Soft side Yetti coolers?

[stguy]

Does anyone have any experience with the yetti soft side coolers, or any other brand of soft side coolers?

They seem like they would be easier to lug around and would store better in the cabin of my boat than a hard side cooler.

[Jethro]

Does anyone have any experience with the yetti soft side coolers, or any other brand of soft side coolers?

They seem like they would be easier to lug around and would store better in the cabin of my boat than a hard side cooler.

Yes, I have 3 Yeti Coolers, one is a Hopper Flip 12 soft side cooler. The bonus is they are light. You are right, the hard side coolers are foolishly heavy and large, although that is what makes them true 4 and 5 day coolers and they really do perform amazingly. I really like the Flip 12 for solo use for a day trip since it's so light. The only thing I don't like is that the zippers are amazingly difficult to open and close. Go to an Ace Hardware (they have every Yeti product on earth) and open and close the zipper a few times. It's brutal. After two or three times I tend to just leave the zipper unzipped even if it means losing the cold. It will come with lube which is really just a colorless and scentless chapstick stick, but it's still a lot of work getting that zipper around the corners even when it is clean and lubed properly. Obviously the zipper is designed that way on purpose, it sure is water and airtight.

My bro in law has one of the Hopper Two 30's which has a straight zipper and he really likes it. The tradeoff is it doesn't open up like a traditional cooler and it's a bit more funky to load up and find stuff in there. But he really likes it a lot.

[stguy]

Thanks Jethro!!

I was playing with them in cabelas yesterday and was wondering if the zipper would loosen up with some use.

How well do they hold ice? Some reviews say they are great and some say they aren't so great, do you find them tough to keep clean?

I have one of the Cabelas 80 quart coolers and it works awesome, I'm thinking about leaving that in my truck and just using a soft sider on the boat.

[MG39]

The Yetti is a quality cooler but certainly not worth the $225-$300 they want for them.
I would buy the Earth Pak for about $125 and get a soft cooler that's good for 72 hours.
But..... like any comparable items, everyone has their opinion.

[stguy]

The Yetti is a quality cooler but certainly not worth the $225-$300 they want for them.
I would buy the Earth Pak for about $125 and get a soft cooler that's good for 72 hours.
But..... like any comparable items, everyone has their opinion.

I hadn't seen the Earth pak, looks like a good option, do you have one?

[MG39]

No I don't have one, my nephew has one that he takes to the Jeffery's every year, says it is great.
He has another big cooler, don't recall the name, not an Earth Pak but he says it is like a Yetti but much less expensive?

[cap]

My brother-in-law pulled the trigger on a Yeti hard cooler for his boat, and I purchased a RTIC for a lot less money for mine, and honestly we can't see much difference between them.....

[Jethro]

The zipper does not loosen up at all. If anything it gets tighter. For what it is worth it holds ice really quite well. I usually only use ice packs to be honest. And it's a great size to pack the night before and put the whole thing in the fridge, which precools the cooler and makes it work even better. Leaving it open actually isn't real bad unless it's super hot. The cooler works so well that things stay cold, then you get on the boat and after the 2nd beer I'm tempted to not deal with the zipper. but it still closes fairly well and stuff stays cold even if it's not zipped.

It's easy to keep clean. You can wash it in the sink or tub or with a hose outside, it's soft insulation is totally sealed and you could drive a truck over it and it wouldn't fail (watch youtube for proof).

The zipper situation is the only downfall and to be honest, how can you be upset about something that is designed to seal so well?

Rtic are a good alternative to Yeti. They are basically identical but at least 20% cheaper or more. I'm not a Yeti fanboy by any means, for some reason it just worked out that I own 3. One was a gift from a vendor (big Tundra 75 from Hilti), the Hopper 12 was a strange deal with someone for some snowmobile parts and I actually bought my Tundra 45 (the one I use the most). I know they are expensive but these coolers will be the last you will buy in your life and your grandkids will probably hand them down to their grandkids. They are really made that well. Some people don't find it worth it and you can't blame them. There are a lot of cheaper options in very good coolers, but personally I don't mind paying for the original.