Orca Coolers vs Yeti – Which Cooler Is Better?

When comparing Orca coolers vs Yeti coolers we discovered that the two coolers are comparable in features and price but the Orca Coolers had better ice retention, a longer warranty and are made in America.

If you’re trying to decide between these two coolers then let me first say you are comparing two of the best coolers on the market.

Overall Orca Coolers provides better value for money when compared to Yeti. They are slightly cheaper than Yeti but offer the following benefits:

  • Better ice retention than Yeti
  • Lifetime warranty (vs Yeti's 5 year warranty)
  • Free exterior cargo net
  • Manufactured in the USA (Yeti is made primarily in the Philippines and China)

In this review we'll put these coolers head to head so you can decide which cooler is going to be the best buy for you. At the end I will give my recommendation about which cooler I would prefer and why.

Price Comparison – Orca are Slightly Cheaper

Most coolers similar to Yeti try to compete with Yeti but offering their coolers at a significantly discounted price.

Orca haven’t done this, choosing to price their coolers almost exactly the same as Yeti. Instead they chose to focus on making a cooler with more features that is 100% made in the USA and backed by a lifetime warranty.

However, for some reason Orca coolers tend to be discounted on Amazon, whereas Yeti coolers are rarely discounted. This makes Orca coolers cheaper than Yeti even though their recommended retail price is almost identical.

Below is a price comparison of Orca vs Yeti across all sizes available.

YETI COOLERS

Yeti Tundra 45 Cooler

Yeti Roadie (24-Quart): See latest price at Yeti.com


Yeti 35 (29-Quart): See latest price at Yeti.com


Yeti 45 (38-Quart): See latest price at Yeti.com


Yeti 65 (57-Quart): See latest price at Yeti.com


Yeti 75 (75-Quart): See latest price at Yeti.com


Yeti 160 (150-Quart): See latest price at Yeti.com

As you can see Orca coolers are cheaper than Yeti coolers by a fair bit. For the larger sizes they can be over $100 cheaper or more! and for the smaller sizes you can save anywhere from $25-$50 buying an Orca instead of a Yeti.

So when comparing price Orca is definitely a more affordable cooler. Not by a huge margin but by a sizeable chunk.

As you'll see not only are Orca coolers cheaper than Yeti but they tend to perform better than Yeti and have some extra features you might like. So in terms of value for money they can be a really great option.

So if getting a cheaper cooler is important to you definitely consider Orca. But you may also want to consider these coolers these cheaper coolers instead.

Ice Retention

Orca vs Yeti - 5 Day Ice Challenge
Image thanks to CoolersOnSale Video

There are two main reasons you spend hundreds of dollars on a cooler. Those are ice retention and durability, with ice retention seeming to be a key priority.

Having a cooler that can hold ice for days of even over a week means you can go off the grid for longer and also means you save money on ice when using your cooler. Plus the convenience of not having to worry about ice is so nice.

Yeti coolers made a name for themselves by being able to keep ice for up to 5 days instead of the standard 1 day you would get in a regular cooler.

However, Orca consistently outperform Yeti when it comes to ice retention tests often lasting much longer than the Yeti in the exact same conditions.

In fact Orca coolers outperform almost all other cooler brands when it comes to ice retention. The only coolers than potential outperform it are the new brand out of Australian TechniIce as well as the Siberian Alpha series.

Orca coolers will likely hold ice a full 2 days longer than Yeti coolers depending on the conditions. This means Orca coolers can keep ice for at least 7 days in warmer climates and even longer in cooler settings.

Insulation

Why does Orca perform so much better than Yeti and other brands when it comes to ice retention?

While I can’t be 100% certain my best guess is the extra insulation Orca packs into the walls of it’s coolers.

Orca Cooler Insulation

While Yeti coolers have 2 inch thick walls (even thinner in some places due to indentations) and a 3 inch thick lid, Orca has gone even further and provided 3 inch thick walls as well as a 3 inch thick roof. This provides an extra inch of thickness all around the cooler and is likely what causes the improved ice retention.

The good news is that this doesn’t make the cooler significantly heavier.

The Yeti 45 (37-Quarts) weighs in at 23 lbs while the Orca 40-Quart weighs in at 24 lbs, just 1 lbs more of weight for an extra inch of insulation all around and a slightly large capacity.

By looking at the extra insulation it becomes clear why Orca seems to consistently outperform Yeti when it comes to ice retention.

If premium ice retention is important to you then the Orca is one of the absolute best coolers you can buy. Plus it's made in the USA and backed by a lifetime warranty.

