Make your own YETI - Update!

[washelkhunter]

So the high heat hunt thread got me motivated to transform an avg 8yr+ old coleman 100qt. marine cooler into a DIY yeti. The 1"x4x8 sheet of styro cost $14.28 and I used just over half of it. The adjustable tarp strap was $3.48 for a whopping total of $19.25 with tax. The cooler new on sale was maybe $50.  There are two 1-1/2" headed washerd screws holding the lid foam in place and just simple tension holding the interior panels. Should make for easy washouts. The screws for the straps are 3/4" smooth shanks from the junk drawer and the anchoring screws  are #8x3/4 low profile wafer heads backed up by washers. Took about an hour and a half in between yakin and beer drinkin. It was warm today amigos. After many years of sitting on top of this cooler it bowed significantly at the ends but is now tighter than a *censored*. Can't wait to try this out in Sept for the AR hunt with the NACL jug.   

[quadrafire]

Yea but is it Grizzly Proof......

Actually looks great 

[Boss .300 winmag]

What's a V's honey pot?

[RadSav]

We used to do nearly the same thing with our Igloo Marine coolers when carrying dry ice.  Protected the cooler from cracking do to the extreme cold and the ice lasted WAY longer!  Nice that you shared that with others!  Good pictures too

We would take it one step further and use RTV gasket material to make an air tight seal.  We would primer the lid and use PAM on the male portion of the lid mating surface.  Run a good bead of RTV around the lid and then close.  Let it sit over night and vuala!  Perfect seal

[washelkhunter]

I just looked at yeti's wp, the tundra 75 is for $449.    V is for virgin  , and I don't need it to be grizzly proof, just pianoman proof.  Thx for the  . Thx Rad.

[Smossy]

We're also going to do some mods. We just picked up a Coleman 120q Xtreme cooler for about $60 instead of commiting to a Yeti. So If/when we do Ill add some photos myself.

[xXLojackXx]

I thought about drilling some 1/2" holes in an old cooler and filling the hollow walls with some door/window spray foam. The type that won't bow the cooler with extreme expansion. Pair that with some ridged insulation and it's gotta hold up to a yeti. I could even get some yeti stickers off amazon to make it official 

[Bean Counter]

Has anyone cleaned one of these DIY heavy duty cleaners after am elk or deer?  I'm guessing it's not too pretty. I've wondered how well it might work to build extra insulation outside of the cooler. This would not only keep the inside easier to clean, but not diminish the internal capacity for ice and meat.

[Buzz2401]

Yeti's don't hold ice any longer then the the colemans or the igloos.  They are just way tougher and last lot longer.  But that longevity claim is worthless when it gets stolen the second year you have it.  Do insurance companies have a policy for those Yeti's?

[dewandgin]

I look at my  Yeti cooler the same way I look at my gun when I'm hunting.
 yes a 243 can and will kill elk but I like this 338 and the 300 rum. I put a lot of time effort and money into hunting the last thing I need is for my cooler to break because I  bought the 243. if that makes sense
From the Wetside. like the darkside only Wetter!

[sirmissalot]

Yeti coolers absolutely hold ice longer. Whether a $1.50 bag of ice lasting all week or needing two or three is worth the extra money to you is one thing, but they do certainly hold ice longer.

[RadSav]

Yeti coolers absolutely hold ice longer. Whether a $1.50 bag of ice lasting all week or needing two or three is worth the extra money to you is one thing, but they do certainly hold ice longer.

I agree...if the seals are working properly.  Had the seals fail when I bent a hinge pin and ice melted just as fast as in my Igloo, but once fixed there is no comparison.

Take an antelope trip we made a few years ago.  Three frozen antelope, hides and horns spread between equal size Yeti and Igloo marine coolers.  That's about 18 hours of drive time in 90 + degree weather.  When we got home there were still Ice crystals on the larger meat pieces in the Yeti.  Over 50% of the meat had thawed in the Igloo Marine.

[dscubame]

The Coleman Extreme does the job just fine.  There is a point where the return is diminished beyond being noticeable.  I once had a 80k fancy vehicle and the f-150 I drive now gets me to the office every day just the same.

[RadSav]

The OP's idea of using the shielded Styrofoam is also a good idea of using dry ice.  I've ruined more than one nice Igloo with dry ice and have burnt more meat than I care to remember using it too.  We now use old Styrofoam cooler lids to place the dry ice in.  Keeps it insulated from the meat and color yet still allows typical cooling.  I bet making a little square tray with that shielded foam would work great!  Especially if all you can find is pellets.

