# "Bubba Keg" review



## DieselDave (Aug 9, 2006)

At 7AM it's a very balmy 82 degrees with 82% humidity, stiiikky.

Over half of the guys I know use some type of large insulated cup to take in cold water or iced tea mainly because of the water loss due to humidity. We have tried many types of cups and all seem to start leaking around the lid within a few months of use. The smaller cups, under 24oz do a better job but just don't hold enough fluid. The cup only needs 4 attributes, 48oz-72oz, durable, doesn't leak and will keep ice for 12 hours or more. I have found several which are 3 out of 4. The one they always fail is leak. After a few months the front of my shirt is getting wet when I take a sip. We never tried any of the cups with the fold up-down drinking spigot. It's not a style we want to use at the office.

In steps the Bubba Keg. One guy at work has been using his daily for over a year with no leaks. In the winter it's coffee, 3 months and the Summer it's water, 9 months. It uses a screw on lid and has a gasket. The hole where the water comes out has a pop-down cap. I got mine yesterday. 52oz version. Last night I filled it 90% up. I screwed on the lid and snapped closed the top where the fluid comes out. I then turned it upside down for 5 seconds. Not a drop came out. I tried it again for 10 seconds and 2 drops came out of the tiny vent hole under the pop-down part. I am impressed. When I went to bed the cup was half full or empty depending on your view of life. This morning, 11 hours after filling it up there is still ice in there. 

It doesn't hold ice as well as my current cup but 12 hours works for me. My current cup has walls about 1" thick and holds 64oz. It will hold ice about 20 hours but leaks like crazy around the lid. I can fill my current one before I leave the house with ice and tea, refill it with drinking fountain water about 2pm and fill it again with water when I get home and there is still ice in it when I go to bed. If used outside at 90 degrees I have to refill the ice about every 6-8 hours. I am guessing the Bubba cup will hold ice at 90 degrees about 4 hours during the summer.

I don't know how many of you use an insulated cup but if you do the Bubba Keg gets my thumbs up. About $10 for the 52oz version. You can get them at some Wal Mart’s, Academy Sports as well as several other places.

Update: At 830AM it's a very balmy 88 degrees with 68% humidity, STILL stiiikky. Heat index is 99 degrees. Time to head for work. It should be a barrel of fun outside today. All the boys going through "2-a-days" right now must be hating life.


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## cobra-ak (Aug 9, 2006)

I saw the big monster at WallyWorld, it looks like it can take a beating too.


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## Omega Man (Aug 9, 2006)

You blew my mind with the idea of a cup making icecubes last longer then an hour. 
12 hours, now?? This might be a good investment for me, and take the place of the pint glass I use for water all day.

I'm guessing it doesn't hold a flavor, since you mentioned coffee and water in the same sentence.


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## Sigman (Aug 9, 2006)

Saw these at Sports Authority - good to have some real world use comments here. Sounds like a winner compared to others - may have to add a couple of these to the "collection"! 
:thanks:


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## greenlight (Aug 9, 2006)

I have three bubba kegs. They are great, especially if you like icy water by your bed all night long. The rubber gasket does get twisted with use, which can make screwing the lid on tough, but easy to remedy.

The large base makes it tough to knock over, and the closeable lid is pretty good, too.

There is a cooler that is much bigger, but I haven't bought that one yet.

They were on sale at longs for 5$ last year after summer discount.

I like to call mine ''Bubbles"!


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## Topper (Aug 9, 2006)

I like mine. I work in a non-*air conditioned factory. A balmy 88 with 87% humidity sounds good to me right now. It has been real hot here and is taking a toll on some of the folks I work with. The Bubba keg 52 has held up so far in 98 and 100% humidity for a full shift . I fill it up with water when I get home and still have ice in the morning. I think it is a good buy.
Topper


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## DieselDave (Aug 9, 2006)

Well...By the end of the day I had a slight leak at the lip of the top when I took a drink. It's odd, I use it left handed and it drips but when I turn the top around to make it a right hand cup then it doesn't drip. The other one I bought doesn't drip. I will take the bad one back for exchange tomorrow.


