what you use for boat coolers?
 

I am curious what everyone uses for cooler situation. they are always big and in the way especially if other people bring their own coolers. do you use the igloo marine coolers or rolling coolers? I use the boat cooler for drinks and a small igloo for food.

Www.aocoolers.com are the best soft sided coolers on the market. The thought of a hard sided cooler banging around the interior or sliding across gel coat keeps me up at night.

Have used the AO's for about 5 years now with no leaks. Great product and more importantly, they stand behind their products with a great warranty.

I use the stock softside Axis cooler that comes with the boat. I'm pretty sure it's an AOcooler, not positive though. I have two now... bottles were placed in one and the caps ripped up the inside liner a bit.

why do you have bottles on your boat?

Because that was the only option for my beverage of choice that time out.

I have a YETI 65 and a 35 that both work great depending on how many people are going to be on the boat that day. Holds ice for days, makes a great table, seat, etc. and has a little sliding basket near the top for food and items you don't want down in the ice. Would also recommend getting the Seadek top...

http://www.yeticoolers.com/

Hey boarder cuz plinys don't come in can!!17 oz or growler! And if you don't know google it 100/100 on beer rate. Com. Mmmmm pliny

Some men have sophisticated beer palate.

My bar fridge looks the same... need to defrost that baby.

I converted my underseat ski locker into my cooler, but if you are going with a "portable" cooler that will not fit in a locker, I would recommend going with a soft side like one above. I noticed that the interior of my boat is getting scuffed up from the small hard coolers that my crew sometimes bring on board as they get bounced around around.

If its the same one that comes with a Malibu then its not even close to the same quality as an AO cooler. I just purchased an AO this season and they are night and day in quality and how long they keep ice.

AO now builds a cooler just for the Malibu, it fits perfectly in the ice chest cooler or under any seat in the boat... not sure on the Axis if its the same size.

Here is the link for the Malibu cooler:

http://www.aocoolers.com/index.cfm?category=15

I'll stick with my Yeti. Hadn't seen the Seadeck tops for them, will have to get one of those in the near future.

When I did the stringers and decks I converted the sub floor battery box on the Si Nautique to a cooler. By making a hinged lid with catch,gel coating the inside, adding a drain plug and applying 2" of foam around it. It holds 12 cans, six water bottles and ten pounds of cube ice. Keeps cold all day.

That picture you posted looks just like my Axis cooler. I'm not disagreeing with you - this could be a fake AO, but this little cooler holds ice for more than one day in 90-100 degree weather. I'm happy with it. It is close to the same price at the dealership as that one on their website too:
At the end of the day, we're on the same page - I like the AO cooler.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W...601_070539.jpghttps://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-f...601_070552.jpg

my set up..

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...psc87db116.jpg

I have used Horizons LTD soft sided coolers for years without failure and they are pretty good for a soft sided at keeping ice. I recently purchased an AO and would have to put in on the same level. The key is the heat welded interior liner. They don't leak like others but do require that you dry them after use so they don't get nasty. Softies are nice as they get smaller with use, mold to the space and are well soft. Yeti or similar is a no brainer as the hard sided choice. I threw out old my old cheap ice melters years ago and started with an icey tech. The old style are uglier than the newer stuff but man do they hold ice.

I use my built in cooler for empties, and i use something similar to this, i made sure it was perfect width to fit right in the bow walk thru, when people want to sit up front they just step over it, and i have all my space in the cabin. this isnt the exact model, mine opens at the end so you can easy get your beverage from cabin.

http://www.meijer.com/assets/product...0188_A_600.jpg

Since AO just came out with this size cooler a couple months ago, you for sure don't have an AO cooler.

I just wish AO offered that height of cooler in a few more sizes. The only place that one fits on my 'Bu is either under the observer seat (awful spot for a cooler) or under the port flip-up seat...which happens to have a plumbed Fly High sack there.

Yeti is the way to go! Lake Dwellers is a new company that just started in this area. They sell coolers that are similar to yeti product. They say they hold Ice for 10 days. They also make shirts hoodies and the stretchy board shorts.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/03/yva3usuh.jpg

http://https://m.facebook.com/#!/pro...ser=1345500578

I just got one of the AO Coolers for under seats and it's unbelievably good at keeping my ice from melting! It would fit under my seats, but I just leave it on the floor for easy access.

Attachment 29988

That's the stock cooler that comes with the Malibu and Axis boats. It fits under the seat in the built in cooler section. The new AO cooler has about double the insulation of that stock cooler, and the liner is as least twice as thick, and much more durable material. I have both coolers. The AO cooler that had the link posted for it is MUCH NICER.

I had both too. I just threw the Malibu one in the trash because it leaked so bad. I gotta have my Pacificos, so I need a tough cooler liner! :) However, I will give Malibu/Axis props for coming up with that unique under-seat-shaped cooler design and including it with the boat. Great idea!

I have been hearing good things about the AO coolers.
I have a few of the Yetti coolers. They work very well. Engils
Makes a great cooler. And the one Chase posted a pic of looks pretty bomb as well.
Here is my Yetti

Because the built-in coolers suck and softside never have enough space for the crew I keep an Igloo Marine 53qt cooler in the starboard rear locker.

Cuz beer tastes better out of a bottle? ;)

Big Igloo cooler right in the floor.. (stock picture.. that's not my G.. mine's got gray seadek)

http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/attac...1&d=1339359919

Do you have to open that full hatch every time to get a drink or does it have a separate access door for just the cooler lid?

Those are two separate hatches.

