I got triggered by this (link):
A couple months back I needed a cooler trunk for a road trip — not a soft-sided freezer bag, but the kind of thing one takes on camping, hunting or fishing trips. I haven’t had to buy one of these things in yonks, so I was completely out of touch with the whole thing, but I thought I’d just get a Coleman because I sort of know the brand and I’ve had good experiences with it in the past. Also, I needed something in the 50-60-quart size.
So off I went to Academy because they’re located next door to my next stop, the Kroger which in turn is next door to my sooper-seekrit mailbox place. (Efficient, that’s me.)
No Coleman. Okay, no sweat; here’s Igloo:
…not bad, but a little pricey, and I want a trunk, not a box.
Here’s Magellan, which is Academy’s sorta-house brand, made (as they all are) in China:
…wait, WTF? $200 for a smaller cooler? Any more Igloos?
…FFS, two hundred and fifty dollars for a fucking cooler with wheels? Does it come with independent suspension and power steering?
But it got worse, oh yes it did. Try this proud Yeti number:
…ummmmm
Okay, I said I’m out of touch with this category, but has there been some massive gain in static refrigeration technology that I haven’t heard about? “Roadie”? Does it come with someone to drag the thing around?
Had I wandered into REI, Whole Foods or a Ferrari dealership by mistake?
What premium-priced hell is this, where people pay this kind of money for what is, after all, a throwaway product that lasts a couple of years before the seals rot and you have to get another one?
Somebody ‘splain this to me, please. I’m clearly just ignorant.
By the way: I ended up getting two styrofoam coolers from 7-Eleven for $15 apiece, just put up with the styro-squeaking for the trip, then tossed them when I got home. Job done.
Hadn’t bought a cooler in decades. I have 2 Coleman’s that are 20+ years old and never use them. So you’re welcome to them but you have to come pick em up.
But you’re right, I looked coolers up and they are on the moon across the board. For basically 2 layers of plastic with styrofoam between.
Prices on everything are way up and for the things you purchase everyday the climb may not be as noticeable. But for things you haven’t purchased in awhile the jump is shocking. Just think, that $100 cooler will be $140 a year from now. But, you get to “vote” next Nov and that will make everything all right.
Like Ghosts pier, I’ve got a couple of Coleman’s in the basement that have gotten occasional use for over 20 years, not disposable at all. Love them.
I studied Economics in college and never took a marketing course, but I wish I had. The ridiculous crap they can sell people these days is astounding. What was that famous P.t. Barnum quote?
Thank God I’m not susceptible to that kind of brainwashing.
Well. There are after-market gun parts. But other than that …
Coleman used to be my choice for coolers and camping stuff in general. I have a gasoline lantern that I bought back in 1975. I’ve replaced the mantles a few times but it still works. I used it a while back when we lost power. I shouldn’t even be saying this because fossil fuel and CO2 and all that.
Today the Coleman brand is pretty much junk. Their bottom of the line stuff isn’t cheap and even the so called “better” products aren’t worth the higher prices. Economics 101 says if you build something that lasts, you’ll never sell another one. Craftsman learned that with hand tools.
Technically, they are not all made in China. Igloo is made right here in Texas. So are a great many others. Cooler technology is rather simple and the mark-up in price over raw materials is outstanding, so plenty of profit potential.
What you’re seeing is marketing at its finest. You see, the plain jane old plastic and styrofoam coolers of the past were ok for a picnic or maybe a day at the beach. It’d keep your beer and sodas kinda cool for the afternoon but by evening all the ice would be melted and stuff would be getting warm. So some companies started doing simple improvements. Mainly thicker walls and lids for more insulation and better seals – what they call refrigerator grade. They even have gaskets on the lids. This then would keep ice for several days or more, if you were careful to not open it too much.
That’s where marketing stepped in. Are you going on a picnic? NO! You’re going on an adventure. Camping in the rough for days on end, because you’re an awesome outdoorsman! And you need an awesome outdoors cooler than can hold ice for the entire trip! It’s worth it for the great time!! Only $400!!!! The best bargain!!!!!
Yeti set the standard and all the others rushed to match it. You can still find the simple coolers out there for $40 or so, hidden in the back behind all the top brands advertising the exciting outdoors lifestyle where you need the best equipment money can buy. If you ignore the hype and can stomach the price, some of the coolers do actually keep ice for several days or more and occasionally that does come in handy. You just need to make a realistic decision on if you actually need that or whether you’re falling for marketing hype.
And yes, the coolers can last decades. I have several nearing 30 years old and still use them almost monthly.
Our hero Kim has discovered the cult of Glamping. Good, useful gear has been (to a degree) supplanted by expensive, pretty gear in order that the Range Rover crowd can look good while pretending to enjoy the outdoors.
But you did the right thing, and bought perfectly serviceable alternatives to the “pretty stuff”. Well done.
These days I troll garage sales and thrift stores for stuff . A week ago I bought two Coleman lanterns (one with a steel cylinder case) and a steel milk crate for $50, and with new mantles, everything works. Guess I’ll start looking for coolers now.
