# what did i do wrong - Yeti Hopper



## Goat (Oct 14, 2017)

I have been using my hopper for day trips in the kayak with just cold packs and it works good.

I just got back from a 3 day trip and the ice was melted my the end of the second day. Outside air temp was 85.

Here is what I did.
I precooled the entire cooler in my freezer for 3 days prior.
I added beer that was already cold.
I put 2 cold packs in and one bag of ice.
I did not open the cooler that often and made sure it was fully closed each time.

I feel that I should have had ice for several days.


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## SGADawg (Oct 14, 2017)

Bought into the Yeti hype maybe?  Disclaimer: I don't own a Yeti cooler, can't see paying that much.


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## doenightmare (Oct 14, 2017)

Not enuff cold beer?


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## transfixer (Oct 14, 2017)

I don't own a yeti,  but the Hopper is soft sided right ?   I don't see how a soft sided cooler could hold ice much longer than a couple days,  the foam they have to use to make it soft sided won't insulate like the thick walled hard coolers, it also probably helps those type coolers if they are completely full of cold items, as opposed to having empty space in them.   You probably did pretty good getting two days out of it.


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## T-N-T (Oct 15, 2017)

transfixer said:


> I don't own a yeti,  but the Hopper is soft sided right ?   I don't see how a soft sided cooler could hold ice much longer than a couple days,  the foam they have to use to make it soft sided won't insulate like the thick walled hard coolers, it also probably helps those type coolers if they are completely full of cold items, as opposed to having empty space in them.   You probably did pretty good getting two days out of it.



My opinion as well.
I get long ice life out of hard sided yetis. But I can't see the hopper being an extended use cooler.  But I agree it is likely the toughest made soft sided cooler


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## ryanh487 (Oct 15, 2017)

I believe the hopper guarantee is somewhere along the lines of holds ice for 3 days in 70 degree ambient temps with no direct sunlight.  Which is why I bought the Ozarks trail soft sided from Wal-Mart for $50. Held ice for 2 days on the beach with no problem.


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## NCHillbilly (Oct 16, 2017)

Unrealistic expectations. The Yetis don't really hold ice much longer than any other good cooler. No cooler will hold ice a long time in hot sunny weather, no matter what magic name is on them-especially a soft-sided cooler.


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## red neck richie (Oct 16, 2017)

The soft sided coolers aren't insulted like the hard sided coolers. The hard sided ones keep cold longer. There is about 4 inches of insulation on the hard sided ones. Way more than a standard cooler. Just a tip I use in mine is fill a half gallon milk jug with water and freeze it. put that in the cooler with ice and your drinks. Block ice will keep longer than small cubes.


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## Goat (Oct 17, 2017)

flynlow said:


> Did you put the sticker in the winder?



haha. no. first I would have to get a pick up truck.


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## Goat (Oct 17, 2017)

thanks for the replies that were on subject. sounds like I need to get a hard side cooler that fits in my kayak.


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## Miguel Cervantes (Oct 17, 2017)

Goat said:


> I have been using my hopper for day trips in the kayak with just cold packs and it works good.
> 
> I just got back from a 3 day trip and the ice was melted my the end of the second day. Outside air temp was 85.
> 
> ...




Bought my wife this cooler to use on the beach during our trip this last July. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Tr...ategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=Vk3fUEWuIXeejWDrgb112I

1st day she filled up her 40oz TAL drink container with ice and water, then added the ice to the cooler, full to almost the top and then added a few snacks to go with it. She used it for two days on the same ice at the beach, well into the 90's sitting on the hot sand, and the 3rd day she dumped what ice was left in it out (about 2inches in the bottom) and started over. Basically only filled it twice in 5 days at the beach. 

I'd like to say you get what you pay for, but not in this case. I have found the Ozark Trail coolers to perform extremely well for their price point. Same as their Yeti copy drink cups.


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## NCHillbilly (Oct 18, 2017)

Miguel Cervantes said:


> Bought my wife this cooler to use on the beach during our trip this last July.
> 
> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Tr...ategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=Vk3fUEWuIXeejWDrgb112I
> 
> ...



I have the 50-quart hard sided OT cooler, I call it my Sams Choice Yeti.  It has worked great so far, and I only gave a little over a bill for it.


