If you’re looking for a midsized cooler that would be suitable for a weekend family camping trip or for holding a few more beers than you might ever need, then you will probably come across the Yeti Tundra 65.
As Yeti coolers have a strong reputation of being some of the best out there, we wanted to do an in-depth Yeti Tundra 65 review. In this article, that’s what we have done. We look at the Yeti Tundra 65 in detail to see if it is really worth its intimidating price tag.
Yeti Tundra 65 Review
The Yeti Tundra 65 is a tough, durable, and pretty versatile cooler. It’s equally at home by the water keeping your freshly caught fish fresh, but it can also fit in perfectly at family barbecues or camping trips.
The rotomolded construction makes this Yeti cooler virtually indestructible and its ice retention properties are exceptional too. Up to three inches of permafrost insulation maintains the perfect temperature inside your cooler to make sure everything stays fresh for as long as you need it to.
Yeti also includes a dry food basket with the Tundra cooler so you can keep the food you want to keep dry away from the ice and your cold drinks.
- The interlock lid system seals the cooler completely so warm air can’t get in and cold air can’t get out
- Non-slip feet mean the Yeti Tundra 65 is comfortable on a boat as it won’t slide around on wet surfaces
- Tough enough to sit and stand on, this bear-resistant cooler will last a very long time
More Detail on the Yeti Tundra 65
Yeti Coolers Sizing
The Yeti Tundra 65 is one of Yeti’s midsized coolers. There are definitely bigger coolers available from the brand but there are smaller ones too. The Tundra range goes all the way from the Tundra 35 up to the Tundra 160 so there is a big difference in the sizes available.
The Tundra 65 is what most would consider an average-sized cooler. It’s the type you would probably take on a fishing trip with a buddy or you would use at a family barbecue where you need enough cold drinks for the whole family.
To give you an idea of the capacity, the Yeti Tundra 65 can hold up to 52 pounds of ice with nothing else inside, or up to 42 cans of beer using a 2:1 ice to can ratio.
Tundra Cooler Insulation
The biggest selling point of the Yeti Tundra 65 is its impressive insulating properties. It can quite easily keep your drinks cold (or anything else you have inside) for close to a week! This is thanks to the FatWall design that allows up to three inches of permafrost insulation to be added to the walls and lid of the cooler.
A freezer quality gasket under the lid does a fantastic job of completely sealing the Yeti Tundra. This makes sure that no cold air can escape which maintains ice-cold conditions inside, so your personal cooler can keep your food and beer cold no matter what the temperature is outside.
While Yeti doesn’t actually state how long the Tundra 65 can hold ice for (it depends a lot on how you prepare your cooler – pre-cool, etc) but many Tundra owners say that ice retention goes into several days and over a week in some cases!
There are certainly other coolers out there that can hold ice for a long time too, but this tough ice chest from Yeti has to be considered one of the best.
Durability
Yeti is known for making some truly high-quality and exceptionally tough coolers and the Yeti Tundra 65 is no exception to this. The rotomolded construction makes it pretty much indestructible so it can take a beating and handle even the toughest outdoor adventures.
One very cool thing about the Tundra is that it is Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) certified bear-resistant. With the appropriate Master Lock padlocks used in the built-in slots, the contents of your cooler will be safe and protected from bears.
Even the hinges and the t-latches are made to be virtually indestructible so this is one very tough and durable cooler.
Portability
The Tundra 65 weighs almost 30 pounds when it’s empty and it doesn’t have any wheels so portability isn’t necessarily one of its strong suits. That being said, Yeti has thought about adding some elements of portability to this ice chest.
If you are moving it with a buddy, then the military-grade polyester rope handles are ideal as you can both take a firm grip on each handle and fairly comfortably move the Tundra wherever you need it to go.
Moving it alone can be done using the LipGrip handles that are built into the sides of the cooler.
The Yeti Tundra might not be the lightest cooler out there but it still manages to be portable enough to maintain good levels of practicality and convenience.
Features
Despite looking like a basic and simply designed cooler, the Yeti Tundra actually has quite a lot of features that you might not expect. There are tie-down slots that can be used to secure your cooler to your truck bed or to your boat, it can handle dry ice with no problems, and it can be washed using a pressure washer for ease so there’s no need to worry about getting your cooler wet.
The drain plug allows you to drain any water from inside the cooler too which is a handy feature to keep the inside as dry and as cold as possible (which will keep your food cold too!)
Yeti Cooler Value
At $375, you can’t say that the Yeti Tundra is particularly budget-friendly. That being said, it is made to exceptionally high standards and its ability to keep things cold for a very long time does somewhat justify the high price.
If you have a budget that allows for the cost, the Yeti Tundra is probably one of the best coolers out there.
Conclusion
If our Yeti Tundra 65 review has highlighted anything, it’s that the Yeti Tundra is an impressive cooler that does a great job of keeping your food and drink cold and fresh. While you can get other lower-grade coolers for less money, they will struggle to perform to the levels of the Tundra 65.
The Yeti Tundra 65 – a bear-resistant, ice-cold, tough cooler that any outdoor enthusiast would love.