So you’re late to the bourgeoisie cooler game. Yeti started it with improvements such as refrigerator gaskets and insulation between the plastic walls. Ye olde coolers were just double-walled plastic with no insulation and thus the ice melted much more quickly. Accessories such as wheels, lock brackets, shelves, quickly followed suit, as did the imitators (others jumping on board).
These new fangled expensive coolers do keep stuff cold much better, but they are also extremely heavy. My (made in TX) 40qt. RTIC weighs about 30 lbs (empty!).
Personally, my most used cooler is an old 16 qt. Coleman Oscar manufactured in the 1970s. It’s just the right size to carry a poker game’s worth of beer and an ice pack.
I needed a cooler for the return trip from Missouri to Virginia (my sis offloaded a whole bunch of beef/pork on me) and I got two Igloo Latitude 52’s from Lowes for less than $50. Packed them full of frozen man fuel, topped them off with a thermal blanket and when I arrived home 2 days later, everything was still frozen solid. Only problem is, now I have EIGHT coolers in the basement because of situations like this.
Poor planning on my part.
Reiterating: Most Igloo coolers are made right here in Katy, Texas. Practically in my neighborhood.
Just to remind everyone
https://www.thecoolerzone.com/yeti-coolers-nra-everything-need-know/
“I ended up getting two styrofoam coolers from 7-Eleven for $15 apiece”
This line might be the saddest part of your entire story. Those same styrofoam single use coolers were just $1.99 not too long ago, and I was aghast when the priced kicked up to $2.49.
Some years back before I retired, my plan was to replace some of my camping gear with new stuff, with the idea that I would be spending more time fishing and camping. This was right about the time prices started going above what a retirement pension could afford. I added a propane stove, lantern, and heater, kept my 25+ year-old white gas equipment, and kept my old “good enough” coolers. I built a case for my best one and lined it with expanding spray foam. I fill that cooler with ice and it keeps long enough to replace the ice in my other coolers as needed.
Sadly, the years have not been kind. Downward turns in health and the passing of my camping buddies are keeping me home these days.
“…styrofoam single use coolers were just $1.99 not too long ago, and I was aghast when the priced kicked up to $2.49.”
That’s the “Fighting Climate Change” surcharge for styrofoam. FWIW, after 40+ years of parties and fishing trips, my 60 qt and 120 qt Igloos are still going strong with just a one-time hinges and latches replacement in all those years.
We got an Arctic Cooler for Christmas several years ago and it has been great. It’s a smaller one and keeps food cold for days. We take it on road trips and pack a picnic lunch. We can refill ice at the hotel as needed which can be as long as every other day.
Cabelas has some knock off ones that include a bottle opener on it.
Don summed it up well.
JQ
rather than get a cooler with wheels, which is new to me, we bought a foldable cart. Put anything in it for a picnic like chairs, cooler, grill etc. Harbor Freight and Amazon have them at decent prices
JQ
I have an igloo cooler in the garage that can’t be less than 30 years old. Now I’m going to be more careful with it because I can’t afford to replace it.
Yes. I have a metal Coleman ice chest from the late fifties, from my parents, a 48 quart Igloo from the early eighties, and another from about 2009 that I got from West Marine for $7.00 because I helped a Yacht Club clean a couple of boats one day. That was a very nice coupon, I tell you!
About three times in the last fifteen years I was THIS CLOSE to giving the Coleman away.
I also have a camp fuel three burner stove and four Coleman two mantle gas lanterns from the sixties. For those, I’ve been called a Luddite for not going with rechargeable battery lanterns.
Yeti coolers and their clones have their place. If you’re going off-road/off-grid for days at a time they can be a good choice to keep things cool, but for the same money–or less–you can get a decent little 12 Volt fridge that easily fits in the back seat, trunk, or truck bed. If you don’t mind the high sticker price (I paid $450 for my Iceco JP40) it will just keep going for as long as it has juice. I do a bit of overland camping whenever I can, and I don’t want to be bothered with procuring ice and emptying water, dealing with soggy provisions, etc. Not cheap, but the convenience is worth the money on camping trips. For those who are out exploring full-time or living on the road, there are bigger professional-quality units from ARB and Dometic that are in the $1200 range, but will last a lifetime of bouncing down forest roads.
We have a couple of $30 wheeled Igloo coolers for whenever we have friends over to the house, and they do just fine with a couple of bags of ice in them. They’d be more than good enough for a weekend at a campground or the beach, etc.
I know someone who is in the ‘retain industry’, and she has said, some
time ago, that what you are doing is ‘buying the name’. IOW you are buying something that will, you think, probably erroneously, cause others to ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ when you pass by wearing your $900 Guicci sneakers !! You don’t really think the ‘tennis shoes’ are worth that, do you ? Of course not.
It’s ALL about ‘status’ and thinking the people around you are admiring,
loving, envying YOU because you’re RICH.
Most of the stuff in the ‘buy the name’ category is no better than other
manufacturers, maybe a ‘bit better’ but not nearly ‘enough better’ to justify the price.
You did good !