Yeti Coolers Better Than Coleman Ultra Extreme?

http://www.yeticoolers.com/pages/Keep-Ice-Longer.html

Did a search here and found nothing but I'm curious if anyone has ever made a MLT out of a Yeti Cooler. The fact that the lid seals with a gasket is smart. I've been meaning to make a 10 gallon MLT for a while now and was always planning on going with a Coleman Ultra Extreme but these might prove interesting...

Curious to see if anyone has one and can attest to its thermal performance.

EDIT: Apparently Coleman has renamed the ultra extreme line to Extreme 6 (for 6 days of ice). Also found this video which shows near parity between the coleman and a yeti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-TE4RnqT0U

No, but my brother has one for camping and such. It is a nice piece of kit. For the $$$ though, I'd build my own from hdpe tanks with 4'' of polycy foam in between. Would be able to make a superior bulkhead if done from scratch. I don't think the lid seal makes too much difference.

I have a yeti cooler that I use as a cooler and its the best cooler I have ever had. Seems to be nicely insulated. Never mashed in a cooler though.

I have two of them, a 70 qt and a 105 qt. plus a 50 qt Icey-tek (now out of business). These Are very nice, however in my experience for your application you will see no difference. My mash tun is the cooler that I replaced with the 70 qt, a 70 qt igloo marine with a braid in it.

Until you start trying to hold ice for multiple days the cost is hard to justify. Also the plug design on a yeti would dictate some cutting take place. Personally I'm not drilling a $200+ cooler. it will take a couple of batches to figure out your systems " mash in temp drop" but other than that any decent cooler will hold temp fine to mash in.

The only other argument for a yeti is for durability and security. Both of mine get used for football tailgating 8 or 9 games a year since they can be lockable, and get beat to death on the boat year round. Mashing in your garage just isn't going to stress the cooler to this degree.

yetis are way too sexy to turn into a mash tun. it would be like turning a frigid rigid into one. The are heavy duty fish coolers meant to hold ice for long periods.

Maybe I'm not getting it, but why would you need such an expensive cooler for mashing?

I use a Coleman Extreme 5-day, and I don't lose more than a single degree F over a 90 minute mash once temps are stabilized. Plus the Yeti and all other coolers don't have that convenient drain channel that the Colemans have AFAIK. I also don't see the advantage to an airtight lid - regular cooler lids have been doing just fine for a while now.

Even if you made it work, what's the gain? A Coleman Extreme is less than $40 for a 70-quart. If the Yeti is $200, I'd need to justify it before dedicating one to MLT duty.

Most folks use regular coolers for MLTs and note that they only drop a degree an hour; that has been my experience as well. Unless you're really into overbuilding you don't need a Yeti cooler, just a good one.

YETI has a drain plus hose attachment http://store.yeticoolers.com/drain-plug-hose-connection-tundra-roadie/

So you might not have to alter the cooler at all.