Time to take a look back on the trip… and see what worked, and what didn’t.
First up: The Yeti 45 cooler
People who are familiar with Yeti coolers seem to either love them or hate them. The hate mostly stems from the price – would you believe that bad boy costs $350???
Yeti Tundra coolers are heavily-duty. In fact, Yeti says they are “damn near indestructible.” You can stand on it, sit on it, drop it out the back of your truck (it’s been done, and it’s on YouTube). The latches are made from heavy-duty rubber and sit flush with the cooler, so they won’t break off. Yetis are also bear proof!
The double walls means they don’t sweat. They definitely keep ice better than a cheapo cooler, for a few reasons. The walls and lid are extra thick, with over 2″ of polyurethane foam. Also, the seal around the lid is a freezer-quality gasket. (Just like on the fridge/freezer in your house.)
Sounds great, right? We got our Tundra 45 (it means 45-quart capacity) at REI, because we like their return policy. They didn’t have the next size up (a 65-quart), and honestly, we thought the 45 would be plenty big enough.
We were wrong.
With a 10-lb block of ice in there, we ran out of room for all the things we needed to keep cold for a 10-day period.
That’s actually my only complaint about the cooler. It worked like a champ. That block of ice lasted for the entire trip. I love the basket that comes with the Tundra:
It holds all the little stuff that you don’t want to get wet.
So when we returned the 45, we headed over to Cabela’s. Their coolers are cheaper and get similar reviews. But we found the Cabela’s version to have a larger overall footprint. The Yeti has rope handles only. The Cabela’s Polar Cap Equalizer rope handles, as well as plastic handles that stick out farther. Also, there is no basket.
These seem like small things, and Michael and I talked about it for a while, standing right there in Cabela’s. And while it pained us greatly to spend the extra money, we went over to REI and got the Yeti 65.
Of course, I may change my mind yet again… which is one more reason I like REI so much.
There is one other company we considered – RTIC. They’re considered a Yeti knockoff. Literally! I read that Yeti is actually suing RTIC for stealing their design. Maybe that’s why when we tried to order one, it was on backorder for 6 months?
Let me know what you think in the comments! Are we crazy for going with Yeti over the Cabela’s version?