I wanted to throw one out there in regards to coolers. Can anyone share their experience using a Yeti/Rtic/or comparable soft sided cooler? Obviously the price can range quite a bit between the Yeti and the "knockoff" brands like Rtic.

Looking for review on those who have taken them into the BWCA.

How long/well did the ice hold up?

How were they on portages?

I have used a basic soft sided cooler with a block of ice for a number of years and it has worked fairly well, keeping things cold for 2-4 days. Trying to figure out if these other types work better and if they are worth the investment.

Thanks,

I prefer dry ice.

This worked well in a soft-side cooler:

Freeze a bag of pre-cooked meatballs like Hormel or similar from the grocery store.

Get a big block of dry ice, place it at the bottom of the cooler. Put the meatballs and whatever else you want to keep frozen for a day or two on top of the dry ice.
Put hot dogs, lunch meat, cheese, steaks, hamburger patties or whatever else you want to keep cold on top of that. Open as little as possible. Save the meatballs for the 2nd or 3rd or 4th day, and they'll probably still be frozen. 2nd night, they'll likely still be rock hard. We packed some Ragu in a food saver bag and made spaghetti and meatballs one night and kraft mac and cheese with meatballs the next night. Two of the best camp meals I've had that weren't steak or hamburgers.

The best part about dry ice is that it doesn't turn in to water and slosh around. It's also a lot lighter than frozen water for the same freezing capacity.

Once you get past 3 or 4 days, you're not going to have much in the way of cold in the cooler.

I imagine a Yeti or equivalent cooler would extend this process out even further, but then you've got a lot of space and weight that the bulky cooler adds.

If we bring fresh food, we only generally eat something "fresh" the first couple days then rely on freeze-dried meals for the rest of the trip, mostly because fresh food is heavy.

Not sure about soft sided coolers but I got a big mug (rtic) for Christmas. A handful of ice cubes can last like 12 hours or more.

my buddy has an Rtic soft sided and i just received one for Xmas. we used his up at the cabin and seemed to keep things cold for a solid 3 to 4 days, they reco that you use the blue ice packs vs ice in the cooler. Regardless, its fairly lightweight and will definitely work for your needs.

I don't bring this to the bwca, but my polar bear (soft sided) cooler is the shiznit.

I purchased a couple different sizes of the IceMules about 8 weeks ago. When they arrived I returned them. They seemed to be a good quality but the way they sealed up, like a dry bag, left the usable space small but the overall size very large. I decided that if I wanted to carry something that big I would bite the bullet and go for a soft-sided Yeti for more interior room, easier to access items, and likely much better quality and cold retention, or probably a smarter option like a CCS Food Pack. At least the food pack could be used for load equalizing as the food is used up. Still haven't decided if I want to use a cooler or not. I don't mind eating shelf stable and freeze dried or dehydrated items. It's about the scenery, nature, fresh air and relaxation for me.

Thanks everyone and keep the input coming.

I am hoping I can make up my mind within the week. Evidently Rtic is a Houston based company and with Houston hosting the Superbowl Rtic is discounting the soft sided cooler for this week which makes them even less expensive then the Yeti's. Basically makes them 25% of the cost of a Yeti.

https://www.rticcoolers.com/shop/coolers/softpak

I have a RTIC SoftPak 20 and it's great. They're on sale right now too. I wouldn't consider it a knock off, that implies the quality isn't as good as the former industry leader (Yeti). The quality and performance is just as good, they just happen to be a fraction of the price. The SoftPak is an upgrade over the traditional softsided cooler. The insulation and seal is top notch.

RTIC also has their 65 Q cooler on sale for $139.99, which is a unbelievable deal considering Yeti sells theirs for $400.

That's good feedback on the IceMules. I've been thinking about getting one of the smaller ones to carry a couple of days worth of bacon, brats and steaks for 2-4 people.

Well I am jumping in with both feet.

Purchased the Rtic Softpack 40. Figure with their Superbowl week sale it was $104.99 down from their normal price of $149.99. With the comparable Yeti cooler costing $399.99 that is a super deal, assuming they are comparable.