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## greenlight (Aug 9, 2006)

check the gasket first,.... bubbles!


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## bubbacatfish (Aug 10, 2006)

Read this thread yesterday afternoon, bought a Bubba Keg last night. My fridge is now churning out ice cubes so I can try it at work tomorrow. Hadn't thought of it before but I did the math & figured I spend over $450 a year buying $0.75 bottles of water at work (about 3 a day). $10CDN for the keg, some ice & filtered water from home, if it works for me maybe I can afford to buy Data's new SPY light next year...


Thanks guys!


p.s. Gotta love the name "Bubba Keg"...


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## Cliffnopus (Aug 10, 2006)

Me too. I read this yesterday and bought two; one for me, one for SWMBO - we'll see how they work out once they arrive. Thanks for the post.

Cliff


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## Omega Man (Aug 10, 2006)

Ha, I read about this yesterday and TRIED to buy some...
Walmart here does not have them anymore, but Target does, so now I have something to spend my giftcard on. 
Thanks Diesel for bringing this up!


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## rgp4544 (Aug 10, 2006)

Omega Man said:


> Ha, I read about this yesterday and TRIED to buy some...
> Walmart here does not have them anymore, but Target does, so now I have something to spend my giftcard on.
> Thanks Diesel for bringing this up!



I armed myself with cash and subsequently entered the local Walmart at approximately 8:40 pm, only to find a total of zero Bubba Kegs anywhere in the store.

Unfortunately Walmart is the only department store in this town and the closest Target is about 45 miles away...

Richard


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## DieselDave (Aug 11, 2006)

I went to two Wal-Mart's with no luck. One of the managers said it may be a seasonal item.

The Bubbakeg website where to buy page http://www.bubbakeg.com/stockup.html


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## greenlight (Aug 11, 2006)

Target and Longs had them but they're always going on clearance.


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## Norm (Aug 11, 2006)

No other country I have been to has had the same fixation as America for large amounts of ice in drinks, I come from a country where it gets hot as hell in summer (Australia) but no one here seems so fixated on having more ice in a drink than they have actual drink. I met a fellow in Arkansas who would walk around with a huge insulated cup and a couple of extra cans of pop/soda (insert whichever word they use in your part of the country, here it's just called soft drink) which he used as refills, one particularly hot day he said to me "mmm good ice" and started telling me that the ice in his cup was the best he had ever had. 
Not trying to be rude to Americans, I'm just relating the way I saw it especially in the south. I'm always fascinated by how things are done slightly differently from one country to the next.


Norm


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## frisco (Aug 11, 2006)

Hey Norm,

So true !!!! But here is the flip side! Although I have never been to AU.... I can't understand for the life of me, how people in other Countries (non US) use so little ice!!! In Europe and Asia you damm near have to beg for more than one 1''x1'' cube of ice !!! Sorry.... But warm diet Coke does not cut it!!!! When you ask for more ice, they bring you another cube !!! Like there is an Ice shortage !!!! The key to proper ice usage is that there is still a little ice left in your cup after the beverage is finished!

frisco


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## Norm (Aug 11, 2006)

That was something else I noticed frisco, the folks I was staying with in AR never put the coke or whatever in the fridge but relied on lots and lots of ice to cool the drink. Here the drink would be cold from the fridge and two or three ice cubes would last the drink. But then the average glass size here is about 250ml. (about 9 fl. oz.) in U.S. everyone seems to like a big plastic cup that would be a minimun over 750ml (about 27 fl. oz.). 