[dscubame]

Good point Rad.

I heard if you freeze the cooler before you add ice it will last way longer too.  I need to try that.

[Smossy]

Yeti coolers absolutely hold ice longer. Whether a $1.50 bag of ice lasting all week or needing two or three is worth the extra money to you is one thing, but they do certainly hold ice longer.

You sure? 

High End Cooler Test by SportsmanGuys.comâ„¢ -
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,158414.msg2094216.html#msg2094216
Thread all about it.

[dscubame]

Looks like the Coleman Extreme outperformed the Yeti.  On sale I pick up my Coleman Extremes for $69 at Post Falls Cabelas.

[Smossy]

Looks like the Coleman Extreme outperformed the Yeti.  On sale I pick up my Coleman Extremes for $69 at Post Falls Cabelas.

We just got a Coleman Extreme 120q for $55 at walmart two days ago. Big enough for me to get inside it.

[h20hunter]

I don't know buddy...I saw you at the feed trough at the bbq....maybe, just maybe but I don't think you are getting the lid closed!

[sirmissalot]

You can believe anything you want, after all, it is the internet. Like I said, its up to you whether you'd like to spend a few extra bucks on ice or a few hundred more to make it last all week. Many times we are require to have bear proof containers, the yeti's qualify as well as keep frozen food frozen solid for days, and still good by the end of the week.

[dscubame]

Looks like the Coleman Extreme outperformed the Yeti.  On sale I pick up my Coleman Extremes for $69 at Post Falls Cabelas.

We just got a Coleman Extreme 120q for $55 at walmart two days ago. Big enough for me to get inside it.

Good catch on that price.  I keep trying my local Walmart and they have been out all summer.  I started to wonder whether they still carry it, now I will check other locations while out and about because I want to add one more to the collection.  At 6 foot 2 and 215 lbs I don't think I can bend myself in one though.

[Becky]

I don't know buddy...I saw you at the feed trough at the bbq....maybe, just maybe but I don't think you are getting the lid closed!

  lid was definitely open.

[DoubleJ]

LOL!!!

[RadSav]

Yeti coolers absolutely hold ice longer. Whether a $1.50 bag of ice lasting all week or needing two or three is worth the extra money to you is one thing, but they do certainly hold ice longer.

You sure? 

We bought quite a few of the Extreme coolers when they first came out.  Definitely did a good job of keeping things cold.  Though our big problem was keeping them together on the boat or bouncing around logging roads in the back of the truck.  Most that were in our boats didn't make it through the first year.  No question they are a good bang for the buck, but I suggest keeping some duct tape handy if they are going to see any type of abuse

One good thing about both Coleman and Igloo is that Sportsman's Warehouse carries replacement parts for just about everything but the main frame and lid.  But, I'd still keep the duct tape in the glove box for emergencies.

[RadSav]

I thought about drilling some 1/2" holes in an old cooler and filling the hollow walls with some door/window spray foam. The type that won't bow the cooler with extreme expansion.

Great idea. We've done this to the lid on all our Igloo marine coolers for about 30 years.  Really makes a big improvement   Make sure you add a lot of vent holes in the center of the lid for air to escape.  Otherwise you will never get a good fill as it fills around the larger cross section edges first and then into the center.  Also you want to check compatibility of the foam to the plastic.  I can not remember the brand, but we ruined one cooler with some foam that turned the whole thing into jelly...that didn't work so well   If I remember right it was some sort of urethane foam we got at Eagle Hardware.

[washelkhunter]

