I am deciding between a RTIC or a Ozark Trail, soft side or hard side, cooler. Looking for a size to handle 3-5 day trips (in the BWCA and car camping), but not take up a whole pack or the trunk of a car. Thoughts on hard side or soft side, Rtic or Ozark (not going to pay for a Yeti)?

Well my opinion is I can usually get by without a cooler that many days, but if I was going to bring one, I'd go soft-sided due to weight and the soft sided one should be fine for five days. I'd pick which ever was cheaper between the two. If they are similar, then I'd say RTIC.

T

If your going for a high end one get a orca cooler, great quality and made in USA

I've done most of my BWCAW trips without a cooler, but have become partial to soft sided coolers for my trips. I've owned both Polar Bear and AO coolers and the AO is much beefier and better insulated. Instead of Ice, I freeze a few Powerades and/or Diet Mountain Dews to go in there. Packs down small when it's empty. My go to soft side is my AO, it gets used every week for both paddling and for trips to the grocery store. Here's a link:
AO Coolers

None of the above. Take dehydrated food, save the weight and enjoy the portage.

quote Frenchy19: "None of the above. Take dehydrated food, save the weight and enjoy the portage."

The older I get, the more I use Frenchy's advice and take more dehydrated/freeze dried than I used to!

The cooler I take is a small one and it is nice for your cheese and sausage to stay nice and cool. But, for the first 20+ years I never took a cooler of any kind and for the average BWCAW trip it's really a luxury and not a need.

Good info and input so far, thanks.

I should clarify that the group I'm a part of has been BWCA tripping for 22 years with a 5-8 person group. We currently utilize a tow service and only portage once (only 1 portage, but we end up double tripping the portage) and base camp, so weight isn't an issue. We pack more then what is needed and are not minimalists on the trip, and if anything, pack too much. We enjoy our trips now as a way to be with friends, fish, and enjoy the BWCA with some of the "luxury items" we haven't always been able to have when packing and portaging 25 miles each way.

While I'm sure dehydrated foods are great for some they are not something our group chooses to use.

The cooler would be used to keep bait cold and safe from tearing a bag open while in transit, then we would transfer from frozen foods into the cooler for the duration of the trip or as long as the ice would last (things like sausage, cheese, meats, etc). I would use the cooler for car camping trips and distance trips to a big box grocery (few hours from my home) when not in the BWCA.

quote CoachWalleye74: "Good info and input so far, thanks.
I should clarify that the group I'm a part of has been BWCA tripping for 22 years with a 5-8 person group. We currently utilize a tow service and only portage once (only 1 portage, but we end up double tripping the portage) and base camp, so weight isn't an issue. We pack more then what is needed and are not minimalists on the trip, and if anything, pack too much. We enjoy our trips now as a way to be with friends, fish, and enjoy the BWCA with some of the "luxury items" we haven't always been able to have when packing and portaging 25 miles each way.
While I'm sure dehydrated foods are great for some they are not something our group chooses to use.
The cooler would be used to keep bait cold and safe from tearing a bag open while in transit, then we would transfer from frozen foods into the cooler for the duration of the trip or as long as the ice would last (things like sausage, cheese, meats, etc). I would use the cooler for car camping trips and distance trips to a big box grocery (few hours from my home) when not in the BWCA.
"

Well, if that's the case, I've toyed with the idea of taking my Canyon cooler on a base camp type trip. I DO use it on overnights on the river and car camping trips. It too gets used on every "Grocery" run since it's a minimum of an hour to the grocery store for us. Ours would easily fit in a #4 pack with room for a 12 pack soft cooler and odds & ends on top. You could fit 2 22's in a #4. In my experience, I've kept food cold for 4 days without additional ice.
Canyon Cooler

For me, when I take one it has always been a soft sided cooler. I like the way I can carry it better and the flexibility. We have take frozen bacon, sausage, steak, eggs, etc. I like the couple days of fresh foods, before I swap to dry. I guess the reason Ilike a soft side is the same reason I do not take a external frame pack. seems to fit in the canoe and carry better. The one I take is small, no more than 2 days worth of stuff.

Well I purchased a soft sided Ozark trail cooler (36 can size). It looks like a nice cooler, good features and built well. I put a frozen bottle of water in this cooler (20 ounce bottle) and it lasted less than 12 hours until it was completely thawed to water. The cooler was closed, in a house with roughly 70 degree temperature consistently. I am now going to put the actual cooler in the freezer for a day, then re-test. If it doesn't do much better I will return and order an rtic.

I am not an engineering expert but I don't think that was a fair test. In a 36 can cooler and only using a 20 oz. frozen bottle, there is way too much empty space. That extra air trapped in the cooler will cause thawing/heating much sooner. You have to fill it up like you would for a trip to actually test it, and if you aren't going to fill it all the way then I'd get a smaller cooler.

T

The cooler is the size I want it to be for my needs. As for the test if the same conditions are used for both coolers I see it as a fair test of the coolers, as the environment is controlled and the ice amount/size/structure is the same. It may or may not be how the advertised time frame for keeping ice was developed, but that is not what I am measuring it against. It's simply testing how long the form/amount of ice will stay in each cooler in the same environment.

