The trip of a lifetime is tough to plan, with all the logistics, running shuttle if you have to, planning the route, the trip members, it’s a tall order. Planning the menu though, that’s even harder (learn to plan your menu here). The menu itself isn’t the tricky part, especially when you’re going with a bunch of Texans for example, you know they’re going to like red meat and spicy things–done; it’s the storage and transport of all those perishables. You probably get what I’m talking about: you need a damn good cooler.
Photo: Want to eat eggs and breakfast sausage on your camping trip? You need a Yeti.
In the fishing industry, if you have a Yeti, you’re the cool kid. Part of that is marketing (like this amazing video here), of course, but the other half of that, the most important factor when determing your next cooler, is does it actually outperform everyone else. I’ve tested other Yeti coolers before and I’ve been through my fair share of other brands, but the Yeti has out-lasted them all. When I was planning my Adirondack canoe trip adventure (watch the teaser here), there was only one cooler that I trusted to bring along: the Tundra 65.
This heavy-duty, do-it-all cooler will never break (they’ve tested it on everything from fireworks, to bears, to professional wrestlers), and the high-quality insulation and gaskets ensure your ice stays cold for more than a week. We packed the cooler with ice and food (sadly, no room for beer), on a Friday night and had food and ice in the cooler when we got back to the hotel room eight days later. If we needed it to, the Tundra 65 would’ve kept the food cold for another few days, but at that point we were thankful we didn’t need it to–we wanted a shower and food we didn’t need to cook ourselves in the woods. For those that absolutely need to know, the Tundra 65 can fit 39 cans of beer, with a 2:1 ice to car ratio, although if you do a 1:1 ratio you can fit a lot more.
Photo: Carrying the Yeti Tundra 65 full of food was tough, but the steak dinners were worth it.
Two marine-grade polyester rope carrying handles make carrying the big cooler an easy task. When I say that though, I mean on normal fishing trips, with a guy on each side of the cooler. When you’re packing this loaded up cooler for a week-long trip and hiking it up and over mountains, around waterfalls and through the woods, then it’s a little more of a pain, but what kind of sick person puts themselves through that? Oh yea.
One of my favorite parts of the Yeti coolers is that they’re tough enough for you to stand on. They make the perfect casting platform on the water and an even better camp chair by the fire, though I recommend picking up one of Yeti’s cooler pads to soothe the backside after a long day of paddling. The built-to-last hinges, made from a durable polyethylene material can withstand anything your drunk buddies at camp can throw at it, and because they’re self-stopping, you don’t need to put down your beer to grab a fresh one. The cooler also features two inches of insulation that’s going to keep whatever you decide to store in the Tundra 65 nice and cold, and a dry goods basket lets you keep other essentials cold, but away from the ice, like the ever-important Cholula hot sauce. Don’t leave home without it!
Photo: Camp is better when you have a Yeti Tundra 65 full of great food.
For more information on Yeti, or their Tundra 65, check out their website, YetiCoolers.com.
Stay tuned for a full feature story on my Adirondack canoe trip with Robert Field, Mark Vlaskamp, and Rex DeGuzman, coming out in the latest issue of Kayak Angler!