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## killerv (Oct 26, 2017)

Buddy and I both have the soft rtic coolers, the 20 fit perfect behind the seat of an oldtown predator. We river tripped a few times this summer and they had no problem keeping ice all day, but we werent opening them up for beer every 30 minutes either. 

That only way those expensive hardside cooler will hold ice for several days is if you prechill, never open them, and keep them in the shade. If you are rough on a cooler and go through them, I can see money well spent on a nice cooler, other than that, a coleman extreme will keep ice just as long.


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## red neck richie (Oct 26, 2017)

I have a Yeti 105. It was given to me by my boss as a bonus as I am too cheap to pay that much for a cooler. I pack it with two 1/2 gallon milk jugs of frozen water in them, add whatever drinks and food I bring and two bags of ice. I leave on Friday and come home on Sunday. My cooler stays cold all weekend no matter the temperature. In fact I sometimes don't clean it out when I get home for another day or two and it still has ice in it. I have had several other coolers that didn't keep ice as long. Its not a big secret open the cooler up and see how thick the sides and lids are. If they have thicker sidewalls they have more insulation and will stay cooler longer than thinner insulated coolers. Same as insulation in your home to keep heat or cold in. Also the rubber seal on the lids help as well.


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## T-N-T (Oct 26, 2017)

NCHillbilly said:


> Unrealistic expectations. The Yetis don't really hold ice much longer than any other good cooler. No cooler will hold ice a long time in hot sunny weather, no matter what magic name is on them-especially a soft-sided cooler.



I have a deer in a Coleman 5 day right now. I keep adding ice every other day.
I typically hold deer meat in my yeti. Ice the hot meat.  Re-ice the next day and that's it.

I'm over the 5 day cooler even more than I was before.  

Now, opening your cooler constantly?  Both are the same....  Leave it closed for days?  No comparison...


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## NCHillbilly (Oct 27, 2017)

T-N-T said:


> I have a deer in a Coleman 5 day right now. I keep adding ice every other day.
> I typically hold deer meat in my yeti. Ice the hot meat.  Re-ice the next day and that's it.
> 
> I'm over the 5 day cooler even more than I was before.
> ...



Put a quartered deer in a Coleman Saturday before last. Put 40 lbs ice on it. When I got it out and processed it  a week later, last Saturday, there was still about 20 lbs in there on it. Never added any for seven days, and the drain plug was open the whole time. My Roto-molded cooler that I iced the same day as the Coleman was almost all water. Almost everybody I know has a Yeti, Orca, or some such, and we camp a lot. The Yetis, Orcas, my OT roto-molded cooler, and my Colemans keep ice about exactly the same in real world use. I have noticed that the Colemans after they get about a decade old don't hold ice as well. The roto-molded coolers are a lot tougher, but they just honestly don't hold ice any longer than the rest. Test after test confirms it, but folks refuse to believe it.


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## T-N-T (Oct 27, 2017)

NCHillbilly said:


> Put a quartered deer in a Coleman Saturday before last. Put 40 lbs ice on it. When I got it out and processed it  a week later, last Saturday, there was still about 20 lbs in there on it. Never added any for seven days, and the drain plug was open the whole time. My Roto-molded cooler that I iced the same day as the Coleman was almost all water. Almost everybody I know has a Yeti, Orca, or some such, and we camp a lot. The Yetis, Orcas, my OT roto-molded cooler, and my Colemans keep ice about exactly the same in real world use. I have noticed that the Colemans after they get about a decade old don't hold ice as well. The roto-molded coolers are a lot tougher, but they just honestly don't hold ice any longer than the rest. Test after test confirms it, but folks refuse to believe it.



I'm not arguing with you.  But closed lid is no comparison.  Opening them they are about eggzactly the same.  But when it's near 80 here and deer meat is in there, I'll bet money on the yeti out performing. 
This being my third season with the big yeti for deer meat.  This week being the first deer I have used the Coleman in that time.  It is not holding ice in the sun like the yeti. But, the yeti is three times as thick. And that's just plain science for why it's better insulated


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## NCHillbilly (Oct 27, 2017)

T-N-T said:


> I'm not arguing with you.  But closed lid is no comparison.  Opening them they are about eggzactly the same.  But when it's near 80 here and deer meat is in there, I'll bet money on the yeti out performing.
> This being my third season with the big yeti for deer meat.  This week being the first deer I have used the Coleman in that time.  It is not holding ice in the sun like the yeti. But, the yeti is three times as thick. And that's just plain science for why it's better insulated



I get you, I've got a fancy thick-walled roto-molded one with a freezer gasket and all that too that I paid a lot more for than the Colemans, that you can't even drain without cracking the lid, it's so tight. And it honestly doesn't really hold ice much longer than the Coleman. Closed up, maybe I agree. But who buys a cooler to put ice in and never open it to get stuff out? I use mine to keep beer and food and water and stuff cold in, and to get it out and eat and drink it-not to just sit there closed for a week. 

