I have a Pelican cooler. Definitely worth the money when you work in the sun all day grabbing water. My water stays ice cold all day long with a apprentice going in and out of it constantly.

 

Yep, me too. Yeti is from Dripping Springs here where I live and their headquarters in Austin. It's outdoorsman hipster gear and half made in Thailand. At least the coolers and cases are made in the US from Pelican. Their kayaks are made in Canada. All this and they're still cheaper and better than Yeti. I'd rather buy American than local. A friend of ours went to school with the Yeti guys in Dripping Springs.

Can't go wrong with Pelican for sure.

 

When your government creates money at the rate ours does, cost of manufacturing goes up, prices go up. This fiat creation also provides upper middle class people with excessive amounts of disposable income. Name brands become just as much about status symbols as they are about functionality. Retailers benefit. It’s human nature generally speaking, and we all engage in it at some price level.

 

A Breitling (sp?) transponder model wrist watch.

In Hades situations, there's no real guarantee authorities will keep circuits open and there's definitely SAR teams won't be showing up.

 

Dyson vacuums
Apple anything
Anything you order online from a subscription service, chewy, meal kits, shaving, acne products, etc. that they ship regularly to you.
those speakers that used to be popular 901's or something. Bose?
anything in a mall.
pretty much anything people will buy for status.
agree with yeti, a lot of crap at Cabella's is way overpriced.
North Face anything.
Harley Davidson anything.

 

actually on those coolers, I saw a YT video comparison of all the roto-molded brands of high end coolers. some did stay cold longer than others, and all stayed colder longer than a standard cooler.
but $500 buys a lot of ice...I suppose if you were doing a month long safari in the wild, it may be worth it.

for the average weekender, it would not pay for it self in a number of years according to the review.

 

This had always been true... A way for people with money to prove they have money.

Any of you old enough to remember "members only" jackets? My step dad bought ones for $50, or something. Seemed like a rip off to me.

$50 40 years ago was a lot

 

This had always been true... A way for people with money to prove they have money.

I don't know if that's true, it is a status symbol but I wonder if it's also people without money wanting to look like they have money.

I'll never forgot I was renting out a modest home and a guy looked at it he liked but but said it was too expensive I looked out the window and the car he was driving cost more than my home....

 

I have a Yeti travel mug, it was a gift for being in a cousins wedding, and it is no better than my $10 OzarkTrail mug from WalMart. I use the free earbuds that came with my iPhone, and they work just fine. I don’t care about wireless.
I did buy a Cabelas Polarcap cooler, but used $225 worth of Cabelas bucks to do so. It is super heavy, but really does keep ice for a week.

 

We have 4 OzarkTrail 22 OZ travel mugs. I got them 2 1/2 years ago for $7 each. Well worth the money. I gave up hand washing them at about a year. The finish is flaking a bit, but that just means that no one is going to grab them thinking it's 'lost'. We have a couple of the old metal Coleman coolers and they do a decent enough job for camping that I've never thought of replacing them.

 

This is all you need to know

 

This is all you need to know

LOL I love it.

 

Was at the gun show yesterday and someone was remarking at how expensive everything is getting. I replied with my stock answer-"things are not getting more expensive, you are seeing how little value American currency has"

 

You're not old enough on that metal Igloo water can if you got ice at the 7-11. I remember Dad stopping g off at the local ice house (yes, they used to be a thing) and they chipped off a chunk of a glacier that would keep all day in there.

 

When I was a kid we used to stop by where they iced down the railroad cars in the summer to ship fresh veggies and fruit. There would always be chunks of ice that spilled over and we would take them home to make hand cranked ice cream

 

Starbucks Frappuccino…..$5.95

 

I have a set of snap on combination wrenches that have made me money for the past 40 years. The replacement cost for one wrench is more than a set of wrenches from harbor freight. They make me money and the tool truck shows up once a week if I have any issues with my tools.
How about a textile motorcycle jacket that costs over 1000$. Not for everyone but for those who know and use them where they are designed to be used the cost doesn't matter.

 

I have a set of snap on combination wrenches that have made me money for the past 40 years. The replacement cost for one wrench is more than a set of wrenches from harbor freight. They make me money and the tool truck shows up once a week if I have any issues with my tools.
How about a textile motorcycle jacket that costs over 1000$. Not for everyone but for those who know and use them where they are designed to be used the cost doesn't matter.

LOL Bill.