Last year I hauled in a Engel 25 hard sided cooler. It worked great except for the weight along with braided cable and padlock to secure it to a tree. I thought long and hard about it and since then I have bought an article softsided cooler. I bought the lunch pale, 20, and 40. The lunch pale or the 20 would be the one I take in the BWCA as I don't think I could find a tree branch suitable for bear hanging to hold the 40 when it's full.
If anyone is looking at an Rtic hard cooler, look up reviews for damaged threads in the bottom for drain plugs and ask yourself if its worth the risk of getting one damaged and having to pay return shipping on a big heavy roto cooler. With my dealings with Rtic on my hard sided cooler I returned was that there not to concerned about quality as they didn't care to write down ways to improve the latching instead asked me to write them a letter on how to fix it.
The Ozark soft side cooler lid is about 1/2" thick. Rtic lid is 2" thick and Yeti is about 1" thick.

So the rtic soft side 30 instead of the Ozark trail soft side 36 would be your recommendation?

Our group eats REALLY well. We bring dry food in Bearvaults, but also use PolarBear backpack coolers. We put the frozen burgers, brats, and frozen vegetables in the backpack coolers. I have had things stay cool for five days. Anything not dehyrdated or in a box goes in the polar bear coolers. Polar Bear Backpack Cooler

Which of the polar bear backpack coolers are equivalent to a 30 can cooler?

Got two of these for the scouts a number of years ago,,,,like them a lot. Will be sad when a bear shreds them someday.

CCS Food pack

dr bob

I purchased an Ice Mule cooler for next year. One of my buddies took a Mule in last year, and the 6lbs of Steaks were still FROZEN solid on day 3. That is crazy good, if you ask me, especially out of a soft cooler.

I did some basic testing with it, by putting 6 pork loins in the cooler, compressing out all the air, and leaving it in my living room in 70 degrees. IN 2 days, they were thawing, but still ICE cold.

Yea, it will work.

Ice Mule Cooler

I have not used it in the Boundary Waters, but do use my 58 Qt Orca a bunch for river trips. It was expensive but will out last me. It was also a unique shape that fits very well in my vehicle and canoe. Taller than than usual so not as wide as others of comparable size. I use it at beer festivals and it is nice to have a tall cooler for the bigger bottles. They can sit upright in there.

Was going to get an RTIC but the lead time was over 6 months and I did not want to pay up front for a product I would not see for half a year. They don't advertise their lead times very well. You have to ask directly and then add a few months. They are a nice cooler for much cheaper though.

I have an Ice Mule Cooler. I have been debating on taking it with plastic bottles of Diet Coke on ice and see how it works.

Update on the Ozark soft side cooler test...

I had the cooler open, and in a deep freeze for 48 hours, then put the frozen bottle of water in the cooler, sealed it up, and left it in the house (70 degrees). Same thing, about 12-14 hours and there was no ice in the bottle.

I think I am going to return this cooler and give the RTIC 30 a try.

I bought an RTIC SoftPak 40 when they had them on sale for a c note including shipping which was amazingly fast. A good friend has the Ozark Trail knock-off and there's just no comparison. The RTIC clearly has more insulation and is much more durable. The zipper setup is the same as my dry suit so it will not leak (which means it will also prevent or at least retard considerably cold air egress and warm air ingress). Even comes with a tube of zipper lube. I had to swallow hard before clicking "place order". I mean $100 for a softie? And on sale at that? But, I'm very pleased with it and am confident it will give me years of service. It's truly a beast. I think you would be equally pleased with the thirty can version but for a weekend cooler and base camping I strongly encourage you to consider the forty for $25 more, especially if you frequently carry canned beverages as they require a lot of space.

Forgot to mention, I like Polar Bears too, but for about the same money the RTIC's a no brainer IMO. For hard coolers I prefer Canyon.

quote CoachWalleye74: "The cooler is the size I want it to be for my needs. As for the test if the same conditions are used for both coolers I see it as a fair test of the coolers, as the environment is controlled and the ice amount/size/structure is the same. It may or may not be how the advertised time frame for keeping ice was developed, but that is not what I am measuring it against. It's simply testing how long the form/amount of ice will stay in each cooler in the same environment. "

Wrong. Think how much energy had to be used just to cool all the empty space in the cooler and the cooler itself? Bad and irrelevant test. A $400 non pre-cooled yeti wouldn't have kept that bottle frozen for 12 hrs.

I have a couple RTICs, and a yeti. The soft sided coolers aren't in the hard coolers league for ice retention. Try the 26qt Ozark hard sided. It's $95 I think.

I returned the Ozark Trail 36 and ordered a RTIC 40 that arrived today. Tested the zipper and it is waterproof. Will test the frozen bottle of water and see how that goes.

Waterproof, sturdy, kept the frozen bottle with some ice for 18 hours in the "flawed test". Looks like it's a keeper.

Thanks for posting your results!

T

quote CoachWalleye74: "Waterproof, sturdy, kept the frozen bottle with some ice for 18 hours in the "flawed test". Looks like it's a keeper.
"

I think you'll be very pleased with it, Coach. It's a good product. I will caution you about one thing though. I attempted to pick mine up by one of the D rings and a six or eight inch strip tore away from the outer fabric. This is not a reflection of the quality of the cooler but rather of my carelessness. It's completely unreasonable to expect the fabric holding that D ring in place to bear all the weight of a fully loaded forty can cooler. I emailed RTIC and they were kind enough to immediately, as in within twenty minutes, issue an RMA for a warranty replacement. That's going above and beyond IMO, but I'm having a hard time facing the idea of parting with it long enough to get a new one without a boo boo LOL. So, don't be like Deuce! The daisy chain loops and D rings are for securing, not lifting. Use the straps or grab it by the lid. Enjoy!