I will try to remember to update with my review after my first trip in June.

We have a 30 qt. Hopper, and rotomolded Yetis ranging from 15 to 125 qts. The hard ones are absolute toads for their respective sizes, but the Hoppers are by no means featherweights themselves. Cannot imagine in a million years canoe tripping with either. Car camping, boating, day at the beach, tailgating, hanging out around the pool? Absolutely!

I have a Yeti and an RTIC hard cooler. The YETI is definitely higher quality--if you look at the seals on the lid my YETI is perfect, there is a small gap in the RTIC. RTIC had a leg break off almost right away. It was an easy fix, but none the less wasn't perfect.

Not trying to knock the RTIC just saying the YETI is very high quality...there is a difference. Now after using both I don't think the cost (especially with the current RTIC sale) justifies the difference. I'd get the RTIC. I might get their soft sided lunch pack since it is on sale.

T

quote BigCurrent: "I have a RTIC SoftPak 20 and it's great. They're on sale right now too. I wouldn't consider it a knock off, that implies the quality isn't as good as the former industry leader (Yeti). The quality and performance is just as good, they just happen to be a fraction of the price. The SoftPak is an upgrade over the traditional softsided cooler. The insulation and seal is top notch.

RTIC also has their 65 Q cooler on sale for $139.99, which is a unbelievable deal considering Yeti sells theirs for $400."

They're knock offs alright. I have both brands. Also they just lost a lawsuit and have to quit with the yeti impersonating.

quote timatkn: "I have a Yeti and an RTIC hard cooler. The YETI is definitely higher quality--if you look at the seals on the lid my YETI is perfect, there is a small gap in the RTIC. RTIC had a leg break off almost right away. It was an easy fix, but none the less wasn't perfect.


Not trying to knock the RTIC just saying the YETI is very high quality...there is a difference. Now after using both I don't think the cost (especially with the current RTIC sale) justifies the difference. I'd get the RTIC. I might get their soft sided lunch pack since it is on sale.


T"

My experience as well, my RTIC is well, pretty rough to say the least. Had to do some mods to it just to get a tight seal. Quality isn't even close.

Well, I am back from my trip with the review.

I ended up purchasing the Rtic soft sided 40 and could not have been more impressed. Not sure if they made design changes based on some of the previous comments but it rocked.

I filled the cooler with a gallon jug filled with water and frozen and 2 5lb bags of ice. Along with a number of food items. I filled the cooler on a Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. and on our last dinner Friday night I still had about 20% of the ice cubes and the ice block.

It is a little big to carry but if you are not going the minimalist route and you want a few cold luxuries I give it a 5 out of 5.

I lucked out at the REI garage sale last weekend and picked up a brand new Yeti Hopper 30 for $250.00 off. It was new and still had the tags on it, but was missing the shoulder strap. For $99.87 how could I go wrong! I used it that night and it had ice cubes in it 2 days later still. I started out with warm drinks and only about 5 lbs. of ice to begin with.

Just got back from a 7 day trip in the BWCA and we used a YETI 30 soft side cooler. I would highly recommend one and I have been the guy that would always say, "I will never send that much for a cooler." Thankful of a buddy who had one and let me borrow it. We had fresh meat for the entire trip (brats, skirt steaks, ham steaks, bacon, breakfast links, etc... Other the the Pre Frozen meat, we had a 1 liter frozen bottle of water that is all we used.

I am going on a solo trip next week and just received the RTIC soft 30. It's a bit big for a solo trip for sure, but I don't intend to fill it.

I'm hoping to eat a lot of fish and after having made the mistake of forgetting eggs on a fly-in trip 2 years ago, I don't want to make that mistake again as it's hard to get the breading to stick without it. I plan to take 3 small bottles and fill them with a milk/egg mixture. Two of them will be refrigerated while the 3rd will be frozen. I figure freezing the 3rd may get me through a full week to still be cold toward the end.

Think I'll get the Arctic Chiller ice packs and use instead of freezing bottles of water.

Forgo, if you freeze water, you can drink it if/when it melts and not have to pack it out.