See the range of Orca coolers at OrcaCoolers.com

Range Options

Orca has a decent range with 6 different sizes from 20-Quart all the way up to 140-Quart. But Yeti takes the cake with this one. Their range of sizes is GINORMOUS!

Yeti have 13 different sizes, starting with a 22-Quart cooler and ranging all the way up to their 350 Model which is likely has a 300-Quart capacity of more (Yeti don’t provide capacity numbers but instead choose to market their products with misleading model numbers that don’t actually represent capacity).

Given that the majority of the market will purchase a cooler around the 20 to 75-Quart mark the extra range options for the Yeti won’t mean much to most people. However, if you require a cooler larger than 140-Quart then Orca isn’t going to be the brand for you.

Color Options

Orca vs Yeti Color Options

Yeti supplies their coolers in 3 different colors. White, desert tan and ice blue. They all look really nice.

Orca coolers have 4 standard color options. White, Pink, Tan and Green. However, purchasing through their website you get a further 5 color options. Orange, Burnt Orange, Dark Maroon, Purple and Navy.

While most people will be happy with the basic colors like white and tan, those of you who are more adventurous and want a bright pink cooler or a navy cooler with an orange lid then the Orca is going to be the best cooler for you.

Remember, when you’re spending hundreds of dollars on a cooler you’re not just buying a cooler, you’re making a statement about who you are. So choose a cooler that suits you.

Company Overviews

Yeti is the pioneer in the cooler industry, creating the first roto-moulded cooler back in 2006. It’s brand is extremely well known and recognized with hundreds of thousands of happy customers.

Orca (stands for Outdoor Recreation Company of America) is newer to the market, first selling it’s coolers in 2012. Orca coolers are all American made, provide the best ice retention and have the best warranty of all coolers I have ever reviewed.

While Yeti are the most well known roto-moulded cooler brand in the market Orca is definitely up there as one of the most popular competing brands. It is a well recognised and respected brand.

Where To Buy

One of the great things about Yeti is that they have dealers all over the country selling their coolers. Changes are there are a lot of dealers/shops near you that sell Yeti coolers. You can also buy them online from Amazon or directly through their website.

When it comes to Orca coolers it’s going to be more difficult to find a local dealer stocking these coolers. See Orca’s dealer locator to see if there are any dealers near you if that’s the way you want to go.

However, I actually recommend buying your Orca cooler online. You’ll get a discount over buying the cooler in person, you’ll have more color and size options and you can get free shipping if you buy from the right supplier.

See the latest prices of Orca Coolers at OrcaCoolers.com
(or compare to the latest price of Orca Coolers at Amazon)

Design and Features

Generally when I’m reviewing 2 coolers I have a fair amount to talk about in terms of the different features of the two coolers. This is not the case with Orca as it is almost an exact replica of the Yeti cooler with some slight design changes.

Both are almost identical in shape and design. Everything from the logo on the front and inside the lid to the latches and the rope handles. There are slightly variations.

Latches: Orca's latches are made to look like an Orca's tail which is a nice feature.

Rope handles: Yeti uses a nylon rope handle which Orca uses some sort of fabric rope handle.

The thickness of the walls is another difference with Orca having more insulation than Yeti.

Accessories

Orca Ice Chest Accessories

Accessories is where Orca ice chests are leading the charge. They have more and better accessories than almost every other cooler brand combined.

If you want to deck out your cooler with awesome gear then Orca is going to be the best brand for you.

Yeti has a few great accessories for their coolers. Bottle opener, cutting board dividers, rod holders and beverage holders to name a few. But Orca take it to the extreme with their molle wrap.

For $49.99 you can buy a molle wrap that goes around your cooler. You can then add everything from pouches to cup holders to phone and flashlight holders. There are 15 different accessories to choose from and they are constantly adding new ones.

Orca Solar Kit

My favorite accessory of them all is the hybrid solar pack which comes with a solar panel and detachable rechargeable battery that can be used for charging your devices and has an inbuilt LED light.

For me my phone is basically an extra limb and the battery lasts less than a day, so having a solar power bank is an amazing addition to my cooler.

If you want to make your cooler your own and if you want accessories that you can move around or add and remove at will then the Orca cooler with the molle wrap is going to be perfect for you.

You can purchase molle items directly from Orca or you can buy other Molle accessories on Amazon. There are literally thousands to choose from.

Get the Orca Cooler Molle Wrap on Amazon

See Molle accessories you can add to your Orca on Amazon

Warranty

This is another area that separates the two coolers and makes your decision more obvious.

Yeti offers a 5 year warranty. While this is great it generally only applies to the structure of the cooler itself and doesn’t include items with the t-rex latches and the non-slip feet, which if broken you’ll need to buy replacements. So it's a limited warranty that only covers defects on the main body of the cooler.

