The... Perfect Cooler

[stevenson748]

Frigid Rigid Coolers made in Fort Myers, Fl are among the best coolers or Refrigerators that you find. They are commonly seen and used on High end sport fishing boats. I purchased one for my Intrepid offshore boat and have used camping with our Airstream. They probable also among the most expensive ones as well

[Ray Eklund]

Add to Post #1:

Stanley Adventure
Coleman
Orca
Frigid Rigid

For those of you who travel the High Country of the Rocky Mountains. The lid gasket seals are so good on many of these coolers, when you go from High Elevation to Lower Elevations, the lid may actually be difficult to open.

Has anyone opened their cooler on Pikes Peak, Colorado at 14,000' plus and tried to open the lid in Colorado Springs? Or any other time going from higher elevations to lower. A giant Barometer, of sorts...

We experience lots of noises from half full and empty plastic water bottles when traveling the mountains. At first, it sounds like a stone hit your windshield... and then again, and again with no vehicles in sight. The bottle expands with the lower elevation air to make the plastic expand and... crack as the air expands, or going down, has air pressure compress the plastic... into submission.

Great way to keep the kids busy figuring it out while on the road.

You need to unscrew the water drain to equalize air pressures and then open. Burping the Cooler... sort of thing to equalize the outside and inside air pressures.
High Pressure to Lower Air Pressure... not an issue as the pressure inside is pushing the lid open.

This is from... following posts of proper 'Cooler Etiquette'.

One trip taking two young daughters into the Rocky Mountains... the youngest looked up and said... "Daddy. I burped from my butt." I doubt if anyone can top that line from a five year old... or can you?

[rmkrum]

Nope. That is surely both original, cute, and accurate. Kids say that kind of clever stuff at the darndest times...

[OTRA15]

Good one!

. . . from the mouths of babes . . .

[Ray Eklund]

From watching different individuals uses of Coolers on the Internet... giving advice as to what cooler is 'BEST', may be Wrong. We do this when someone asks which Tow Vehicle is best and which length of Airstream is Best.

Usually these people have no idea, who are asking these questions.

They leave no information, like length of trailer they own, may own or might want to own... yet ask which tow vehicle is best. Several threads are running now with similar quests for... advice, which is given loose and freely without asking, why, what and ?.

Same with length of trailer. Is 16 foot or a 34 foot... best, better or parked in their driveway, yet do not mention they do not even own a trailer, but want to know what is BEST... for YOU? Or Them?

We fall into that 'trap'. Then the Know it All poster, which I find myself sometimes guilty, provide answers, but are really responses. Knee jerk offers to help the helpless. Without asking more questions. Like how many people... simple questions, yet the KIA (Know it All) recommend their trailer and tow vehicle as... the Best.

Wrong.

Yeti... for icing up a case of beer for the afternoon? Afraid, NOT.
Coleman... great choice.

Nancy and I are not alcoholics. We do not need a case of beer in a cooler. Maybe a couple, but usually Fresca or no sugar Squirt. We drink these to keep hydrated when scaling cliffs and steep drops while hunting rock exposures. A six pack to get 'tuned' is not a wise choice for US.

Fishing... Hunting... it is amazing how much beer some of these people can handle. Myself... a Draft Budweiser at a Video Poker or Keno machine is plenty for me. Then carrying a loaded high powered rifle to... hunt? Or fishing off of a dory with a... buzz?

We need a cooler to have ICE. An ice pick to knock off a corner to add into an insulated cup with water, or soda.

We may have an isolated sealed plastic container for perishables, inserted into the cooler. We use the melted ice water for the dog's water bowls.

This is my example how we make OUR choices. If we are at elevations over 8,000 feet... ice keeps. There is snow along the sides of the roads at Glacier National Park in Montana... often, year round. FREE if needed.

Sitting a case of beer along the protected shore IN a cool river...is Free.

So Purpose is most important than Brand of Cooler.

If you need two cases of alcohol on your camping trips. Fine. Get two large Yetis to keep it all ice cold... great for you. Lousy for me. I will use the money saved to do something I find more useful.

Like, sitting in our inexpensive lawn chairs and enjoying the outdoors.

[Squid]

Have 4 yeti’s... over rated. Blue top igloos work just as well and half the weight. Had to replace all the hardware on the igloo’s thou after one month.

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by Squid

Have 4 yeti’s... over rated. Blue top igloos work just as well and half the weight. Had to replace all the hardware on the igloo’s thou after one month.

*****
We have an Igloo Wheelie Cooler, single axle and tow bar to roll from Point A to B. The handle is great if you are under 5 feet tall, but hardware? None exists. This can be smuggled through Customs without one piece of metal. It is at least 25 years old. Probably a WalMart 'Blue Light Special'. Still lots of tread and not a Marathon.

The bashful cooler owners following this Forum. Step in, like myself, others and Squid. There have to be some good stories of Coolers that went to Hell and return each Season, for another vacation.