I've normally frozen bottles of water in the past for fly-in trips. I was thinking about them weighing more, but as you mentioned, I can drink some and lighten up as I go along. Can't do that with the freezer packs.

2Rivers:

Yeti has a 30 Hopper that has an envelope look to it and another version which is a soft sided rectangular shape cooler - looks like the traditional style cooler. Which one did you take to the BWCA and how did it do when portaging?

Thanks

Elrw

I have an Rtic soft sided cooler The one that fits a 6 pack. It holds ice for a few days in the middle of a hot summer. The zipper closure is a pain in the ass

Own a few yeti products. I do not canoe trip with them, but all get pretty heavy use in all seasons. The hopper 20 is the soft sided cooler I own. It is great . I did notice that the zipper on the original design was not the best set up. The zipper broke last week . I contacted yeti, and they sent me a new cooler the very next day. The new version has been modified and is much more user friendly.

+1 dry ice. I dont want to bring a cooler. dry ice in the bottom of a CCS food pack.

On my trip in July, I took the RTIC 30 with an Arctic Ice Tundra series 5lb block in it. It is supposed to get cold enough to"replace" dry ice. It definitely freezes colder and stays colder than the other plastic encased ice blocks. I placed this inside of the CCS Food Pack. It worked very well, but was way too heavy in the end for the amount of portaging we did.

Burgers were solid ice before dinner on Day 1. Steaks still frozen for dinner on Day 2. The Zup's Polish were thawed out for lunch on Day 3, but still cold. By Day 4, it was used to keep the summer sausage, cheese and pepperoni out of the sun and temperature swings.

In short, works great but too heavy.

In the end, I would probably go with an RTIC 20 instead of 30 and two 1.5lb blocks instead of the big 5lb.

I see people really like the Yetti,but that is a lot for a cooler?

Still loving my Rtic 65, it has proven to be worth its price and then some

Still feel the same I have a yeti and an RTIC, the YETI is higher quality but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy an RTIC at a lower price.

For most people they are probably over kill, for me they have probably already paid for themselves in less ice, less trips to the store, less food spoiled or money saved by being able to bring my own and not buy on the road. Also just the convenience of them—-can’t put a price on that.

T

I seen a experiment on a local TV station,they had coolers of various design and price range and which one the ice lasted the longest. I know a couple makes were close to the same,but other than that I am not sure of the results. I will have to do a little research. It should be out there and I am just curious?

Pinetree: "I see people really like the Yetti,but that is a lot for a cooler?"

Yes, Yeti products are expensive. However, with REI 20% off coupons and a REI dividend accumulating credit card, I have a couple Tundra Coolers that felt like reasonable purchases.

ELRW: "2Rivers:
Yeti has a 30 Hopper that has an envelope look to it and another version which is a soft sided rectangular shape cooler - looks like the traditional style cooler. Which one did you take to the BWCA and how did it do when portaging?
Elrw"

I traded some photography work for the Yeti 8-can soft-sided cooler-- overpriced in my opinion, but nice. The Yeti envelope design is too big and too hard to get in and out of. September, 2017--pretty much everything in it at the start was frozen, and stuff stayed cool in it throughout the 8-day trip without ice, but of course we keep it out of the sun and try not to open it a lot. I hand-carried it which was no big deal once I figured out the best angle to hold it so it didn't hang up on obstacles. Easy to stash in the canoe, very tough, leakproof. I would use dry ice in hot weather. Photo: cocktail hour, windbound on Sunday Island.

cooler test

Also 5 day tube video on left is interesting.

So is their any Orca owners? Which I see also has a heavy price tag.

Never tried an orca. I can always find a YETI on sale for 20-30% off at Cabelas or REI and use gear dollars to make it virtually free or RTIC is about half the price of Orca/YETI—-so just never had the opportunity to purchase one. With deals/sales I can find on the other products I just can’t justify the Orca although it looks even better.

T

Pinetree: " cooler test


Also 5 day tube video on left is interesting.


So is their any Orca owners? Which I see also has a heavy price tag."

Here's another test, Field & Stream 12 coolers test included dropping them off the back of a pick up at 45 mph.

