Ok, got to spend some serious camping/fishing time with Igloo’s new Yukon 70 Cold Locker, which showed up on my doorstep last week and travelled with me to Idaho’s Iron Lake, at 8,000 feet, this past weekend.
I loaded the cooler on Friday afternoon with a block of ice and with all sorts of goodies, including a mass of R-dogs and Corona’s for me, and enough food and juice to keep my girls happy for three days. The cooler rode in the back of the truck, under a hot sun (85-degrees or more) on the way to Salmon and then I took it inside for the night. It was scorching in the place we slept and when I woke in the morning I placed the cooler in the back of the truck again. It sat there, under direct sun, until I took it out of the rig at camp around 1 p.m. From then on, the Yukon 70 Cold Lockerwas in partial sun at times, and in partial shade at other times, protected slightly by tall trees.
A little worse for wear, but only cosmetically.
In the evenings the temperature probably dropped into the sixties, but it wasn’t nearly as cool as all of us thought it might be at that elevation.
Now, the verdict. Is Igloo’s Yukon Cold Lockerworth the, gulp, $389 price tag? Depends on if you have the money to spend. I can say this, several of my friends wanted to take that cooler home. They cited the broken hinges on their coolers and they looked, jealously, at the super-stout rubber sealing latches on the Yukon, plus the superior hinges on its lid. And they noted the five-year warranty and the claim to keep ice for seven days.
Mega discharge ability.
There were a lot of things to love about this cooler; the drain, which unleashed the melted water when I got home in seconds; the not slip plates on the bottom of the cooler that kept it absolutely in place in the back of the truck despite a 60 mile drive on sketchy dirt roads; etc. And I loved that the single block of ice didn’t melt all the way under hot temperatures and people reaching in and out of the cooler all the time for those cold beverages. And this: that cooler spent one night indoors on the trip, and two days and nights indoors on the backend of the trip here in Missoula, and the ice isn’t fully melted (that’s 5.5 days).
Seriously. Five and a half days. Two days and three nights inside. Under a hot sun much of the rest of the time. And this is what’s still left from a bag of ice. Awesome! Can you say Smith River next July. Alaska float trips. Summer steel on the Deschutes.
I guess your decision to buy this cooler comes down to how many cheaper coolers with broken hinges and melted ice you want to go through before you buy the Yukon 70 Cold Locker. You should also consider the five-year warranty. How many $80 coolers do you want to go through before you suck it up? I’m at a point in life where I prefer quality over a quick fix and this cooler is super high quality. If I were in the market for a cooler, I’d get this one. Surely the equal of, if not better than, Yeti and better than everything else.
Truth.
THIS FROM AN ONLINE CHATROOM: I’ll be in need of a new cooler soon. Saw these new Igloo Yukon’s at my local fishing store. Was impressed with the features these coolers have compared to the Yeti coolers (molded vs. rope handles, extra large tethered drain plug that I won’t lose, “fish ruler” which is handy for the fishing I do, etc. I have a Yeti Roadie 25 now that I use for road trips and for duck hunting (official food storage of my hunting buddies and my stool). I’ve been impressed with Yeti’s durability, but not overall ice retention. Even keeping the lid shit and latched as much as possible, I’ll still lose a decent amount of ice over a typical summer day. Maybe it’s just the size of my particular Yeti? I’ll be getting a new boat cooler soon because my old one got stolen when my boat was moored at a friend’s dock overnight (thankfully was a cheapo Walmart Igloo). Looking at the 70 qt. Yukon or the 65/75 qt. Yeti. Anyone have one of these? Thoughts?
ANSWER: I’ve got this 250 quart Yukon I bought off craig’s list and use it for bait, chum and fish. Love it. I’ve never had a Yeti but I do have a Rigid Frigid under the leaning post that I use for drinks and food. The Yukon holds ice much better. BTW,,, I do use the Yeti Tie downs to hold the Yukon in place.