YETI Tundra 65 Assessment | CleverHiker

Backside Line

If you wish to get off the grid for longer than only a weekend, the YETI Tundra 65 is the best cooler that not solely gives sufficient house for all of your necessities but additionally affords top-tier insulation to maintain every part chilly for over every week. 

We put the YETI to the take a look at in varied settings throughout California’s Jap Sierra. From drop checks on trails within the Sierra Nevada foothills to full days within the solar alongside the Owens River, we gained firsthand expertise with the sturdiness and wonderful temperature management supplied by the Tundra. 

The rotomolded design of the cooler improves its sturdiness and permits it to maintain ice for 9 days. The sturdy building of the Tundra is designed to deal with the hardest use. When paired with an appropriate padlock, it’s the one cooler we examined that’s licensed bear resistant by the IGBC – Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.  

Sheer measurement and weight make the Tundra much less moveable, however it’s constructed with longevity in thoughts. Its use of high-quality supplies permits it to endure the hardest situations and roughest utilization. The Tundra comes with a better price ticket, however its lasting sturdiness and wonderful insulation make it a cooler completely fitted to prolonged journey and outside adventures. See the way it stacks up in opposition to our different favorites in our full information to the perfect coolers.

How We Examined

CleverHiker has examined coolers for years. We evaluated many in California’s Jap Sierra, the place spring sunshine and heat climate offered superb situations to find out how nicely the coolers hold ice and preserve temperature. We tracked ice soften, monitored inner temps, and used the coolers throughout terrains—from deserts to riversides—to evaluate sturdiness, portability, and usefulness.

Insulation

The YETI model has turn out to be synonymous with top-tier insulation, and the Tundra stays on pattern. Utilizing rotomolded building, it options two inches of insulation and a freezer-style gasket across the lid, all designed to entice within the chilly as successfully as attainable. 

To check the cooler, we crammed it with ice, meals, and drinks and monitored how lengthy it took for the ice to soften, together with measuring the inner temperature of the cooler. General, the ice fully melted after 9 days, and it took 11 and 13 days to achieve 40 and 50 levels Fahrenheit, respectively. 

The Tundra proves to be a powerhouse at preserving issues chilly. Its capacity to keep up temperature management for over every week makes it an excellent possibility for chilly storage throughout longer journeys, particularly when your travels take you off the crushed path and much from handy ice refills.

Sturdiness

As a rotomolded cooler, the Tundra is made as a single piece, constructed with out seams. This building technique removes elements that would crack or weaken over time and helps make sure the cooler’s general energy and sturdiness. 

The Tundra makes use of high-quality supplies in its design, together with UV-resistant polyethylene for the cooler’s physique and polyester rope for the handles. We dragged and dropped the Tundra over totally different terrains, from concrete to rocky trails, and it remained fully unscathed. Importantly, it’s the one cooler we examined that’s licensed bear resistant by the IGBC (Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee), a real signal of the Tundra’s sturdiness. 

The cooler additionally contains a hinge system constructed with two hinge pins and an interlocking design to stop breakage. From hinges to manufacturing, every a part of the Tundra is chosen and crafted to endure the hardest use and most rugged situations, making it an ideal alternative for journeys into wild environments.

Quantity

YETI advertises the Tundra as 65 quarts, however its thick insulation reduces its inside house and capability, making it nearer to a 56-quart quantity. Nonetheless, the Tundra can maintain as much as 77 cans and is greater than able to storing a big provide of meals and drinks. 

As a higher-volume cooler, the Tundra is massive sufficient to fulfill the wants of a gaggle or to help a multi-day journey. We experimented with filling the Tundra with totally different combos of things, and its lengthy rectangular form made it straightforward to suit every part we thought we’d want for a number of days. 

With the Tundra, high-quality insulation reduces true-to-name capability, however the cooler nonetheless gives sufficient house to be helpful at massive gatherings. Coupled with its enhanced insulating capacity, the Tundra is particularly good for longer journeys, with sufficient room to maintain you happy for a number of days.