The size makes a difference, too. The bigger the Coleman, the better it holds ice. The one I have that held ice on the deer for seven days was the big 120.


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## Oldstick (Oct 28, 2017)

I concur with most all of the above.  Soft sided coolers great for day trips, the thicker the better.  Good hard sided coolers for multi-days, the thicker and most sealed the better within the price range you are willing to pay.

I also do the block ice thing someone mentioned.   I always put 2 or 3 in the bottom before adding the crushed ice, depending on how much space needed for the other contents.

Freeze plastic jugs if you want to re-use them or the paper juice cartons if you need to tear open and expose the ice blocks.


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## T-N-T (Oct 29, 2017)

NCHillbilly said:


> Closed up, maybe I agree. But who buys a cooler to put ice in and never open it to get stuff out? I use mine to keep beer and food and water and stuff cold in, and to get it out and eat and drink it-not to just sit there closed for a week.
> .



And there lies the problem with 99% of high end cooler purchases.  
I have a yeti 45 I use for weekend camping to hold just beer.  That's it.  No benefit really.  But I can strap it and lock right to my golf cart that I use in campgrounds.
My yeti 75?  Bought it for deer meet.  Ice it down and leave it for seven days every time. 

Unless we camping more than a weekend, the 75 holds more beer.  And maybe a six pack of Mt. dew


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## Hooked On Quack (Oct 29, 2017)

The key to any cooler is to stock the product cold, hot product instantly melts ice.. can't help that on a deer/hog etc, but when it comes to drinks . .


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## coltday (Nov 1, 2017)

I've worked for YETI for about 4.5 years, I think the only thing you probably could've done is definitely "fill" it all the way to the top. Air is ice's worst enemy. With that said, YETI, hard and soft were made to be tough as nails and ice retention came second to that. You'll never see ANYTHING from YETI about "guaranteed to hold ice for X amount of days". There are too many variables and we don't want anyone to have a bad experience off misleading info. Call our Outfitter line if you EVER have any questions/concerns, they'll be glad to help. 512-394-9384.


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## Wycliff (Nov 23, 2017)

I've got 2 Yeti coolers and several Coleman Xtremes and on a multiple day camping trip the Yeti wins hand down on ice retention.


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## elfiii (Nov 27, 2017)

I killed a nice buck on 11/10. Boned him out on the 11th and stuck the boned meat in my 2 Coleman Xtremes and tossed in 20lbs of ice each.

I finished processing the deer Thursday 11/16 and still had at least 10 lbs of ice in each cooler.

But the Yeti/Coleman debate continues to rage all over this board.


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## Fourfingers (Nov 28, 2017)

Not to say they are good but I use my hopper for drink and it usually keeps ice 2 day but the ice water stays cold for four days. But will say run that thing over with the f150 four door 7100 pound truck and see what happens you be impressed.  Still using it but with a little tire marks on it. Done by accident


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## Dub (Dec 13, 2017)

flynlow said:


> Did you put the sticker in the winder?







Saw a truck the other day with multiple YETI and Apple stickers in the window.   

Also had the family member decals...including ones for their pets.


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## Gaswamp (Dec 25, 2017)

ryanh487 said:


> I believe the hopper guarantee is somewhere along the lines of holds ice for 3 days in 70 degree ambient temps with no direct sunlight.  Which is why I bought the Ozarks trail soft sided from Wal-Mart for $50. Held ice for 2 days on the beach with no problem.



you had any problems with the zipper>


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## Rabun (Jan 2, 2018)

Gaswamp said:


> you had any problems with the zipper>



Have a buddy of mine that zipper failed on his hopper.  He contacted yeti and sent it back and received a new hopper with the side zipper.


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