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Capnbill

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I have a 2014 2200TRS with the standard Igloo coolers.  I talked to Kevin at Engel in Jupiter, FL, about the coolers they are supplying for the new Pathfinders.  The new boats come with a 35 qt cooler in front of the console, but the footprint is a bit wide for the current tie down fittings.  He said some people have chosen the 50 qt cooler.  It's not as wide as the 35 qt and would probably work, but it will project further forward from the console than the current Igloo and I wouldn't need to drill holes in the deck to change the tie downs.

Any thoughts?

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Thanks.  I went to the factory the other day and Lisa in parts showed me the two different tie downs for the front cooler for my vintage of 2200TRS.  One has eyes that will pull out with a quarter turn and the other has threaded eyes.  They apparently  don't use the quarter turn ones any more so losing one of the fittings would be a problem. 

By the way, Engel's website has very detailed measurements for all their coolers with measurements at both top and bottom.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On June 7, 2016 at 9:39 PM, Hotfoot5 said:

I've got a 50 quart Yeti in front of the console on my TRS. The cooler fits and looks fine and there is no need for tie downs, it does not budge in even the roughest conditions. 

This. I can't imagine needing the tie downs for my Yeti 50. It never moves and inch. And it's the perfect size for in front of the console on a TE.

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The RTIC and Yeti are made at the same Chinese factory....identical construction. I have a 65 Yeti up front and a 45 RTIC behind leaning post and there is no difference in their insulating capabilities. Yeti started into the market with a genius advertising and marketing team and swept the US...but all the others are now charging behind with equal quality and less $$$ to the consumer. You'll see several others coming to America soon and it will drive the prices down even lower. My opinion is , if money is no problem, get whatever makes you happy. At the end of the day..........it's still just a cooler. Heck :  I fished with Marine Igloo's for 20 years and never had problems ( you just have to use more ice ).

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23 hours ago, fishmanjj said:

The RTIC and Yeti are made at the same Chinese factory....identical construction. I have a 65 Yeti up front and a 45 RTIC behind leaning post and there is no difference in their insulating capabilities. Yeti started into the market with a genius advertising and marketing team and swept the US...but all the others are now charging behind with equal quality and less $$$ to the consumer. You'll see several others coming to America soon and it will drive the prices down even lower. My opinion is , if money is no problem, get whatever makes you happy. At the end of the day..........it's still just a cooler. Heck :  I fished with Marine Igloo's for 20 years and never had problems ( you just have to use more ice ).

YETI makes most of their rotomolded coolers (Tundra series) in the Philippines and the others in the USA which are available upon request.

RTIC makes their rotomolded coolers in China.

Not sure how that is the same factory.

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First of all: that 5 day ice challenge video was very cool , I own a Yeti 65 and it did not do well as compared to a few of the others, and RTIC wasn't even represented.  The Engel and Pelican kicked butt !.

Back to the conversation about where they are made: the original Yeti owners have sold out to Cortec Group...... the good ole boys from Austin no longer own the Company. The new private equity firm has sent their molds everywhere looking for the lowest bidder........If the Phillipines got the contract this year over China.......you can bet they were willing to build it cheaper. Which explains why they lost the 5 day ice challenge. The Yeti Hoppers are all built in China now. Not trying to argue about coolers........they're all good coolers and they all have copied one another. They have all tried to sue one another for copyright infringement. Buy whatever brand you want. But: watch the 5 day ice challenge before you spend your $$$.

The main thing here is to keep fishing..........

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My bet is that RTIC wasn't included because they are only available via mail order direct from the manufacturer. So the video producer can't stock them in his store and I would suspect he was unwilling  to promote them in his test as a result. 

But others are correct.  All of the rotomolded coolers do a fine job.  I also noticed he had a Polar Bear which is an awesome soft cooler for the money. I would love to see a similar comparison of soft coolers. 

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Mustang:   You are correct, my old metal Coleman was dark green, the second year the seam in the back was mostly rust. Strangely , Coleman has a "retro" model in green again and now started building the metal ones again in Stainless , but the cost is near what you can buy one of the high dollar roto molded coolers .... I just bought my 2 nd RTIC in a 45 and I must say, it's a very good cooler. 20 lb bag of ice and 10 or 12 speckled trout will stay solid cold for two days if you don't open the lid very much. You can take them out the next morning to fillet the fish and there are so cold, your hand will feel like its frost bit.  I'm talking exceptional cold. 

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49 minutes ago, mustang190 said:

And to think we use to use metal and aluminum coolers made by Coleman, good for one year(maybe 2) before they rusted out.

Drop in a block of ice and fish all day!

Block ice makes a huge difference in keep cold longer. If if you just freeze a gallon jug of water.

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I just got a RTIC soft bag for Father's Day today. I've never owned the soft type before so I have nothing to compare to. But, it looks like a good idea for carrying some beer, soft drinks, snacks to the barrier islands here when we go shark teeth hunting. A lot lighter to carry than my Yeti and RTIC hard boat coolers. 

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2 hours ago, fishmanjj said:
2 hours ago, fishmanjj said:

 

I just got a RTIC soft bag for Father's Day today. I've never owned the soft type before so I have nothing to compare to. But, it looks like a good idea for carrying some beer, soft drinks, snacks to the barrier islands here when we go shark teeth hunting. A lot lighter to carry than my Yeti and RTIC hard boat coolers. 

What size did you get? I have been looking at those online and am debating between a 30 or 40. Do the straps look like thy will hold up if you fill it with ice?

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