Ergonomics & Portability

In designing a cooler sturdy sufficient to outlive a grizzly bear, the Tundra finally ends up being on the bulkier aspect. As one of many heaviest coolers we examined, we discovered the totally loaded cooler tough to hold alone. Having a second particular person’s assist made it a lot simpler to handle. 

The longer size of the cooler additionally makes it considerably tough for a single particular person to hold. Nevertheless, polyester rope handles on the cooler’s sides provide a extra handy carrying possibility, and the plastic hand grips hooked up to the woven handles add further consolation. 

We appreciated a number of small design particulars of the Tundra, together with non-slip toes on the underside of the cooler to stop sliding and the sloping drainage that effectively directs water out. Though we wished the drain plug had an attachment chain, these design options contributed to its general ease of use. 

Finally, the Tundra prioritizes sturdiness over portability, and its form and weight make it a cooler greatest fitted to shorter walks. Nevertheless, options of the cooler’s design make utilizing the Tundra easy and environment friendly.

Options

Apart from wonderful insulation, YETI is thought for the customization of their merchandise. The Tundra is available in a wide range of colours, each shiny and impartial. It additionally affords a variety of sizes: 35, 45, 65, 75, 105, 110, 125, 160, 210, 250, and 350 quarts. 

YETI consists of an inside basket with the Tundra, which inserts into the highest of the cooler physique as a handy storage and group possibility. It additionally affords a wide range of equipment appropriate with the Tundra, together with dividers, bear-proof locks, a tie-down package, and a seat cushion. For these touring with their cooler, there are tie-down slots constructed into the Tundra for mounting it to a truck mattress, trailer, or boat.

Ought to You Purchase the YETI Tundra 65?

With unmatched sturdiness and among the greatest insulation available on the market, the YETI Tundra 65 combines high quality supplies with high-performance temperature management. It affords sufficient storage to fulfill the wants of a gaggle or to hold provides on your subsequent large tenting journey. Should you want a cooler that may hold contents chilly for over every week, the Tundra is a dependable alternative. 

Portability is unquestionably compromised by the Tundra’s design. Its weight is less complicated to deal with with a pal’s assist and isn’t superb for hikes to your vacation spot. It additionally comes at a excessive value, however the Tundra is actually robust sufficient to resist bears, and its lasting sturdiness means you received’t want to purchase one other cooler for a few years.

It’s a cooler robust sufficient on your most intense adventures and constructed for the roughest outside use.

What Different Coolers Ought to You Think about?

For a full checklist of suggestions, try our information to the perfect coolers. 

XSpec 60 QT Assessment:  Though barely much less in quantity, the XSpec 60QT is a large-capacity cooler with sufficient house for multi-day highway journeys or massive gatherings. Its rotomolded insulation retains contents chilly for as much as every week and a half. The XSpec isn’t IGBC licensed, nevertheless it boasts rugged building and a sturdy design constructed to resist robust outside situations. Moreover, the decrease price of the XSpec makes it a extra reasonably priced various to the Tundra. 

YETI Roadie 48 Assessment: One other high-performance possibility from YETI, the Roadie 48 is among the high coolers available on the market. Heavy-duty and puncture-resistant wheels present this cooler with distinctive portability and make it straightforward to hold a completely loaded cooler over longer distances. Though smaller in quantity than the Tundra, the Roadie affords ample storage and delivers related temperature management.  

Coleman 316 Sequence 70 QT Assessment: Whether or not you’re gearing up on your subsequent large gathering or simply have to hold a whole lot of gadgets chilly, the big capability of the Coleman 316 is able to meet your wants. Capable of maintain over 100 cans, the Coleman was the very best quantity cooler we examined. Although it’s not fancy, it’s a light-weight possibility that reliably retains ice for as much as every week—all at a fraction of the load and price of different coolers. Finest fitted to informal outings, the Coleman is ideal whenever you want as a lot cooler house as attainable..