It is Halloween.

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

A...
Has anyone opened their cooler on Pikes Peak, Colorado at 14,000' plus and tried to open the lid in Colorado Springs? ….We experience lots of noises from half full and empty plastic water bottles when traveling the mountains. At first, it sounds like a stone hit your windshield... and then again, and again with no vehicles in sight. The bottle expands with the lower elevation air to make the plastic expand and... crack as the air expands, or going down, has air pressure compress the plastic... into submission.
...?

I was flying a friend from a dove hunt down in the Texas valley back to Austin late at night. He was sitting in the back seat of the light twin engine airplane he owned along with his shooting-bag and shotgun in it's carry-case. We were climbing in the dark, up and out of McAllen, Texas thru about 8K' when a loud BANG! ...occurred.. scared the heart-stopping blazes out of me and my immediate thought was that he might have left his damn shotgun loaded and that it had gone off!

But he was equally shocked and flipped on his reading light to discover.... he was COVERED UP... in potato chips.

A family-sized bag of chips sitting behind him in the back seat had expanded and blown-up.

[Mollysdad]

I'll never bad mouth the quality of Yeti's.
But they're overpriced. If having your cooler say "Yeti" is important, fine, but if you watch the YouTube five day ice challenge, they line up about ten of the new style coolers and see how long ice lasts.
Yeti did not come in first. I think Orca did. Several others close behind.

[Leilanisteve]

And watch the Yeti YouTube videos. They are all great stories and not heavily loaded with yeti marketing.

[ROBERT CROSS]

...Yeti, the Airstream of the Kooler world...overpriced with a cult following. 😂

Bob
🇺🇸

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

...Yeti, the Airstream of the Kooler world...overpriced with a cult following. ��

Bob
����

******

Bob... I smell tar and chicken feathers coming for both of us.

Viewing comments from the Yeti Cooler blogs, it is more of life style than purpose. Much like wearing a Rolex watch for status. Or a Rolox watch for status among the visually impaired. I personally prefer the Corum $20 Quartz with 20k band as a 'nose picker'. Not the best watch, but could be pawned to get cash for trailer repairs on the road.

Coolers can be compared to Rifles. Since the biggest blowback is from... outdoorsmen that have firearms, camp out and need a good cooler.

You have to determine the caliber of rifle you need by what you are hunting.

This applies to ALL coolers. I needed a stout cooler for tent camping. I did not need a stout cooler... with our Tent on Wheels and a Dometic refrigerator. We just do not eat that much. We always returned from our, up to two weeks, camping adventures... with food to unload.

Coolers should not be any larger than the trailer or in my case the tent, being used.

Bow Hunters had a home top loading freezer on a flat bed in Quemado, NM. They pretty much emptied out the Convenience Store of ice cubes, while the others were unloading cases of beer into it. That is one end of the spectrum.

The other end of the Cooler Rainbow are the conservative space... tent campers. Do I need a one day, three or a ten day cooler chest? Well... we compromised for a five to eight day cooler. Used the Iglo Wheelie in our tight budget days for years. This was a Giant Leap for Mankind, for us, getting the Ozark Trail 52 Quart refer cooler.

If I need status to make myself feel better about myself... I will sneak out and purchase a third Blue Heeler when Nancy is not home. Three Heeler families are unknown in Boulder City, Nevada.

[Boxite]

Ray,
REAL hunters don't need a cooler. They are up near the timberline where it's cool enough to keep the fresh meat they are successful at acquiring. We dry/jerk the rest.
They also drink REAL beer. BRITISH or BAVARIAN.... which is best at normal temperatures and does not require refrigeration. (It's why the stuff was brewed to begin-with... the alcohol purifies and preserves it.)

(It's noon somewhere I think..... )

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

******

Bob... I smell tar and chicken feathers coming for both of us.

...Ray

I do have a watch fetish from USMC to Elmer 😂

Bob
🇺🇸

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by Boxite

Ray,

They also drink REAL beer. BRITISH or BAVARIAN.... which is best at normal temperatures and does not require refrigeration. (It's why the stuff was brewed to begin-with... the alcohol purifies and preserves it.)

*******
Germans in the early 1960's, of course in Germany, had the bottles with the porcelain stoppers, while working outside. Air temperature. I was watching closely the culture at ten years old at the time.

My Dutch grandparents would buy a case of beer from the local brewery... Leeuw Bier in Wylre and Valkenburg, NL. They always ordered it, which was delivered to their door step, with three bottles of Dark Beer for the 'youngen'. None of us youngsters grew up sneaking beer as it was not that big of a deal. We could have a small glass of beer at dinner, if we asked. The USA... sheltering kids from everything may not be the best route to go.

That leads me to Homer Simpson and My 'Mmm... Burger' watch. I wear to special occasions, like when I am at Walmart looking for a durable cooler.

