i got a techni ice one off the net and it is the bomb keeps ice for ages and there sterdy enough to use as a seat when times are tough

I have a tropical ice box 105L.

Bought it in 2003 in Darwin. Has served me very well. Throw in 3 cartons of piss and top it with ice. Left it for 6 days in my back yard in the sun last summer after a party. Went to see if it was still cold. Still had plenty of ice and beer was cold as(though there werent many beers left!). Mind you it hadn't been opened and closed the whole time it was sitting out in the sun.

Great box perfect height to use as a 'bench' seat in the boat and tinnie. Perfect length for your long species of fish too. Very strong to i have dropped it fully loaded with ice and fish off the side of the boat onto the driveway. It just bouced. No dints, just scuffing.

Also like how the hinge isnt tiny metal ones riveted like alot of others. It is one continuous thick rod along the back with the esky shaped that you cannont open the lid to far that it breaks the hinge. Happened to me with an old evakool was leaning over with lid open and hand on lid, wave rocked boat, pushed the lid further than it was meant to and broke the hinge.

Also like how it has elastic straps to close the lid. Dont like the look of the metal latches, alot when they are opened stick out. Great for running your shin along! Ouch :S

Also thought, hey if boat was to sink and had to cling to something to float a nice big orange float would catch anyones attention! hahaha. Touch wood though.

Most of your poly eskies nowaday seem to be constructed the same and have the same insulation properties. Seem the main differnece are in the cosmetics of them.

Wouldn't go fibreglass personelly. Have buggered two evakools in the past by dropping one(from not very high) and one banging around in the boat in rough seas.

Hope this helps.

Size is the main objective too big and you will be spending an arm and a leg on ice. But depends if your camping or day tripping with it if you are using it for camping the more expensive ones will hold ice longer hope this helps.

i got a couple of these bad boys and am stoked.
strong as hell and really good insulation. nothing metal to break (except for the metal latches buyt they are backed up by teh elastic - rip em off if you want, but a good option anyways.
yeh, these are gold, and teh ice sheets that come with them are mint. very reasonable too.

I have had an 85 litre evakool for close to 10 years now.  It has served me well but I think the poly eskies are probably a bit more robust.

Wow!
Just had a look at those Techni iceboxs online, they look the goods. And good price too. Might have to look at one myself if i ever need another one.

To anyone who has one, what is the hinge like on the back? The photos dont show.

Does the rope that keeps the lid open ever get annoying? Can you remove it? Will that comprimise the hinges?

Without a doubt, one of the best for money is the tropical big orange ice box. I have had a 160L unit on my boat for 6 years and its still good. The big deal with the type of units is the robust nature of the hinge; thats where most other units fail.

Mick

whats the tropical ones worth in 80 and 100 L

Tropical 105L was around the $300 mark when i bought mine. You could probably get it cheaper during the chrissy sales. Or bargain them down :)

i know its a bit smaller but i got a 60l marine style esky from big W for $100 a few weeks ago.  Its similar to a tropical box but blue, not quite as finished and has slightly different latches but it does the exact same job.  unless you want to keep ice for long periodsup to a week (i have an engel for that) a cheapie will certainly do the job.  spend your money on beer to fill it

cheers

I know oceanside have got some in. Picked up a good 100l one the other day off Ryan, took it to cricket last week on the 37 degree day, sat in the sun and still had i most of the ice in it the next day. Good quality with marine clips. Need to sticker it up though now!

i used to make the blue plastic and just before i left they started making the orange ones. there polypropelene plastic which is roto moulded to be hollow then filled with expandable fome then plugged and fitted with hinges. i would go the plastic 1 as there extremly durable. only thing you have to watch when picking the 1 to buy is if there bowed anywere it means to much foam and if there a slightly lighter shade of colour it means its thinner in that spot and it wont be as strong

but I havent got one. LOL

They ARE the best!!

Neels

roto moulded eskies will do the job. I have 4 different types  (evakool ice kool, tropical, techni ice and waeco) and they are all good.

The key to their effectiveness is to not open them if you can avoid it!

I used to be in the roto-mould & F/G ice box game. Plenty of differences both glass & roto-mould. Roto-mould many different qualitys on the market despite the similar apperance. The density of foam and type of foam seperates them......important!

Brands, Sub Zero (what Tigh got from me) being the pinnacle of Roto-mould and then followed by Tropical. For F/G, the Downunder, Engel & Evacool being the pick there!

Another good thing about the techni ice is the thread for the bung is the same as the standard garden hose fitting so it's easy to rig up a hose and tap set up to drain it without lifting it out of the boat or ute. Not sure if the other brands are the same.

Ive had an UltraCool (bought out by Engel) for about 12 years- great icebox if you are after fiberglass. Also have a tropical for the boat- best part about the plastic ones is you can treat them rough.

If you aren't going to treat it rough i would get an Engel

any 1 got a waeco ice box NOT the fibreglass ones tho  if so what do u think of them  unsure if to go with the waeco  or spend extra and get the evakool

I take one to Gnarloo every year

and it has never let me down.

Shit load cheaper than whats in the shops.

Streaker Boy, I bought a Waeco 145 litre in Denham this year for $345.00, didn't have time to shop around....but fantastic esky, worth every cent I reckon!

Cheers,

Joe