Took the cooler as seen in the first pics out on Labor Day for 4 nights of camping on the high ground up by Indian Heaven. Alt 3400ft <>. One frozen water jug was a saline solution the other was just H2O; they had been in the freezer for some time at 0 degrees. I added loose ice to fill the empty spaces between the jugs, juice, food, beer & water; didn't take much as I had a lot of bottles in there. I had 2 basins inside to hold meats and eggs, salad that you don't want getting wet, etc. While in camp I once  more added loose ice to bolster that which had melted and which I grabbed out for drinks. The cooler was under the awning most the day and only saw 2 hours of sunlight at most. The top screws anchoring the straps were being stressed and pulling down; fail. The bottom screws were being pulled up; I had not anchored those thru and thru; fail. I had added some foam adhesive tape to achieve a more positive seal but I had pulled it too taut while sticking it down to the inside of the lid and it readily pulled away from the corners; fail. Still' we left camp on Friday the 5th day and came home. I emptied the cooler on Sat of all food but left a few bottles of water and beer. Never touched it Sunday, oh, both Sat and Sun were very warm in the 'couve. Mon and Tuesday I had to work 12's, didn't open it. On Wed late morning I went in the garage and opened it up. The jug of salt water was completely thawed out, the jug of H2O still was 1/3 < frozen. There was still a small amount of loose ice in the bottom of the cooler and the water; about 2" in depth was ice cold, this was on the 10th, 9 days! Impressive, but improvements needed to be made. I moved the top strap screws down and into the front of the lid and they are holding fast. The latch screws are now thru & thru 8x32x2in length pan head SS Phillips with nylon bushings covering the threads and rubber backed washers for and aft. The nylon nuts are 32's. I duct taped the insulation panels to keep the renegade styro bits from flying around. I re-applied new 1/8"x1/4" foam seal to the inside lid of the cooler. I filled the holes from the screws with silicone caulking. When you open this cooler now it makes a very satisfying sucking sound!  As noted this is a 100qt capacity cooler but I really don't notice any loss of storage capacity; but I'd readily trade what little loss there is for the additional cooling capability. Can't wait to use this next year at Lake Billy Chinook in late July. Between now and then tho it's going to get a lot of use. Total cost of improving this cooler is now about $25! Still beats that $450 yeti.

[Whitpirate]

Looks great and worth taking a a stab at

[Bean Counter]

Definitely looks nice and seems functional, but what's the plan to clean it after you've had blood and snot from a dead animal all over the inside?

[baker5150]

You could bend up a stainless steel box to slide inside the foam.   

That would clean up really easy, you could even pull it out and clean it.
Maybe a cover for the inside of the lid too..

[washelkhunter]

Definitely looks nice and seems functional, but what's the plan to clean it after you've had blood and snot from a dead animal all over the inside?

The styro panels pull right out and being double wrapped just hose right off, i wanted cleanup to be a snap.

[Goldeneye]

I got one of these (Coleman Esky) in a silent auction the other day for $200.  I was pleased since that was about half of retail.  In comparing it to my Yeti it looks like they tried their best to copy the Yeti.  This does have a few more bells and whistles than the Yeti.  It'll be put to test side by side with my Yeti at elk camp in November.  I'm guessing it'll have similar performance.

http://www.eskyseriescoolers.com/product/esky-series-85-quart-cooler-kaki/3000003047?contextCategory=300000#.VBxqwBCGdNN


washelkhunter,

  I'll be interested to hear how your homemade Yeti clone performs.  It looks good on everything I can see in the pic's and your description.

[washelkhunter]

OK; here's the straight skinny during an unseasonably warm ML season. Filled my DIYeti with the 2 one gal frozen jugs, 6 h2o bottles and 6 brewskis. I had 2 basins in the cooler as shown to hold food stuff I want to keep dry. I filled the remaining empty space of the cooler with half of a large bag of cube ice. My second cooler is a 70qt Coleman extreme which I used as the freezer. All my frozen foods went in there. I loaded that with 2 blocks of ice, 1 large bag of ice and the other half of the lg bag I poured into the DIYeti. This was on the morn of Oct 1st. I came home yesterday eve 6ish and had to go to dinner with the misses cause it was her B-day. Started to unload my rig at 11:30 AM today.  The 70qt extreme still had 1/3 of the block ice remaining and no cubed, which we were actively using for mixed drinks. All meats were thawed. The DIYeti's jugs were thawed out. I had added 1/2 small bag of ice to this cooler on the 6th of Oct tho I still had cubed in there. Both these coolers were kept in the shade of the kitchen but with the sun beating down temps in there were rising to 80*+. In conclusion the Coleman extreme outperformed my DIYeti by 1 to 2 days, but the water in the DIY was still very cold. There was no spoilage noted. It was a fun project and worthwhile as well as cost effective. I'll keep using the DIYeti but if I was in the market for new coolers that aren't going to break the bank I'm buying more Coleman extremes. 

[CAMPMEAT]

Who's the ATV lovin' guy ?

[Buzz2401]

Hard to beat the coleman extremes.  They keep stuff cold as well or better then the high end ones and are very affordable.  I get about 8 years out of the Colemans so I feel they hold up well enough.  I am sure a yeti will most likely last decades but I'm not willing to risk the theft of a $500 cooler.