Jenna Marchetti, Senior editor

I'm the senior editor here, which mostly means I keep asking where a claim comes from. A listing calls itself a cold plunge kit. Fine. Is there a chiller, a tub and a pump in the box, or a tub plus a line in the title saying it works with one? If neither the exact listing nor the manual says what ships, it doesn't count as a kit for us.

Most of my week is listings, manuals, warranty pages and owner reviews open side by side. I read the one- and two-star reviews before anything else. When several owners describe the same problem (a seam that slowly loses water, a lid that won't sit flat, a drain valve that drips), it goes into the notes for that tub and into its verdict.

I write the guides on choosing a first tub, on tub-only versus tub-and-chiller kits, on portable versus rigid tubs and on accessories, and I edit most of the others.

To be clear: none of us has set up or sat in these tubs for the site. Our score can't tell you how cold the water stays on your deck in July. What I can do is make sure you know exactly what you're buying, and what to check before a box that big lands at your door.