Soft-sided coolers - recommendations

[ODB]

At best I see 4-star reviews on most soft sided coolers - mostly complaining of the zippers, either stiff or failing, or them not keeping ice a long as a hard cooler (not a huge deal to me given how I'll use it).

Which ones have you used that you'd buy again if needed? Looking for smallish one that I can lash down to my kayak (tie-off points are welcome), or carry along when taking the wife/kid fishing.

Gimme your best and your worst.

thanks.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

I have yeti hopper 20/30 that’s 10 years old and still in awesome shape. Holds ices for days. They are great imo

 

[BigNate]

We have a couple Rtic soft coolers, and like them well enough. Won't pay for another Yeti anything. They work well, but at the price they want there are others that are as good for less.

 

[KenLee]

May be too small for your needs, but check out the yeti daytrip lunch bag cooler. I have zero complaints. It was a gift. I wouldn't have paid for it initially, but now that I've used one, I'd pay the $80 for one.

 

[jdn0008]

I got my Hopper Flip 12 at the start of last season and performed great zipper yes is a bit still but they provide a zipper lubricant and it slicked it right up. Holds ice great and has attachment points on either side that would work well for your kayak.

 

[browning2480]

I have the Ozark trail one that has been great! Looks like they are out of stock, but I have two of them and they are really nice!

Robot or human?

 

[omicron1792]

I am into backpack coolers these days. The ice mule works for me and it’s nice to put on and have hands free to carry other stuff.

 

[displacedtexan]

I have yeti hopper 20/30 that’s 10 years old and still in awesome shape. Holds ices for days. They are great imo

Same.

I'm semi actively watching FB marketplace for another one or two.

 

[307]

Our yeti hopper is the magnet version. Highly recommended and worth the price IMO.

 

[kthomas]

RTIC is decent enough for the price. Not Yeti price, but not too far off of Yeti quality.

The zippers are stiff, you have to keep them lubricated. But RTIC CS is good, they'll help you out if break something.

 

[antaresproper]

I have an RTIC backpack cooler, a little pricey but great.

Also have a cheapo backpack cooler that works great for day trips, lives with the kayak gear. Plenty of bungees and tie downs, best feature is the separate insulated lid pouch so your sandwich isn't in the bottom of your cooler.

 

[ODB]

Good info - thanks fellas. I had not really considered the top-open (versus lidded) coolers, but the Ice Mule and Yeti M12 etc are pretty interesting.

 

[tt_johnsclist]

I have three of the RTIC’s, I think the ice retention is great for a soft side. The zippers are a little stiff, but zipper lube cures that.

 

[tony]

I bought an Ozark trail from wal mart.
No real hard use but it works.

Trick to the zippers is lubing them. There's a Chapstick looking zipper lube you can get.

 

[wesfromky]

I picked up a yeti M20 backpack cooler a month or so ago and really like it. Seems pretty well built, and hold ice reasonably well for what it is.

 

[Dos Perros]

I was looking for a soft cooler for a trip to the Bahamas a couple years ago (day stuff, go to the beach, day on the boat, etc) and landed on a Cordova based on reviews, price, volume, and insulation efficiency.

Backcountry Class™ Backpack Cooler

It's spacious. It's comfortable. It's our lightweight and leakproof backpack cooler with a 24-can capacity, long-lasting insulation, and an easy-to-clean surface.

shop.cordovaoutdoors.com

 

[MTPipeliner]

I’ve also got one of the RTIC ones, as others have said, the zipper is stiff but other than that it’s been good.

 

[TSAMP]

I've had a few. My yeti hopper experience was lack luster. The price is comparative to their hard sided cooler and the performance drops off around 50%( which does make sense given the build). They shipped me a comparative tundra model to replace my hopper which was great and I still have it.

I went ozark trail soft cooler afterwards, because If it's only holding ice 2 days why spend $$. That lasted 3 years and the zipper was shot.

I think there's likely some middle ground between these 2 models which is where I will land next. To me a soft cooler needs to be a bag style, these box style coolers aren't really much different than a regular cooler minus the shoulder strap.

 

[Voyageur]

I've never tried them, but in other threads several people have praised Polar Bear soft sided coolers.

 

[Seth]

We have 3 RTIC soft sides of different sizes. I use the small one daily for my lunch. Good durability, good ice retention, reasonable cost.