Cold Plunging in an Oversized Cooler: Desert Plunge Exclusive Cold Plunge Tub Review

Hey guys, this is Michael with the Jungle Gym Reviews. Today we are outside reviewing the Desert Plunge Exclusive Cold Plunge Tub and Chiller. I'm typically not one to do reviews on more recovery or home health equipment, but I do understand there's a big overlap in my audience who values home gym equipment and home fitness who also might be interested in things like cold therapy slash cold plunge, sauna, etc. This cold plunge is actually a massive cooler made by Grizzly Coolers here in the USA. This is the Desert Plunge Exclusive Cold Tub version. They have a couple of different models, this one being the main single person model. And because it's a cooler, it serves its purpose in staying really cold, which is great.

And all the way down to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. I wanted to speak to you as a lay person, let's say, how I use this and how you can use this potentially in your home gym. So let's check it out.

All right. So I just closed the lid on this thing to show you what the packaging and size is when it's closed. This is a footprint of about 77 by 44 for the tub itself. It is 31 inches tall and it can fit inside.

I have it here outside on my deck. One actually thing I really like about this, I think there's a couple of different colors. It just doesn't scream cold plunge or like I dropped $10,000 on something ridiculous. And so if you have like a normal house or you know, neighbors, me here in an HOA, people aren't going to look at this and be like, what is that monstrosity on his deck? It looks very discreet and just looks like a big cooler, but then obviously is very functional for being square, holding water, being cold. One thing I actually like that they have on this too, I have little kids. So they have this little locking hole here, which I don't know all the legality and stuff behind that. If you live in the sub division or neighborhood, but I keep this lock at all times just to be safe for my kids. So without a lock, this is what it looks like.

There's actually two little hooks here. You pull down on these. It actually creates a vacuum seal. When you close it, there's this little air hole here. I don't know how exactly it works, but you can hear the air coming out of this whole in particular. So I'm sure that actually helps to seal out like moisture, dirt, and debris. And then you kind of will feel the little vacuum seal as you lift up here. You can actually hear the air. I know you won't pick it up on the mic, but there's a little bit of resistance there because this little rubber lip is sealed all the way around it. That's going to keep the water super clean from outside air again and dust and debris, which then keeps the water better longer, which is actually fantastic. I previously reviewed about a year ago actually and potentially even wearing the same clothes.

So don't give me crap about it. It's cold outside. I only have limited amount of sweatpants and sweatshirts, but I reviewed the IcePod Pro version, which is a pop-up cold plunge made of PVC. That one got really dirty, really fast. That one also had a chiller slash water filter system on it. But I found that I was having every couple of days like the water, even though it looked fine, you could smell it was just like moldy and mildew and stuff like that. I even put, you know, I was putting cleaner in that.

I was taking care of it. My point being is because there was outside air and contaminants getting in the water. This water I have not had to change.

I think I've cleaned it like once in a couple of weeks. Now I mentioned again, I am a lay person. I consider myself a very average person who just happens to have a crazy home gym and reviews gym equipment. So I'm using this in my angle to use this as like what an average person who's into health and home fitness want to spend $3,000. And by the way, it's $3,050, I believe, on sale right now. You can buy the tub by itself for about $1,500, which honestly, I might recommend for some people because $3,000 is a lot of money to drop on anything to be quite honest.

And unless you really know you like cold plunges, I try to tell people like start with cold showers, start with maybe something like that IcePod Pro, which is a pop-up PVC tub, throw in the big icebox, get ice cubes out of your freezer, something that kind of makes sure that you're actually going to want to stick with cold plunges before just dropping $3,000. I think that's more of just a good life lessons and even how I recommend people typically for gym equipment. But when it comes to this, I will say the reason I chose to review this is because it is that step up between just a pop-up version or a DIY version, let's say. And And the super expensive $6,000, $10,000 versions. The assembly, I will say, I'm also an engineer by trade.

You'll actually see the numbers here. They literally step by step number exactly what parts go to what and in what order, which is very, very nice again for the average person. So you can't really see it here, but there's a water filter on the back that you have to change every so much time. The year there's an inlet and an outlet for the tub to the chiller to the filter, and it all kind of keeps the water circulating and clean, obviously, when the lid is closed.

And the chiller itself, super easy to use. There's a button. I have it set right now for the sake of this review, because I'm going to hop in in a second. For potentially a long period of time, I've been set to 63, no, 65.

So I've been set really high right now. Typically I keep it around 50. This goes down as low as 39. And all you do is long hold set and just hit the number down pretty much till the temperature you want.

And then you hit set again and it'll get there pretty fast. One thing I've noticed about this chiller and this tub compared to previous versions is just how cold it stays. So this basically will always keep it exactly at temp, even when it's warm outside, even when it's cold outside. So when it's colder, like overnight, it gets about like 35 degrees, 39 degrees this time of year. That will stay at like 55, which is great. And then vice versa, if it's when it was a little warmer when I first got this and it was 85, 90, and you put that at 43, it's staying at 43. So I certainly can't complain about, let's say, the performance and functionality, which again I would hope at $3,000 would be exactly up to that standard.

Then as far as how well does it work? Again, it's a cold plunge. You get in, I'm going to leave it up to you on what a cold plunge is for and all the health benefits, et cetera. Same thing goes when I'm going to talk about the cleaning.

I think that's a little more, even though there's yes guidelines for it, that's a little more subjective based on kind of how lazy you are and what tools you have. But you get in, it is huge. So I'm six foot two. I can sit comfortably in here. It's plenty wide inside, plenty long inside. It'll go up to your neck for someone up to, I think they said, like six, five or six, seven or six, nine. This thing's massive. I mean, it is absolutely massive.

And again, this is the exclusive version. They have a wide version that is a couple inches wider. So you can basically have two people that sit opposite of each other and kind of put their legs next to each other.

This one I didn't mention though, you can actually also flip on its side and walk through doors, which I think is very helpful for people in case you're wondering, this looks massive. Is it going to go in my house? Can I put in my basement? Yes, you can, depending on your dimension.

So just double check dimension on the website plus your door dimensions. The other cool thing about this, I would say, is this little latching mechanism. So the top stays up.

It will basically, once you lift it up, it's locked up here. So it's not going to fall down on your head and you don't have to hassle with a huge heavy lid. And then there's basically one top position. There's this like semi closed position, which is here as well. This comes just like it is from the factory.

You don't have to install it or do anything. And then when you want to close it, lift up the latch, put it down. You'll hear the kind of the vacuum start to happen with that rubber seal all the way around. Nothing's getting in. Your water staying cold.

You lock it up and you are good till next time. It is definitely up to my neck. Plenty enough for me to get under the water. My feet are touching the end. So I'm kind of like, you know, I let it slide down and my head can kind of use this as a little backrest. My legs have, you know, like three, four inches of clearance before the water top.

So I'm fully, fully submerged. You know, I still got a couple of inches of shoulder room on either side as well. So all things considered, absolutely, absolutely no complaints. It's pretty comfortable. It's not abrasive. It's smooth. It's cold.

So honestly, it works. It does not look like an ice or I don't have to do a whole lot of anything, which is all the things I want. The water is cold. It's clean, not super expensive. And the grand scheme of things when we're talking about Max Min prices of cold plunge. So I would definitely recommend this as a good like mid tier option. Again, I don't know all the different types and versions, but I'll say this something that's hard sided and already like insulated because it is in fact a cooler already a good step in the right direction. So guys, that's it for today's review of the Desert Plunge Cold Tum. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them down below.

I'd be happy to turn it at least try. Thanks for tuning into the Jungle Gym Reviews. We'll see you next time. Take it easy. Peace.