We took our Engel Deep Blue to the Allagash WW in Maine, summer 2016. The portages were minimal, so it worked well for us. Eight nights on the water, we had fresh cream in our coffee every morning, and the two sodas we stashed for our last day treat were plenty cold at the end.

The key is how you pack it and how often open it.

When I went with my friend for camping then someone suggested us to carry a cooler and it gives the reason why. Then we search for cooler on google and lots on review sites come. After we will read all the reviews we decided to buy yeti cooler. It was expensive but every site gives them good reviews. We shocked by the performance of yeti it stores the ice for two days. By yeti cooler, we did camping for three days.
So, my experience is good with yeti cooler.

Got suckered into bringing a Yeti tundra 75 last October. Thing was so heavy we had to use poles through the handles and carry it like the ark of the covenant for the portage into Insula. Never again!

BuckFlicks: "I prefer dry ice. "

Seems like an excellent way to extend the use of fresh food while tripping...

About how much dry ice are you using, and where does one buy it?

MidwestFirecraft: "Got suckered into bringing a Yeti tundra 75 last October. Thing was so heavy we had to use poles through the handles and carry it like the ark of the covenant for the portage into Insula. Never again! "

Ooooof! I don't envy you guys on that task. That must've been brutal.

34 pounds empty, well over fifty pounds with the food!

I know someone on here recently had a real bad experience with an RTIC soft cooler falling apart right away and then dodging the warranty by saying it was misused. Kind of a shame, I have had great luck with their hard coolers (I have 3). I actually got an RTIC soft cooler for Christmas, it had been on my list and I forgot to inform my wife of the bad feedback. Luckily she got a great deal on it, I guess we will see! I’ve been using it and so far so good, keeps my food/drinks from freezing while ice fishing.

I don't know about the softsided coolers, but we have had good luck with Pelican coolers. Unfortunately it is too big and WAY too heavy to take into the BW.

GickFirk22: "

MidwestFirecraft: "Got suckered into bringing a Yeti tundra 75 last October. Thing was so heavy we had to use poles through the handles and carry it like the ark of the covenant for the portage into Insula. Never again! "

Ooooof! I don't envy you guys on that task. That must've been brutal. "

I'd love to see a picture of that (LOL)!

ozarkpaddler: I'd love to see a picture of that (LOL)!
"

I wish I had to. It was my first time in a solo canoe with the group and I was already essentially the only one who took pictures. As anyone who has tripped in a solo canoe knows it is much harder to stop and take pics. Even on shore I felt like it was harder because I was responsible for everything in my boat and just never got the action pics I wanted.
It was classic though, got some strange looks as we crossed paths on the portage trail.

sns: "

BuckFlicks: "I prefer dry ice. "

Seems like an excellent way to extend the use of fresh food while tripping...


About how much dry ice are you using, and where does one buy it?"

Depends on how much food you need to be kept cold for how many people for how many days in what type of cooler. I use a small soft sided cooler & need a few things cold for about 3 days. Meats are frozen solid & vacuum sealed. After day 3, those things are gone. I've gotten my dry ice at Skube's in Ely. There are no set dimensions, they cut it with a saw to whatever size you need. Make sure to wrap it really well with newspaper & it will last a longer time for you than just a minimum wrapping. I think I got 3-4 lbs last time I was there, like a brick.

sns: "

BuckFlicks: "I prefer dry ice. "

Seems like an excellent way to extend the use of fresh food while tripping...


About how much dry ice are you using, and where does one buy it?"

Hey sns -

You can buy ice by the pound, lots of grocery stores have it, just ask the customer service desk if they do... especially stores that are near fishing or camping areas. I think we bought a piece at one of the Rainbow stores in Minneapolis, but I'm guessing you can find some spots closer to the BWCA? I don't recall how big the piece we bought was, but we got one big enough to completely cover the bottom of the cooler.

One of the advantages is that dry ice freezes at a colder temperature than water ice, so it will super-freeze the food you put on top of it. So you put something that's already frozen (like meatballs) on top of it, they also get super cold, and stay that way longer. Another advantage is that as the temperature of dry ice melts, instead of turning to liquid, it turns directly in to a gas (carbon dioxide, harmless in a ventilated area) and doesn't soak your food in dirty water.