The USN aviators were told about phaseout of old / traditional leather flight jacket and replacement by a nylon one.

Only time worked.

That leather flight jacket was precious to the "Brown Show Navy".

Some years ago, I went to a friend's change of command ceremony when retiring from a missile platform sub ("SSBN"). I told him was also present to see his sub's helicopter. His Executive Officer was wearing a fleece collar brown leather flight jacket.

 

Ya , i think all this sucks.
My kids have I phones and ear buds they hold up much better then the cheep ones and work with the I phone better I have A iPad iPhone allso the phones cost 20 bucks a month and get replace often they are cover by Insurance ?I have 9 phones I think but we have a good plan
it costs 350 bucks for every one 🤷‍♂️ It 2021 every one has a phone .
We are eating less , lots of chicken ☹ I had chili dogs for my birth day dinner instead of eating lobster .
I’m not scared to spend some coin but I have to get value for my money 💰.
I have not seen a 20$ cooler in a long time I have 2 Colman’s that are 6 years old and hold ice for days but they where 59bucks each .
We are just going with out now

 

About 6 years ago I was in the market for a better cooler for off roading. I bought an Ozark Trails cooler 52 qt from Wallyworld after doing some research. Those coolers performed just as well if not better than the really high priced coolers like Yeti. After using it a lot I have had zero issues with it and the quality is definitely there. As long as you pre-cool everything it easily holds ice for four days in the summer heat. I keep it in the shade as best I can or covered in the back of the jeep as you should. I just looked and the cooler I bought years ago is now selling for about $150. think I paid somewhere around $80 so there is a significant price jump there.

On the other hand at an off road event my wife won a Yeti 45 hard sided cooler. It retails for $299 so if I were to purchase it myself it would be roughly $150 more. While it is very well made and holds the ice as claimed I just don't see the difference between the two brands other than the price tag. In reality I prefer bringing the Ozark Trail cooler as it is a bit larger than the Yeti.

Both of these coolers should last a good 15-20 years as long as they are not damaged beyond something out of my control. Much like others on this forum have chimed in I don't mind spending good money on quality. What I don't do is buy something because of it's name brand that isn't necessarily better than a less expensive same item.

 

I believe much of it comes down to tribalism. People need to feel accepted and like they belong.
I can be cheap sometimes I know but I often buy based on the value of what I am buying. Like another thread on best jeans/pants. Personally carhartt stuff is great but no better than the D!ckies brand I buy (my opinion). Why spend twice the money for the same quality? Sometimes I will factor in American made and such.

 

I buy Wrangler relaxed fit jeans, I used to buy Lees, but my husband hates the fit of Wranglers.

He wears Levis... and I don't like the fit, likely because I'm not skinny!

We wear what we like how it fits and looks.

I believe much of it comes down to tribalism. People need to feel accepted and like they belong.
I can be cheap sometimes I know but I often buy based on the value of what I am buying. Like another thread on best jeans/pants. Personally carhartt stuff is great but no better than the D!ckies brand I buy (my opinion). Why spend twice the money for the same quality? Sometimes I will factor in American made and such.

 

I like The North Face, but I think it's way over priced. I have found that the Columbia counterparts are just as good for half the price. Someone mentioned Cabelas. I used to really like their clothing and gear. They are pretty expensive, but I would wait until what I wanted was on sale. However, now that they have merged with Bass Pro Shops I dont care for them as much. I have a Cabelas brand Jacket I bought on sale a few years ago that is so warm that I cant wear it unless its below 20 degrees. I doubt they make it anymore now that they sell Red Head clothing instead.

 

Some times you will get your moneys worth buying premium brands and sometimes you won,t. One has to carefully determine just what their needs will be and carefully examine the product. I regret getting a cheap utility trailer instead of a name brand like Haulmark or Wellsfargo. For another $1000 I could have had a plank floor instead of plywood and a one piece aluminum roof instead of multi panels that need to be maintained with roof coating. But the cheaper trailer would be perfectly suitable for some peoples needs.

 

Yes, for a LOT of things, you are definitely "paying for the name". However, there are quite a few of the higher-end items that are lower in price because they DON'T have "the name". Yes, I DID spend $350 for a 110-qt cooler (brand name "Valley", but it was 200 less than the same-sized Yeti, and has pretty much the same features (Same type of construction, "bear proof" - or rather, bear RESISTANT, etc.). Also $150 each for 3 of the Igloo coolers (75 qt., I think) with the same type of construction. And they DO hold ice for over a week.