Norm


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## frisco (Aug 11, 2006)

Yah.... the cups in America have to be the largest in the world! Years ago there used to be a Fast Food chain called Del Taco here in the SF Bay Area. (been gone for years)

I ordered food and a drink....... the gal asked me what size drink.... so I respond "large" Well I drive forward to the next window to get my food.... she hands me a bag with my food...... I put the bag on the passenger seat and turn back to get my drink...... Well Holy DoDo...... this girl is leaning out her window with two hands around what looks like a Buttered Popcorn container.... I had to undo my seatbelt and grab this HUGE cup of soda with two hands!!!! 

frisco


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## Chingyul (Aug 11, 2006)

Stupid CPF. Making me go out and get one.
HAHA
Well, picked up a mini yesterday. DIdn't see the need for the giant 52oz one.

Anyways. Heads up for canadians. Canadian Tire has them on sale.
The mini was 5.99 and the regular 52oz was 9.99.


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## Topper (Aug 11, 2006)

Norm said:


> That was something else I noticed frisco, the folks I was staying with in AR never put the coke or whatever in the fridge but relied on lots and lots of ice to cool the drink. Here the drink would be cold from the fridge and two or three ice cubes would last the drink. But then the average glass size here is about 250ml. (about 9 fl. oz.) in U.S. everyone seems to like a big plastic cup that would be a minimum over 750ml (about 27 fl. oz.).
> 
> Norm



Hi Norm, Topper here in Arkansas  I can tell you from my own experience if you buy two 2 liter bottles and place one in the refrigerator and leave one out at room temp the one in the fridge will lose its "fizz" faster.
I do not claim to know why but for me it does. We had a pretty involved battle about that at work (we git bored easy) and at least 35 folks agreed to 
"take the Fizz challenge" all agreed after the test that with 2 liter or 3 liter plastic bottles the fizz lasts longer left hot. Now you being "down under" it might be just the opposite  
Topper


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## Omega Man (Aug 11, 2006)

Norm said:


> No other country I have been to has had the same fixation as America for large amounts of ice in drinks, I come from a country where it gets hot as hell in summer (Australia) but no one here seems so fixated on having more ice in a drink than they have actual drink. I met a fellow in Arkansas who would walk around with a huge insulated cup and a couple of extra cans of pop/soda (insert whichever word they use in your part of the country, here it's just called soft drink) which he used as refills, one particularly hot day he said to me "mmm good ice" and started telling me that the ice in his cup was the best he had ever had.
> Not trying to be rude to Americans, I'm just relating the way I saw it especially in the south. I'm always fascinated by how things are done slightly differently from one country to the next.
> 
> 
> Norm


 We also have a fixation with "ice cold beer". Has to be because our mainstream domestic beers are pretty much crap (Bud, Miller Light, Coors,etc.), and they're pretty unflavorful. If a beer is room temp or little below, you can actually taste it, and we just can't stand that!


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## bubbacatfish (Aug 11, 2006)

Bought mine at Canadian Tire. I tried mine half-full of ice yesterday. Ice was gone long before the end of my shift but the water was still cool. Today I will try it full of ice & see if it lasts.


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## DieselDave (Aug 11, 2006)

bubbacat,
You can't go wrong filling the cup full of ice. If it melts down you have more water and if you run out of water you can put more water in with the ice.

Don't know why anyone would care but I put the ice 3/4 full in an insulated cup then add cold water or cold tea. By using cold fluid I don't get a large initial ice melt. If I'm using room temp fluid I fill the cup with ice, pour in the fluid to 75% then top off with more ice.


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## greenlight (Aug 12, 2006)

Glad you guys like your Bubba kegs. Now its time to figure out how to make ice.


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## bubbacatfish (Aug 12, 2006)

Filled my keg about 80% full of ice yesterday at 4:30pm. It's now 4:55am & there's still enough ice left to fill a small juice glass. I did use only cool(ish) water both days, obviously the extra ice makes all the difference. I'll use a little less tomorrow. It leaked slightly the first day but after realizing the lid could be tighten more than I thought I've had no troubles. Very cool item!