What am I missing in a cooler (Yeti) that starts at $400.00?

Not having to buy but one bag of I've ALL weekend. Those things will hold I've for 10 days depending on how many times they are opened. The Lakedwellers cooler I posted are supposed to be cheaper. I'm going to get my hands on one and try it out next weekend. They are supposed to hold ice for 10 days as well. Lakedwellers board short line is pretty amazing as well! Many great designs.

I own a couple Yeti's and love them. They are just really heavy and can get pretty pricey. I found these coolers a couple months back and ordered the 100QT. I'm extremely impressed with it. Roto-molded like the Yeti, the latches lock down securely, lighter weight than the Yeti and quite a bit cheaper! Overall, a great alternative to someone who wants a cooler that will hold ice like a Yeti, at a little more reasonable price.

http://www.bruteoutdoors.com/

Brett: Thanks for the Link and info to the Brute coolers. My 45 Quart Yetti was around $300 the 25 Quart Brute is $200 for a cooler 1/2 the size that dosen't seem like a whole lot cheaper for a cooler 1/2 the size. Whats the cost difff between the 100 quart coolers

For all the Yeti fans I recently got a Pelican and it holds ice longer and IMO built stronger. Both are great but I believe the Pelican beats out Yeti and about 20% cheaper.

dude grant you always know whats up! Yeti coolers are the beesknees!

There is a local brand from flagstaff, i dont rememeber the brand name, but two kids I graduated with did their capstone designing it....its SICK!

Grant here is a link to a brief comparison between Yeti and Brute coolers. The 100qt Brute was like $375 vs. the Yeti 105qt for $450.

http://www.itinerantangler.com/podca...rs_v_brut.html

I bough the poloar bear backpack cooler a few months ago...been very impressed with it so far ( great soft side cooler). It beats lugging aroudn a huge cooler ( which I end up not needing most of the time)

http://www.polarbearcoolers.com/cate...t_coolers.html

Their stuff looks really cool in the facebook pictures, but their website isn't complete so there's no pricing info. Anyone know where we could see some prices?

I just use a marine igloo cooler behind the drivers seat. I made a trex-deck frame work around it to keep it from sliding around and added some extra cup holders. Also on the cooler I removed the handles and added webbing so the plastic handles were not rubbing on the seat. I have the cooler away from the side of the boat so that the lid can stay open while you grab a freshie. Plus the area behind the cooler gives some space for towels, shirts, etc. All in all, works good, but I think I would make the next one out of cutting board material or something like that so the color matched a little better.http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/03/y6aqepyp.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/03/9amyvapa.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/03/u4yraty8.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/03/5ugesuge.jpg

I actually found some low profile coolers at Target that are perfect for under the bench locker on the port side. They are perfect height and size, only requiring a minimal tilt angle to get them in and out and are out of the way, so no more tripping over crap in the floor.. No drains to worry about leaking and the handles are molded into them so no worry of breaking. I think they were $25-30 each, and have done a good job of holding ice pretty well. Because they're out of the sun inside the locker, I can usually get at least 24 hours out of the ice, as long as we remember to put the lids back on. They're not the biggest coolers out there (which is why I bought 2), and claim they'll hold a 24 pack, but realistically it's more like an 18 pack and a bag of ice. Other nice part is they're stackable, so if we are eating on the boat and need a table, just pull them out of the locker and stack the 2 coolers on each other.

http://img3.targetimg3.com/wcsstore/...6/11265560.jpg

Engel Deep Blue coolers are the king of coolers. In every test I have seen they beat Yeti and everyone else. This is the same company that makes the 12V fridge/freezer that you find all over Australia. Top notch quality.

If you check back at Mack's and check often you can score an Engel Deep Blue 65 for $212. They sell out fast whenever they get them in though. They do currently have the 80 for $279 though.

One awesome thing about the Engel is that you can get all sorts of accessories for it. You will find an Engel on almost every commercial fishing boat in Baja.

BTW, you can find pretty much every roto-molded cooler sold for sale here:

http://www.thebestcooler.com/

Agree the AO coolers are awesome. Things stay cold in for 24 hours in 90 degree weather. That is the cooler that came with our boat and sure beats the built in ones we had before. IMHO

Buy a few pounds of dry ice and one bag of regular ice and have your drinks stay cold for 24hrs in any cooler.
Yeti and yeti type coolers are bulky, good for a big offshore fishing boat, bad for a wake boat.

Yeti's look cool and all but they are not very space efficient and heavy/bulky. I don't think many people realize they were originally made to transport organs which is why they needed that extreme insulation. Just seems like overkill to keep some beers cold for a few hours.

FOR ANYONE WHO OWNS A YETI COOLER....

You know how frustrating the "vacuum locked" lid can be. Check out this company a friend turned me on to. They make a drain plug that has a pressure valve in it. It fits all Yeti coolers. Lid gets locked, push the valve to bleed the air and the lid releases. Brilliant, just wish i would have cashed in on it. :banghead:

https://www.facebook.com/MillhouseManufacturing?fref=ts

My family boat does a great job maintaining beverage temp in the built in cooler. One bag of ice will keep beer cold enough for 18-24 hrs, and the boat will be covered and 100deg in the morning under the cover...

65qt Yeti

Goes in floor an works great. Everybody props feet on it and I have Seadeck on top so they can step on it while getting back in boat instead of stepping on seat.

I use the removable igloo cooler.

I hate those bag coolers. Wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

Send me some Pliny!!!!!!

all that and no Mt Gay? Looks like my kinda fridge;)

Me too. I will send some heady topper as a partial trade!