Canyon Coolers

Paddling gear and boat review
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dwilson
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Canyon Coolers

Post by dwilson » Sat Sep 22, 2012 8:06 am

We bought a new 58 quart Canyon Cooler last spring. After some time the lid curled up on the end a little bit. Wasn't much but enough a good seal was not possible. I contacted the company and they had me try a couple of fixes but they didn't seem to get the lid pulled back down. A couple of weeks went by and a brand new cooler was on the front porch. We didn't even have to send the old one back and the new one is a 60 quart. What a deal. This company cares about the performance of the product. Jason is the man!

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Deuce
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Re: Canyon Coolers

Post by Deuce » Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:22 pm

I'm glad to hear that and glad you posted it here. Independent companies depend so heavily on word of mouth, and too many customers only speak up when something's wrong. Thanks for giving a shout out for the Canyon guys. Looks like they're making a go of it.
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Lemme Hucknboof
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Re: Canyon Coolers

Post by Lemme Hucknboof » Mon Oct 01, 2012 5:38 pm

I have put my canyon cooler right beside my buddies yeti all weekend long just to see who got the better deal! I think I won considering all the $$$ still in my pocket. Glad to hear they stand behind their product.
Levi
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Re: Canyon Coolers

Post by arfish » Fri Feb 15, 2013 1:15 pm

Lemme Hucknboof wrote:I have put my canyon cooler right beside my buddies yeti all weekend long just to see who got the better deal! I think I won considering all the $$$ still in my pocket. Glad to hear they stand behind their product.
Levi
If money wasn't a factor, is the Yeti better? I'm probably going to get a premium cooler this year, and would spend extra if it makes a difference. I don't want to wish I got a Yeti three years down the road.
I'm looking at getting a 50 qt cooler, that size makes sense for my solo canoe, and the Yeti 50 weighs 25 lbs and the Canyon Cube 50 weighs 18 lbs. Any thoughts on the difference in weight?

Also do you order directly from Canyon?

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Deuce
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Re: Canyon Coolers

Post by Deuce » Fri Feb 15, 2013 2:54 pm

Looks like that size Yeti has a little more insulation. Canyon says 1.5" to 2". Yeti says 2". That's about the only significant difference I can see other than 150 bucks :wht: . So, to answer your most immediate question I don't think you'd later wish you had ponied up for the Yeti. There are two other potential differences worth noting, though. The Yeti comes with a dry goods rack which I find very handy on my 120 (but that's a 120) and a draining system that allows it to drain to near empty without having to completely remove the plug or tilt the cooler (but again, a 120). The Canyon might also be thusly equipped, but they don't say so. In any case I think for your application the Canyon will do the trick. FWIW my only gripe with the Yeti is the rubber latches, which it appears Canyon has started using as well. I've already gone through one and another is tearing a little each trip. They take care of it, but it is annoying. If you go with the Canyon you'll have to get it from them, at least that's how it was a year and a half ago. I found that there were retailers but none around Arkansas. Good luck.
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okieboater
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Re: Canyon Coolers

Post by okieboater » Fri Feb 15, 2013 3:59 pm

Well for the record for a while there when I was rafting big time, I had a thing for good coolers. I went thru several of them including the igloo, Coleman marine and several hi dollar ones including the short lived Galaxy brand. For the record if a person adds extra closed cell foam on top for sure and a inside floating top of closed cell foam and uses real ice (not the pressed blocks you buy from most places) and keeps the blazing sun off the cooler with a tarp or wet beach towel, even the el cheapo coolers keep ice a long time. I put at least an inch of closed cell foam on the lid of all my coolers reguardless of brand and use a inside floating lid of closed cell foam. On the yeti and engle brands pretty easy to have ice last for a 7 day San Juan float which includes usually a rig day or maybe two from the grocery store.

Real ice may be the biggest difference. I know on one Deso Gray trip we got ice direct from the outfitter in his shop (he made his own ice). I had the yeti I think on the big cat and put maybe 3 cubes of ice in that bad boy. Hot trip. I did my meals fairly early and used the cooler for beer (mine and others who needed to cool down beer) so we were into the cooler all the time. Had icey cold beer till the last day when I tossed out ice at the take out. There is a difference in ice for sure.

