YETI YETI Tank® 45 "Ice Bucket" Insulated ice bucket 1 piece

Drinks for the whole meet, and nobody walks back to their car

The YETI Tank 45 is an open ice bucket for 55 cans or 23 kilos of ice that a whole meet can help itself from. It isn't a cooler. Without a lid nothing stays cold overnight, and it takes two people to carry.

The YETI Tank 45 is YETI's ice bucket for people who don't chill drinks just for themselves at a meet, but for everyone. 55 cans fit inside, so do 23 kilos of ice, and a wine bottle stands upright in it instead of lying down. It sits on the ground next to the folding table and doesn't move again all day.

Half seven, the car park is filling up, the first three cars are already lined up. You open the tailgate, set the bucket down next to it on the tarmac and tip in two bags of ice. From then on nobody comes over to ask you anything, only to help themselves. That's the whole difference between a cooler and this thing.

• 55 cans, and nobody walks back to the car. That's how much ten to fifteen people get through in a morning without anyone having to top up. In ice, it's 23 kilos, so two or three of the 10-kilo bags every petrol station sells. Wine and fizz go in just as easily as cans.
• 6.2 kilos empty, about 29 full. That's why the Tank 45 gets set down once and then isn't carried again. The two rope handles are meant for two people, not one, and the rubber feet keep it where it stands, even on a sloping lawn or on metal.
• 32 centimetres inside, so the bottle stands. A 0.75-litre bottle almost disappears in it instead of sinking into the ice and coming out soaking wet. A five-litre party keg stands in it with ice all around. The outside stays dry, on cobblestones just as on a load bed.

Detailing1's tip from the shop: The most common mistake happens at the end of the day, not the start. Full, the bucket weighs about 29 kilos, and if you lift and tip it to empty it, half of it sloshes over your shoes and the rest over the painted load sill. That's what the drain plug at the bottom is for. Half a turn and it drains slowly while you pack up the rest. Unscrewing it completely works too and takes under a minute, but then the puddle is right where you're standing.

Two bags of ice from the petrol station and the morning's sorted

The YETI Tank 45 isn't packed at home, it's filled on the way: two or three 10-kilo bags of ice from the petrol station en route, cans on top, done.

Still, two small moves decide whether anything is cold by the afternoon. The first: on the drive there, the bucket travels empty and open inside the car, not on the back seat in the sun. The second: drinks go in cold, not warm. YETI itself works on two parts ice to one part contents. A warm twelve-pack eats the first third of the ice before the first person turns up.

Mix both kinds and you'll get furthest. Cubed ice cools down fast, block ice lasts longer, and one bag of each is the combination that leaves the bucket with something to spare in the evening. Location matters just as much. In the shade of the open tailgate, ice lasts roughly twice as long as two metres further out in the sun, and the ground is always cooler than any surface at hip height.

After that, the Tank 45 does its real job, which has little to do with cold. It stands open. Nobody asks whether they can take something, nobody lifts a lid, nobody parks a half-empty can on your wing because they need both hands to open theirs. Over a morning, someone reaches in fifty times.

Open means access, and open also means cold for less time

Without a lid, the YETI Tank 45 is a day bucket. It keeps a round of drinks cold for a morning, but it won't replace a cooler for a whole weekend at the campsite.

The lid is a separate product and changes less than you'd hope. It's UV-resistant, works as a chopping board and a seat, and it extends cold retention noticeably. But it has no seal, just sits loosely on top and falls off as soon as the bucket tips over. That doesn't turn the Tank into a sealable cooler. If you need days rather than hours, buy a box with a lid and latch, not a bucket.

The second honest limit is space. A 53-centimetre diameter goes into an estate's boot, but not into a small car next to the luggage. And the bucket doesn't fold down; empty it takes up the same volume as full, all year round. If you chill drinks twice a summer, you'll have an empty barrel standing around in the garage the rest of the time.

Inside it measures about 33 centimetres in diameter. A five-litre party keg stands in it comfortably, a 30-litre keg won't fit, even though the American data sheet mentions a keg. That refers to a slim quarter barrel, which you'll hardly find over here.

