1990 for my first boat.
whoot...lol...we gonna be living larger....lol
so, when the time comes, with pictures and arrows and a paragraph on the back, we will present the conversion in `pix on forum when it happens... should be within the next couple of years....first engine, then tank, then beam... then ......
and the magic boxes will be installed and not travelling in their own circles as i sail.....
cruising is repairing boat in exotic locations, not dying on the mess made inside the boat as you try to sail.....
he he he but i dont drink em..lol..i just watch the others play one tequila two tequila three tequila floor......
gets boring after a while...always the same folks falling over and being the nights entertainment.....
gets boring after a while...always the same folks falling over and being the nights entertainment.....