Yeti Hard Coolers Are Great, But Heavy. Our Fave Is Sleeker, Lighter, and On Sale for Prime Day.
Though most of the new, flashy cooler brands, like Yeti and Bison, are extremely well built, they’re also heavy to sometimes extremely heavy (and that’s before you load them with ice and sundries).
The RTIC Ultra-Light has over 2 inches of closed-cell foam (compared with Yeti’s and Bison’s 3 inches) around its sides, while also being a third to half the weight of other similarly sized roto-molded coolers. This cooler keeps the traditional 3 inches of foam in the lid and weighs just 21.5 pounds (in the 52-quart design).
In our tests, the RTIC Ultra-Light keeps things ice cold for five days, if it’s kept in the shade. That’s plenty of time to get anyone through a weekend of festivities or a long trip to the beach. This cooler, especially the 22-quart size, is the heir apparent to the classic camping cooler: a lightweight, tough-as-nails, well-insulated box that you can also use as a chair by the fire.
I’ve used my RTIC Ultra-Light for three years now. I have dragged it down cliffs and across long stretches of park paths, so it’s not a piece of gear that I’m particularly kind to. And that’s what I love most about it. Through it all, this cooler is more than a sidekick—it’s a survivor.