Orca Lifetime Warranty

Orca is so far THE ONLY cooler company to offer a lifetime warranty not just on the cooler structure itself but ALL the components. If a rubber latch breaks, they’ll send you a new one. If one of the feet cracks, they’ll replace it at no extra cost to you.

The warranty offered by Orca is far and beyond the standard warranty in the industry and they are to be commended for it. You can buy an Orca cooler and have peace of mind that this cooler will literally last you a lifetime.

Check out this forum post about a guy who bought a Yeti cooler back in 2008 (when they only had a 3 year warranty). What did Yeti do when he contacted them about a fault in his cooler? They basically told him, bad luck it’s not under warranty anymore, but we can give you some money towards a new cooler if you want?

Stuff like that won’t happen with Orca as your cooler will always be under warranty. Just make sure you keep your receipt as proof of purchase 🙂

More details on their warranty can be found here.

Manufacturing Location – ORCA Are Made in the USA

Orca Coolers Are Made In The USA

While Yeti manufacture their coolers primarily in the Philippines, with some coolers being made locally (I did a full writeup on that here), Orca coolers are made in the USA and created using components also made in the USA.

This is a great feature as it continues to provide manufacturing jobs for Americans. The only cooler that is more American than the Orca is the Icehole cooler that have an almost unreasonable dedication to making absolutely everything in the USA.

While you can source American made Yeti coolers by contact them through their website and specifically requesting one, I do like that Orca coolers are just all made in America. So wherever you buy one you know you’re getting a quality all American product.

Discounts for Military and First Responders

Orca offer special discounts for Military and Veterans through their website if you have an ID.me account. This discount can be up to 20% which is a significant amount.

Orca vs Yeti – Which One Should You Buy And Why?

In my honest opinion (that’s all I can offer you) I would recommend the Orca cooler over the Yeti for most people…but not everyone, let me explain.

orca-coolers-better-than-yeti

Orca coolers have better ice retention with more insulation. This is a huge plus in my books. They are all made in America and are cheaper than Yeti coolers. Their lifetime warranty is like that of no other cooler in this industry so you can purchase an Orca with confidence that it is going to last you a lifetime.

Orca also have loads of accessories so in the future you can expand the functionality of your cooler indefinitely. This is a big plus for me as life changes and our needs change, but with Orca we can change our cooler with new accessories. The Molle wrap is a must have if you plan on accessorising your cooler and I just haven't seen this ability to customize a cooler so easily with any other brand.

So in my opinion Orca is a better cooler with a better warranty and better accessories. So I highly recommend it for most people.

If you’re keen to see the current pricing click the link below.

See the latest prices of Orca Coolers at OrcaCoolers.com
(or compare to the latest price of Orca Coolers at Amazon)

Wait, But Who Should Buy A Yeti (If Anyone)?

Yeti Cooler Logo

There are two instances where I believe it can be a good idea to buy a Yeti cooler.

Yeti is the most recognised cooler brand on the market. Chances are you know someone with a Yeti cooler, heck maybe all your friends have Yeti coolers.

Buying a Yeti cooler to be like the people you enjoy hanging out with is a legitimate reason to buy a Yeti cooler. Not everyone wants to be the person who bought an unknown brand of cooler when all their friends have a Yeti.

This can make for awkward conversations where friends want to defend their Yeti and thus insult your cooler choice. No one wants that and if that’s your group of people by all means buy a Yeti, it’s still an amazing cooler and you’re going to be really happy with it.

Yeti coolers are a well known brand and buying an expensive roto-moulded cooler makes a statement about who you are. Because the Yeti brand is recognised and appreciated you can be proud to show it off to your friends without having to convince them why it’s so good, because they already know. You don’t get that effect with Orcas.

The 2nd reason is if a spouse or significant other needs convincing that yes it’s worth spending hundreds of dollars on a plastic box. Maybe they have heard of the Yeti name and it makes it easier for you to convince them that your purchasing decision is a good one. If that’s the case go with Yeti.

You can check out the latest range of Yeti coolers on Amazon using the link below

See latest price for Yeti coolers

Orca Coolers vs Yeti: What’s Your Decision?

Well there you have my complete review/analysis on Orca coolers vs Yeti coolers. Both are great coolers with one performing slightly better than the other and with the other having a more desirable brand name.

It’s now up to you to choose which cooler is right for you. Are you going to be an Orca owner or a Yeti owner? I wish you the best of luck in your purchase and I truely hope you are happy with your cooler.

Want to learn more about ORCA coolers? Check out my Orca cooler FAQ page