In the end the decision comes down to the size of your crowd. If you're chilling drinks for a whole meet and everyone should help themselves, the Tank 45 is right. If you're driving for yourself and a passenger, the smaller stainless steel beverage bucket with its 7.6 litres is enough. And if you regularly set up a proper bar and never put the bucket away anyway, the larger version of the ice bucket is the more honest choice.

What the Tank 45 looks like in its fifth summer

An ice bucket moulded in one piece with a five-year warranty doesn't get replaced; it picks up scratches and keeps standing next to the car regardless.

That's exactly why someone buys a thing like this, and it's the same reason they look after their car rather than using it up. A galvanised bucket from the DIY store costs a fraction and does the same job, except it sweats onto every surface it stands on and is blotchy after two seasons outdoors. If that doesn't bother you, you don't need the Tank 45. If you notice the ring on the load sill in the evening raking light, you do.

On colour, you choose between two routes. Tan swallows dust, tyre debris and the prints of hands that were just on a brake line, and looks in its third summer like it did in its first. White shows every fingerprint, but looks cleaner on a light-coloured car park and heats up less in the sun. If the bucket sits on gravel and grass, go for Tan.

Soap and warm water keep it clean. If the bottom smells after a season, because some beer always ends up between the ice cubes, a bleach-and-water solution at six to one with a sponge does the trick. Then rinse and let it dry. What you can skip is trying to smarten it up with paint cleaner. On rotomoulded plastic, scratches don't disappear, they just get shinier.

And then it spends the winter somewhere. For storage, unscrew the drain plug completely and leave the bucket open, rather than pushing it into a corner with the lid on. Otherwise the last cupful of meltwater sits in the same edge for six months, and no amount of wiping will fix that come spring.

Who it's not for can be said in one sentence. If you head out alone, need space in the boot and are back home by evening, buy a cool bag, not a bucket for 55 cans. The Tank 45 only pays off once more than a handful of people regularly gather around the same car.

The move no manufacturer writes down concerns the feet. With a full bucket, four rubber pads carry about 29 kilos, and any chippings, sand and brake dust underneath act like sandpaper at that weight.

So you set it on the ground and not on the painted load sill, and if it really has to go on metal, put an outdoor blanket from the range under it. It's the same care you already give the rest of the car, just for the spot where later nobody goes looking for the cause.

How to use the YETI Tank 45

From the petrol station to packing up

The bucket travels empty and open, ideally in the footwell or boot and not on the back seat in the sun. A heated-up Tank eats the first part of the ice when you fill it. Drinks go in pre-chilled, not warm.

It gets filled on the way, not at home. Two or three 10-kilo bags of ice are enough for the 23 kilos it holds. YETI works on two parts ice to one part contents. Mix a bag of cubed ice with a bag of block ice and you get fast cooling and long staying power at once.

At the destination, the bucket stands on the ground in the shade of the open tailgate, not on the painted load sill and not two metres further out in the sun. For coffee on the drive there, the insulated tumbler stays in the cup holder. Full, the Tank weighs about 29 kilos and is carried by two people using the two rope handles, not one.

To empty it, don't lift it. The drain plug sits at the bottom: half a turn lets it drain slowly, fully unscrewed it's empty in under a minute. Then wipe it out with soap and warm water. If the bottom smells after a season, a bleach-and-water solution at six to one with a sponge or mild scouring pad helps; rinse thoroughly afterwards.

Notes: The Tank 45 comes without a lid. The matching Tank lid is an accessory, has no seal, sits loosely on top and doesn't make the bucket sealable or leak-proof. Dry ice is allowed; YETI recommends one block per 15-inch section, wrapped in several layers of newspaper, and reckons on 24 to 48 hours with it. YETI gives no cold-retention time in hours for the Tank. For storage, unscrew the drain plug completely and leave the bucket open and dry, otherwise leftover water sits in the same edge over winter. Scratches on the rotomoulded plastic can't be polished out. YETI gives a five-year warranty on defects in material and workmanship under normal use.