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## Omega Man (Aug 12, 2006)

FINALLY got ma hands on a Bubba. Target has the 52oz ones with racecar guys (#24,#2 I think) for $7.48, that was 50% off!
And the 20oz ones were $6.99, the travel 32 was $9.99. It was a no brainer, the biggest one being the cheapest. 
Just wish it was orange, and didn't have the #24 logo on it.
Taking it too the beach for the week this Sunday, let's see how it does with water and boozy drinks...


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## Cliffnopus (Aug 14, 2006)

frisco said:


> Hey Norm,
> 
> So true !!!! But here is the flip side! Although I have never been to AU.... I can't understand for the life of me, how people in other Countries (non US) use so little ice!!! In Europe and Asia you damm near have to beg for more than one 1''x1'' cube of ice !!! Sorry.... But warm diet Coke does not cut it!!!! When you ask for more ice, they bring you another cube !!! Like there is an Ice shortage !!!! The key to proper ice usage is that there is still a little ice left in your cup after the beverage is finished!
> 
> frisco


I know what you mean, on my first trip to the UK I ordered a gin & tonic and it came with no ice. Try to drink that - yuk ! When I politely asked for ice the bartender dropped one cube into the drink and looked at me. The cube was immediatley shrinking down to nothing so I waved him on and he put two more cubes in and stopped again. Finally I got enough ice to make the drink palatable.

I thought the same thing as you said; is there an ice shortage ?? I don't know what there is about it but warm drinks just don't make it.

Cliff


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## DieselDave (Aug 16, 2006)

My wife FINALLY went and exchanged my cup today. She acted like she had more important things to do, the nerve! I went from a black cup to blaze orange. I assume that just like the fruit, this "orange" cup will be less likely to leak unless peeled or cut in to.


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## greenlight (Aug 16, 2006)

I found that Bakin Robbins' 31 has the best straws for the Bubba Keg. They're long enough to touch the bottom and still stick out the opening. Other straws just fall in.


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## Knight Lights (Aug 17, 2006)

STRAW, STRAW! We don't need no straws!!!

We be using them there BUBBA KEGS, only girly men use straws!

If the water ain't running down your chin, how can you tell if it's cold enough?

A STRAW with a BUBBA KEG? You are kidding right?

Bill


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## frisco (Aug 17, 2006)

Well thanks (or no thanks!) to this thread, I was at Target and saw the Bubba Keg display and bought 3 of them. 20oz, a medium sized Keg looking one.... and the 52oz Big Guy!
I've been useing the 20oz for 3 days now. It has a push in rubber seal Cap (not threaded) and I really love this thing!!!! Hav'nt tried the "Powder Keg" looking ones yet.

Now I feel better about buying the 2 liter sized Diet Pepsi when they go on sale for .99 each.

Note: I'm trying an experiment. Freezing water in a 10oz paper cup to make one huge ice cube. Might last longer? Oh crap..... now were doing runtime tests on ice!!!

Thanks, friso


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## greenlight (Aug 17, 2006)

Or you can just freeze the ice in it.


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## Walt175 (Aug 17, 2006)

Just remember, a large quantity of small ice will cool faster for a shorter time, but one large cube will cool slower for longer. :laughing:


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## Chingyul (Aug 17, 2006)

So, I got the 20oz version for work.

Just a concern. Or is there a concern about putting hot liquids (coffee) in to the plastic mug? I assumed it's safe since they said I could, but people seem to be worried about the plastic leaching out chemicals.

I must say though, I've been getting comments at work. At the meeting today, someone asked if it was beer or coffee since it says Keg on it. HAHA


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## DieselDave (Aug 20, 2006)

Freezing ice in the keg may cause problems over time. 

I am on my fourth keg today. I did some work in the yard then cooked about 180 burgers. I can't seem to get hydrated. I was in and out cooking the burgers. If I would have stayed outside it would have been 8 kegs or the hospital. At 4:30PM it's 92 degrees with 50% humidity. Actually the humidity is lower than what I thought, Im turning into a bigger wimp as time goes on.