Why would I need 4 such coolers, you might ask? Well, when you're bringing back the meat from the cattle and hog you had butchered from the processor 90 miles away in the full heat of the Arizona high desert in the open back of the pickup, that's why. Also for keeping everything cold while defrosting the 25cu foot freezer without having things start to thaw on you, or for when the compressor on one of the freezers conks out and you have to wait until the repair guy can fit you into his schedule, that's why. Not to mention for taking out on the boat or out to hunt or camp and keep your catch and/or food cold while you're out for a week or more.

So, paying more for QUALITY, I can handle. Paying for a NAME, not so much.

 

It's staggering what people blow massive amounts of money on, when a nearly free or very inexpensive alternative is widely available. For instance, if you go into any electronics store, a new big flatscreen TV is many hundreds of dollars, and even get into the thousands of dollars for a really big TV. I just bought a 42" lightly used 10 year old Plasma flat screen for $45 used, with remote. It works perfectly. That's 1/10th of the price of a similar new model.

 

$20 Coleman coolers suck- at that price there is no insulation, only an airspace. If you want a fair comparison, compare to a Coleman or igloo marine coolers, which while somewhat less durable, are in the same ballpark. Then ask your self if the yeti is worth 150% more.

I’ve got a $20 cooler in the truck right now- it’s good for keep $10 worth of drinks cold for the day, as long as you don’t let it dump over. I’ve got employees who ship a yeti as checked baggage, 60-80 flight a year. In service they seem to hold up as well as an IATA 100 cycle transport case. That’s one of the few examples where they do show their value ( plus they are bear proof). The other is boating- not quite as rough on the cooler, but people want ice to keep for 5-6 days.

Walmart has an imported version of a yeti, but you are still talking about a $100 cooler ~48 qt cooler. I’d buy it, just because I hate disposable manufactured goods.

 

Imagine if Apple made a cooler and Yeti made a watch... Those would be expensive.

 

Don't give them ideas.

 

A plasma tv is a bad example. I'd much rather spend a little more for a lcd, because it costs less to use (Very few plasma screens use less than 250 watts, my 47 inch, 11 year old lcd uses about 100 watts). So, in your example, let's say you bought a 10 year old lcd for $75, and then it works.

 

Uses more energy? The numbers are available and this particular TV bought at 1/10th retail price, uses I think about $11 of energy per year... that's not even 3 pennies per day. Probably actually about 1/2 of a penny per day considering it's barely being used, but that's beside the point. $11 per year of energy, would require 90 years of use to amount to the retail cost of that TV alone. And the TV would have long died off before it could generate that amount of expense.

 

Was given a Yeti due to the fact it was "bear proof". Not a big problem with bears swimming out to the jetties. lol I can see where having a cooler that is bear proof would be an advantage in some areas though.

 

I can see where having a cooler that is bear proof would be an advantage in some areas though.

It can make the difference between keeping your food, drinks and ice or walking back to your camp to see a very large yard sale.

 

Years ago I worked home health care and got sent to a very exclusive area in the hills above Scottsdale Arizona. One of the other staff stopped by on his day off. He was one of those people who has to have "latest brand" everything; watch, shirt, shoes, bag etc. The lady whose father I was taking care of leaned over after the other staff left and said "It's shameful that companies pay people to wear advertisements. Does he need some extra shifts?" She was dead serious; she saw cars with advertising wrap and assumed it was the same type of thing. Everything she owned was carefully chosen for its quality or because she liked it, nothing had a name brand on it. Her clothes and shoes were made to her exact measurements; she never worried about someone wearing the exact same dress because even if the designer reused a fabric they would make changes in the style to best fit the next customer. The guy with the brand names was telling me later how I should get some better shoes because rich people don't respect anyone who wears inferior brands. I just nodded and walked away in my $30 sneakers advertising the New Balance company, then fell out laughing in the shrubbery. Every time I get clothing with a brand name on it now, I think of those cars advertising Monster energy drinks or Three Musketeers bars. Maybe companies should give everyone an advertising fee.

 

My cheap Coleman cooler has always had ice left at the end of the day. If I needed more I think I would just insulate a box to drop it in.

 

While you are right that they work great for a day or two. I think when you get into the four or five day trips is when the difference comes to play. The older Coleman's that were steel sided seemed to work well. The newer ones hold ice for maybe two days and that's about it.