5 Gallon Igloo Cooler Mash Tun with False Bottom

http://www.homebrewing.org/5-Gallon-Converted-Igloo-Cooler-Mash-Tun-with-False-Bottom-_p_1005.html

Seems like a good deal, especially with the SS domed false bottom, but am I better off with a 36 Quart Xtreme Cooler and building my own manifold out of CPVC?

Pros and cons of each type, please, if you can.

I recommend a 10gal setup...I love mine. It's the same exact thing but a 10g igloo.

Cylindrical cooler with false bottom - Great for fly sparging, not necessary for batch sparging.

20 qt cooler vs 36 qt. The 20 qt will limit the size and gravity of what you can brew more than the 36 qt.

36 qt with manifold. Great for batch sparging, should be much cheaper, and extra capacity.

-a.

I bought and converted a 5 gallon cooler ($20 from Walmart) and a 10 gallon cooler ($39 from Home Depot). I converted them with all the parts in FlyGuy's thread to use a stainless braid manifold for batch sparging. ($22 apiece for parts IIRC) One thing I swapped out was I got the 1" x 18" water heater hose braid instead of the sink braid as I had a bunch of stuck sparges with the smaller diameter braid.

In all honesty I use my 5-gallon more often than my 10-gallon, but I'm definitely glad I have a 10-gallon. I use the 10 for higher-gravity brews (1.075+) and now that I have a couple keggles I think I'll be using it for 10 gallon batches of my normal brews.

All in all, if you plan on fly sparging, it's probably a decent deal. I don't know what a stainless false bottom goes for, but I would imagine this would be a quality product that was well put together. If you were only planning to batch sparge though, you could save $40 getting a 5-gallon from Walmart and using a braid manifold (or save $20 by using a 10-gallon Home Depot cooler and a braid)

I bought the 10 gallon version from them (they are my LHBS) and couldn't be happier as I fly sparge with this:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/default/stainless-sparger-large.html

I would get the 10 gal version if you plan on making 5 gal batches with large grain bills.