I have used yeti hopper backflip 24 and my experience was good because i read the coolers review before buying it.

We hauled in an Igloo Cooler with dry ice in the bottom for thirty years using a German military surplus pack frame. This worked great for large groups and 5 night stays. We've had ice cream, lobster tail, etc. and enjoyed being able to eat whatever we wanted. The new Yeti coolers ( hard and soft) are marvels but come not without a big price-tag and considerable weight. I wanted a different set-up for a trip with just my wife and wanted all our food in one container for portaging and possible hanging. The 2 Gal bucket with a sealed Gamma lid completely surrounded by at least 2" of closed cell foam in the bottom half of a 60L blue barrel should nicely hold all of our food needed for five days. The unfrozen food will be in marked bags above the cooler section and will be easy to take out the few times we want access to the frozen foods. Thanks to Swampturtle for the info about Skubes cutting dry ice to size. Being two days drive away, I'll probably refresh the cooler before going in.
So, if you have a cooler sized for your group and days-in, whether it's soft or hard-sided, I like whatever it takes to have meals that you look forward to. The new coolers are much improved.

Here's a good comparison of backpack coolers as well:

https://gearjunkie.com/best-soft-sided-cooler-backpack-review

We've used an Orca Pod on the last two trips and it has worked well, stays cold until about day 3.

I would not take cold food into BWCA/Quetico, but to each his own. As for coolers: I have a Yeti 45 quart hard sided cooler and an Engel large soft sided cooler. The Engel is fantastic. I am sure all of the main brands are good enough, but I would buy Engel when given a choice.

The Cooler Shock ice packs from Amazon work very well and in the soft sided Engel resulted in cans of Coke freezing after sitting in car during the day.

Ragged: "I know someone on here recently had a real bad experience with an RTIC soft cooler falling apart right away and then dodging the warranty by saying it was misused. Kind of a shame, I have had great luck with their hard coolers (I have 3). I actually got an RTIC soft cooler for Christmas, it had been on my list and I forgot to inform my wife of the bad feedback. Luckily she got a great deal on it, I guess we will see! I’ve been using it and so far so good, keeps my food/drinks from freezing while ice fishing."

I was that someone. It's very unfortunate because the thing holds cold exceptionally well. My GF and I have used it as our only cooler for many weekend trips. If only it weren't, you know, falling apart despite having been babied. Since I posted the heads up here and a couple other places I've heard from others who've had the same experience. RTIC must be doing enough volume not to care about the narrative any more. I'm going to try and glue it back together with HH66; which reminds me, I need to order some HH66. ;)

For the last two trips, we have started freezing our food and taking the knock off Ozark Trail version from walmart to keep the food cold. Basically, we freeze chile, spaghetti sauce, beef strogganoff, etc in zip lock bags (qt or smaller) and simply throw each individual bag (bag and all) in a pot of boiling water until our meal is cooked. We also cook the noodles in a separate pot. Anyway, we haul our frozen food in the cooler with about 5/6 bottles of frozen water for extended cold. This works great for a base camp trip of 5 days or less. Make sure you are always storing the cooler in a shaded area. This has worked great for us, and while it sounds like a lot of work, I still say it's less work and time than dehydrating food. Not to mention, it tastes better. When portaging, there is always a free hand from someone not carrying the canoe. We have no problem single portaging, even with the cooler(s). We had a group of 9 last year and had to take two 12 can coolers for the frozen food (5 day trip). Worked fine.

One side not, I'm not sure I'd recommend this if you'll be doing a loop trip and traveling every day. I'd highly recommend if for base camping. Frozen ring sausage in the morning and spaghetti in the evening. How could you go wrong? :-)

LOL, I was thinking of doing that intentionally on our upcoming trip, thinking it wouldn't be too bad with only one long portage.....

MidwestFirecraft: "Got suckered into bringing a Yeti tundra 75 last October. Thing was so heavy we had to use poles through the handles and carry it like the ark of the covenant for the portage into Insula. Never again!