I carried Bubba on the floor of my riding mower this AM. I have done this many times with 4-5 different types of cups that are too large for the cup holder. Bubba 52 is the first one that didn't tip over during the whole cut. I go over some pretty good bumps and fairly steep angles. It slid around but the center of gravity on this unit is terrific. I like it even more. I think I am going to buy a couple of more. PS: No, I don't work for Bubba but have been called one many times.

Here is a shot of me and Bubba. He's a UT fan.


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## creampuff (Aug 20, 2006)

Are there subliminal messages embedded into this forum? Because for whatever reason, I just went to 4 different stores, for no other reason than to buy a couple of Bubba Kegs. They work well...but why I was obsessed with purchasing this is beyond me....


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## Reaper (Aug 20, 2006)

OK, so I finally broke down and went to Targets to look for the Bubba Keg which I finally found in the automotive section sine the Wal-Mart here does not seem to carry them. Out of about 16 of the 52 oz. size ones, only 5 did not have broken handles. I was getting worried there for a time but finally got 2 that were ok. Also gave me a good excuse to get two Rock River lights.


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## MoonRise (Sep 15, 2006)

Sigh, darn CPF made me do it.

Had to go and get school supplies for kid. Went to Walmart. Got school supplies. Saw BubbaKeg. Got Bubba52 on seasonal-markdown for $3.00. :nana:

Bubba is big. I'm drinking more water now, because I don't have to get up to refill Bubba as often as the previous big-but-smaller-than-52oz mug. Have to get up more to go to the bathroom now.

Haven't done an ice-runtime test. But overall I give the Bubba52 a :thumbsup:

On the way home I think I'll stop at Wallyworld at see if there are anymore Bubba52's.


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## Omega Man (Sep 15, 2006)

My 52oz Bubba came to the ocean with me, and I'm disappointed with the time it kept ice. It only kept 7 or 8 cubes for maybe 3 hours. And even less time when it was on the beach. I was hoping it'd keep water colder and ice longer, than it's done so far. It doesn't keep cold water colder overnight when left on my dresser, either.
I still like it, it's sort of a novelity now.


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## bubbacatfish (Sep 16, 2006)

Gotta use more ice!! I fill over half way, almost 3/4 full of ice & it lasts 12 hours. Filled at 4:10pm, it's 4:25am now & I still have 3 or 4 partial ice cubes floating in a about 1/2 cup of water. Some days I come home with a bit left, other days I finish just before leaving work. Bet you could count the exact number of ice cubes needed to get it to last a set amount of time & it wouldn't vary much from day to day (trips to the beach excluded).

The handle on my is starting to loosen up a bit as I reef on it to get the seal tight but other than that



. 

I've already noticed pocket change that would otherwise be spent on bottled water starting to add up in my mason jar



.





Omega Man said:


> My 52oz Bubba came to the ocean with me, and I'm disappointed with the time it kept ice. It only kept 7 or 8 cubes for maybe 3 hours. And even less time when it was on the beach. I was hoping it'd keep water colder and ice longer, than it's done so far. It doesn't keep cold water colder overnight when left on my dresser, either.
> I still like it, it's sort of a novelity now.


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## Omega Man (Sep 16, 2006)

Thanks bubba, I'll have to try more ice next time. I don't have ice trays, no room in freezer, so I ususally just rely on it keeping cold at room temp during the day.


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## greenlight (Sep 16, 2006)

Try freezing water inside the bubba keg. You get a bigger piece of ice which should melt more slowly, but floats to the top and may cause more sloshing.


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## powernoodle (Sep 16, 2006)

creampuff said:


> but why I was obsessed with purchasing this is beyond me....




Same here. I've checked Target (to no avail), and am headed to Walmart next. Told Mrs. Powernoodle that I was giving into peer pressure, which she found strange as she knows I don't have any friends.  

peace


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## Omega Man (Sep 16, 2006)

greenlight said:


> Try freezing water inside the bubba keg. You get a bigger piece of ice which should melt more slowly, but floats to the top and may cause more sloshing.