For the record I do not know if the hi dollar coolers are worth the difference (money wise) from the cheap colemans and igloo's (igloo went down in quality in my opinion when they got bought out). I will say I used the dickens out of that yeti, I know the current owner and that box is all scuffed up but still keeping ice like a champ. Yeti builds for long life and that is one reason to pay the extra bucks. Bottom line my opinion if your trip is a one or two time thing, but the cheap units but if you have a lifetime of rafting to enjoy - bite the bullet and buy the Yeti or maybe Engel just depends on the deal you can find.

Had a Yeti, sold it with a raft. Have a Canyon and Engel now.

Of the three I would say Yeti the best, Engel a decent second and Canyon easily third. I got a Canyon when they first came out and the unit they sent me did not have insulation. I wondered why ice melted big time and only noticed it when I was cleaning it after the trip and could see the outline of my hand on outside of the box as I washed down the inside. I got in touch with them and to their credit they did replace the cooler with another one that I think was a demo as they did not have the one I originally purchased in stock. Another thing, on the Yeti, I lost the drain plug at derig time on Yampa, my fault. Emailed the factory with a photo of the box. Email back that the model I had was not being made. Couple days later I got two drain plugs via UPS and a note from the shop guy. Said he looked around the shop and found these old drain plugs and here they are. This guy went the extra mile and that means a lot to me.

If I was buying a cooler today it would be a Yeti for sure. If a Yeti would not fit it would be a Engel altho it is really hard to find a discount on Engels I did get mine at Macks Prarie Wings on sale at a good price.

That 160 qt Galaxy went on my big cat on a 21 day GC trip. It was iced down in Salt Lake City, taped shut, and was opened up for meals about half way down maybe more. Ice did not make it all the way down but was close. Don't think Galaxy's are made anymore but rumor at one time was Canyons bought out Galaxy - I don't know, I hear most of the hi dollar coolers are made off shore and don't know if that is true or not.
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Re: Canyon Coolers

Post by arfish » Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:51 pm

Thanks for the feedback. I emailed Canyon directly, and got a very quick and honest answer to my questions. Yeti uses a BASF foam insulation, whereas Canyon uses a product made by Huntsman in Alabama. Canyon also admits that Yetis often have a better fit an finish and have recessed hinges, but remains confident that the Canyon will still perform very very well and last a long long time. He offers free shipping too. Engels look nice too, but can't find a good size for my canoe.
So essentially I can get a Yeti from ACK for around 306 shipped, or a Canyon for 199 shipped. I'll have to think it over for a bit.

I have done ok with my Igloo cube by pre cooling the cooler, using store bought ice block, keeping a wet towel over it, and using bubble wrap + thermarest seat cushion on the top layer.

Quick question about ice, is freezing my own blocks better, worse, or the same as buying the block ice you get at the grocery?

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Deuce
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Re: Canyon Coolers

Post by Deuce » Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:19 pm

IMO if you're in and out of the cooler all the time you probably won't notice that much difference between a high dollar box and what you have now. That said, I've always had good results with block ice from home, but I've never bought any so I have no point of comparison. The fewer air bubbles the better, so if you have the patience to add a little water every couple of days (I don't :hammer2:) you'll come out ahead. One really nice thing about these coolers is the option of putting dry ice right on the plastic. If you're planning a long trip that can be a game changer.
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okieboater
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Re: Canyon Coolers

Post by okieboater » Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:24 pm

If you have a chest freezer set to zero or so, make your own. I have a little freezer setting in the garage that is pretty old but still works. I only paid a few hundred bucks for it. My favorite ice form is tupperwear loaf bread containers. Many of the grocery stores are now selling pressed blocks of ice which don't last as long as the real deal. Check local ice plants they may have the real deal for you.

I also keep a few gallon milk jugs frozen with clean water inside. Will stick a couple or so of the jugs in a big cooler and fill in the voids with grocery store crushed ice. Then drink the water in the milk jugs, after it has lost it's cooling power on long trips.

Looks like you are using the good tricks for longer ice retention.
which I found worked pretty good for short trips.

It is on those 7 to 10 day trips where you want to have cool beers at take out that the hi dollar Yeti's are worth the extra money. Or at least that has been my experience.
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