YETI Silo 22.7L review: A water-cooling powerhouse

YETI refers to the Silo as a “powerhouse” of a water cooler, and I’d agree. It'd withstand being rolled down a mountain or dropped from a moving vehicle, and will keep your water cool for several days – but for the price of a mid-range smartphone.

Owning a YETI has become a status symbol in the US. It's like a designer fashion brand, except it makes water coolers rather than luxury handbags. For readers in the UK who might not be familiar with the YETI hype, the closest equivalent to owning one is turning up to the school run in a dryrobe.

The American brand has carefully constructed an image of rugged performance. When you buy a Silo, it comes with a pamphlet which congratulates you on being a YETI Silo owner, as if you’ve paid £300/$300 to join an elite in-group of adventurers.

But does the actual performance of the YETI Silo live up to its over-hyped marketing? Is it really worth forking out so much money for?

With these questions in mind, I’ve been putting a Silo through its paces over the past couple of months, alongside 12 other water containers. I can’t say I’ve been on any desert expeditions or crossed the Atlantic with it, but I’ve analysed its performance across four main metrics: portability, durability, ease of use and insulation. Here are the results.

Portability

Thanks to a couple of handles, it’s relatively easy to carry over a few hundred metres when empty. But without any pack straps, it’s tricky to carry over more than a couple of metres when full. Though with a handle on each side, you can easily split the weight between two people.

It’s easy to transport in your vehicle, but you might need to pay more for accessories. The Silo has four grippy feet, as well as tie-down slots. YETI offers a security lock and bracket, which could help keep your cooler in place. You can also get a Silo Mount (available in the US), or a tie-down kit, which will help you permanently attach it to any flat surface.

Unsurprisingly, the YETI Silo is heavy – apparently 7.5kg when empty, though I can’t verify this. It’s pretty bulky too (39.6cm x 45.4cm), so storage might be a concern. A lot of this bulk comes from the heavy insulation: the walls are an incredible 6cm thick.

Durability

The YETI Silo is certainly durable. It's rotomolded, meaning that it’s made from plastic that’s continuously rotated inside a heated mold. This is the same process used to make whitewater kayaks; it’s known for producing extremely tough plastic with thick corners.

Every feature of the YETI Silo has been designed for durability. The hinges are encased by plastic and held by two pins; the spigot (the valve you press to let water out) is protected by a steel handle; the carrying handles are in-built; the lid latches are made from heavy-duty rubber.

Apparently, there’s a smaller risk of defects through rotomolding compared to other processes. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was still intact after being hurled off a mountain (though this isn’t recommended).

There’s also a 5-year warranty, which isn’t as long as some competitors, but the key parts can be bought from YETI.

Ease of use

The spigot is straightforward to use, almost like pressing a button. The flow rate is excellent. According to my tests, it pours 1L in 21 seconds: this is the best out of all of the thirteen containers I've tested. The lid reliably props itself up, which makes it easy to fill.

It's also relatively easy to clean. You can take the spigot apart for cleaning, though this is fiddly. You can easily wipe the interior, which means there’s very little residual taste. This also means you can fill it with other liquids, though YETI recommends avoiding anything thick or pulpy.

Insulation

According to YETI, the walls and lid of their coolers are filled with up to 2 inches or more of polyurethane insulation, making them “among the best insulated coolers on the market today”.

To test the performance of the Silo, I filled it with approximately 20 liters of ice and water mixed at a 2:1 ratio and monitored the temperature changes at regular intervals. The outside temperature was around 18°C.

It returned to tap temperature after roughly four days, or 102-118 hours. The ice remained for over three days. This was without pre-cooling the cooler, which is supposed to improve performance.

This seems pretty impressive to me, though I haven’t yet had the chance to test other coolers (I have reviewed 12 other camping water containers). To determine how effective the YETI Silo’s insulation is, it needs to be benchmarked against other coolers.

Price and competitors

It’s not surprising that the Silo will do damage to your bank balance. At £300/$300, it’s in a league of its own. There aren’t really any coolers out there with a comparable price, at least in the UK market.

It’s easy to find coolers of a similar volume for much cheaper. For example, the highly-rated 10 gallon Igloo Sports Cooler costs £140/$190. Igloo claims it’ll hold ice for up to 3 days, which is similar to the YETI Silo (we haven't tested this though).

If the Silo costs double the Igloo, does it also perform doubly as well? It's difficult to judge without having tested the Igloo, but it seems reasonable to say that for casual use, there might be cheaper options which offer the same, or similar, value.

With such a huge difference in price between the YETI Silo and its competitors, I think it's unlikely that the price increase is directly proportionate to the performance gains – you're buying into the brand image.

Verdict

Overall, the claims to the YETI Silo water cooler's ruggedness aren’t merely marketing fluff: it seems to be genuinely well-made.

Its extreme durability and hefty price tag might be overkill for family camping. But if you need a cooler you can roll down a mountain, drop off a truck, leave under the desert sun or sail across the Atlantic with – then the Silo is tough to beat.

About the author

Evie is equally happy on a boggy Lake District trail run or a multi-day Alpine hike. She's strained her cardiovascular system on hundreds, if not thousands, of steep inclines – from the Picos de Europa to the Atlas mountains.