 Man, it's always the simplest things that are farthest from your mind... awesome idea.


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## DaveG (Sep 17, 2006)

powernoodle said:


> Same here. I've checked Target (to no avail), and am headed to Walmart next. Told Mrs. Powernoodle that I was giving into peer pressure, which she found strange as she knows I don't have any friends.
> 
> peace


 Good one.:laughing:


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## JimH (Sep 17, 2006)

Topper said:


> Hi Norm, Topper here in Arkansas  I can tell you from my own experience if you buy two 2 liter bottles and place one in the refrigerator and leave one out at room temp the one in the fridge will lose its "fizz" faster.
> I do not claim to know why but for me it does.


The bottle in the refrigerator hasn't really lost fizz, it's just less fizzy. What causes the fizz is the release of carbon dioxide from the soda. Two things affect the solubility of CO2 in water - temperature and pressure.

Solubility increases as pressure increases and decreases as temperature increases. Consequently the warm soda will release CO2 faster than the cold soda, thereby appearing to have more fizz.

You need to carry your experiment one step further. Remove the bottle from the refrigerator and let it warm to room temperature. Then compare the fizz in the 2 bottles.


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## cobb (Sep 17, 2006)

Looks interesting. At the call center I use to work at least year I would freeze a half gallon bottle of ice tea, lemonade or what ever I was interested in and drink it as the morning went on. 

During college and now, I carry many small 20 oz bottles and fill them with various fluids, cola, oj, gatorade, ice tea and a bottle of water thats frozen for ice purposes. The bottles I drink later in the day are not filled all the way and frozen over night. 

Gives me a good 7 20 oz bottles of cold fluids for my 16 hour days.


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## greenlight (Mar 22, 2007)

I've been using my bubba keg as an ice bucket for cooling beer. I keep it in the fridge with ice in it, and when I take the beer out I replace it with another bottle. They stay extra cold that way. After a couple of days the ice melts away, but I have more of that.

It only holds one bottle- maybe I need something bigger to hold more beer.

Sometimes I take the iced bubba keg with me to set the beer in, so it stays cold while I'm drinking it.


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## Omega Man (Mar 22, 2007)

Yeah, the Bubba Keg thread! 
I'll be taking Bubba to the beach this year again, he's so excited.


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## bubbacatfish (Mar 23, 2007)

Was warm up here today, Bubba season is fast approaching!!


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## Niteowl (Mar 26, 2007)

I've been looking at those things for a year or more now and have managed to resist buying one. Guess I'll be getting one this weekend. Damn peer pressure!


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## DieselDave (Mar 26, 2007)

Bubba and I just got back from vacation. We went to Austin for a week. It's a 12 hour trip so I had to refill Bubba once each way. He is 7 months old now and still used daily. The lip is still holding it's seal and he only drips slowly when knocked over.


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## DharmaBum (Mar 26, 2007)

Norm, I'm with you. I'll take a glass of cool water ANY day over a glass of ice water.


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## DieselDave (Nov 23, 2009)

It's been a hair over 38 months since starting this thread, around 1,150 days ago. Since that time Bubba has been a faithful friend. He still gets used 7 days a week. He goes with me to work every day and stays outside with me on the weekend. Like myself, Bubba is not as pretty as he once was but he keeps working. About once every two months Bubba gets his seal removed and bleached. It gets removed and cleaned more often if he starts to leak. He likes to get mildew on the rubber seal. He has been dropped many times and the edge of his flip-top has chips but still seals very well. Last week when closing the flip top I found a large stress crack in the top so applied super glue and it was fixed. I am considering retiring Bubba to a back-up status this Christmas.

Bottom line. The Bubba Keg will give you a good 3 years of hard service with minimal maintenance. If the seal is clean and inserted correctly it should not leak. If it's on it's side with the flip-top closed it will still drip.


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