So... Beer, Burgers and Coolers all in one post.

If that is not all American, I do not know what else to suggest.

[rmkrum]

Ray, just work in "Apple Pie," and "Motherhood," and "Against Sin" to cover all the bases...

(Was a comment by a good friend of mine in Alabama, J. J. Adkins (RIP) when I asked him the best way to write some document...I do so miss his innate sense of Southern grace and humor!)

[Ray Eklund]

Rich KE4GNK/AE.... I have had Forum Members who had to tell me that they will not read my posts as they are too long.

P L E A S E .... K E E P.... Y O U R .... P R O M I S E


Next thing you know, they will be after my Wyoming Jackalope...

[rmkrum]

Well, Ray, I appreciate good writing, so I, for one, read your posts from top to bottom...and, as appropriate, tend to laugh a lot at the funny bits. There are quite a few really good writers on these forums, so there is no dearth of material to read and savor.

One can always write great stuff, but sadly, the "great unwashed" have a tendency to not read anything over a few sentences long, IMHO, much less understand the crafting and thought that goes into producing an explanatory article on a forum, written in clear American English, using proper grammar.

That said, I simply refuse to lower my standards, and reserve the right to use a college-level vocabulary, express complex thought in a clear manner, and have fun as I do it. My hope is to raise the quality of the written word, and to have some fun with the language...

Our children will tell you that clear writing has contributed to their successes in both career and school over the years. They will claim that being fluent in both spoken and written formal English has been a key to them surviving and thriving in the wider world. DW and I refuse to slack off our standards, so there you go. DW, by the way, is an expert in the use of the English language (her second language, at that) to provide twisted humor and observations on life as an RN where she works.

BTW, where I live and work out in the Southern California Desert, we see many immature Jackalopes out and about, usually running from hungry coyotes, and dodging the occasional wild burro. We seem to be overrun with critters lately, since ran has fallen this year. Apparently they are not living long enough to grow a full set of antlers, but I am optimistic, and keeping my eyes open, in the hope of seeing one in the wild with a full rack...

[Ray Eklund]

Rich... keep your Cooler, any brand, handy if you encounter a deceased Jackalope.

They are later members of the Palaeolagus haydeni family of the White River Formation, Brule Member, Oligocene Epoch of Western Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Northeast Colorado. Check it out on Google.

The biggest problem for Jackalopes in the California Desert would be the metal detector and gold panners swarming into the area. Even in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming they have become near extinct. I have yet to find anyone wanting to save these peaceful critters.

Yet millions of dollars are spent to save the Preble's Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) of the Front Range of Colorado. They are protected by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We had them in the grassy areas of Roxborough Park, Colorado. Although living there, never saw one.

You find Orca Coolers... but not a Jackalope Cooler. Why? I would like to know. With some of the bright Trailer owners on this Forum... want to make your next fortune? Jack-a-Lope... repeat it. Jackalope Cooler.

The Preble's were common in Colorado and Wyoming when the Glacier's were receding. I missed that decade, but they have no antlers.

Members... Jackalope SHED their antlers in the Spring and grow them afterwards. Antelope have horns. They do not shed them. That is why you see so many antler less Jackalopes and never a hornless antelope.

If schools taught more about Coolers and that Mammals are all related... shopping would be so much easier at the grocery store.

Coolers. Jackalopes. Mice. Ice and Age. Deserts. Covered it all. Now your turn.

[rmkrum]

Another of the less useful protected creatures is the Mojave Ground Squirrel, (MGS) indigenous to the desert southwest. They were so plentiful in the 1950's that they were captured and sold as pets.

An interesting characteristic of the MGS is that if there is not sufficient rain or forage in their area, they do not attempt to reproduce. We went for several dry years, and never saw a one of them. Now that it rained fairly heavily last year, we are overrun with whole families of them. They are cute, fast moving, and destructive to gardens and orchards. Our local group has constructed elaborate underground borrows in our back yard, cleverly concealed under slabs of patio concrete.

One entrance, one exit, and a very enticing scent to our 22-pound Tibetan Terrier (looks like a golden Shi-Tzu on steroids). He sniffs about and will sit there before the burrow for hours, waiting for a target of opportunity. I think he fancies himself as the "great blonde hunter" or something similar.

When our old lady Chihuahua mix was still alive, the two of them were formidable as a team--she scared up the critters, and the big guy pounced, usually successfully, and I had the joy of getting him to drop the (usually deceased) victim from his surprisingly ample maw...lizards, birds, possums, mice, you name it...

Be that as it may, the beasts are protected nowadays, so the only way to control them is to stomp around on the concrete, and make the MGS family think the upstairs neighbor is too noisy, so they relocate elsewhere, usually under the neighbors garden shed, conveniently close to our grapevines. Fortunately, as ground dwelling rodents, they don't climb all that well, and the dog can keep them at bay.