When the "soft" sided smallish coolers from Yeti came out I was mildly interested and gave them a quick glance until I seen the price and then quickly mocked the little cooler......"who is going to pay that much for that little winky cooler".

But fast forward a couple of years and I am now the proud owner of the little winky cooler. As I have used it I have become exceptionally pleased. Tough as nails, waterproof rugged zipper and good looks makes it a winner for me. I also really like how it carries......a bit more like a brief case and less like a cooler (hanging down, banging against your knees).

Holds freezer packs much longer than my other soft sided cooler as well. It will accompany me most weekends for work and of course every motor boat type fishing trip. It could also be used as a dry bag of sorts for canoe trips with ample protection for things like photographic equipment as the sides are solid, its water and supposedly air tight and reasonably light.

I had to choke down the price and parry the short lived various verbal assaults from the missus but now that I own it I really like it.

I much prefer to talk with you about gear :)

mastertangler: "When the "soft" sided smallish coolers from Yeti came out I was mildly interested and gave them a quick glance until I seen the price and then quickly mocked the little cooler......"who is going to pay that much for that little winky cooler".

But fast forward a couple of years and I am now the proud owner of the little winky cooler. As I have used it I have become exceptionally pleased. Tough as nails, waterproof rugged zipper and good looks makes it a winner for me. I also really like how it carries......a bit more like a brief case and less like a cooler (hanging down, banging against your knees).

Holds freezer packs much longer than my other soft sided cooler as well. It will accompany me most weekends for work and of course every motor boat type fishing trip. It could also be used as a dry bag of sorts for canoe trips with ample protection for things like photographic equipment as the sides are solid, its water and supposedly air tight and reasonably light.

I had to choke down the price and parry the short lived various verbal assaults from the missus but now that I own it I really like it. "

I have also dismissed the small soft Yetis but have found a way to justify to myself the larger TUndra coolers. However, the new Backflip has cought my eye. It seems like a cooler made for canoe tripping. With the proper application of and REI dividend and 20% off coupon, I imagine I'll have yet another Yeti.

Glad to hear your are enjoying your Hopper.

They fit perfectly in the rear baskets of most golf carts as well

I wasn't thrilled with the originally Hopper design, but sprang when they came out with the Hopper Flip. The "12" size fits perfectly in the back of a Paris Expedition sled for winter trekking and packs bottles efficiently. (The 8 is too small to get multiple rows of bottles, and the 18 would work in the sled the long direction, but that takes too much sled space for me.) The Backflip looks darn interesting for canoe tripping certainly, but wouldn't fit as nicely in the sled.

Full price they're crazy, but with a coupon or sale at 20-30% off they're only slighly nuts...

mc2mens: "I much prefer to talk with you about gear :)"

Yes I suppose I can be a little rough at times in the political forum. But I have always heard politics is a "blood sport" ;-)

Yes tony the Flip is what I picked up.......I am less keen on the envelope type shape of the other style. Coupon? I didn't hear anything about no stinking coupon? ;-(

That backflip will give Stu's insulated pack some competition. I have yet to see those in person.

Eventually, wear and tear and plain "old age" will insert itself into my canoe tripping style and base camping with short portages will become the norm. When that happens a greater emphasis on eating really good food will happen and that back flip just might be the ticket for a bit smaller insulated cooler for 1 or 2 guys. Interesting........

If the $$ is too hard to palate for the Yeti, I have the RTIC version and am really happy with it.

The 30 fits well into the bottom of the CCS Deluxe Food pack. Takes up more space than I would prefer, but it sure can keep things cold.