I’ve Owned at Least 20 Coolers, and This Yeti Is My Ride-or-Die for Road Trips, Tailgates, and More

It’s not always easy to find the perfect cooler for your needs. Maybe the one you really want to use won’t fit in the trunk of your car, or won’t be up to the task of holding all the ice, snacks, and beer you need (tragic). Perhaps there’s a little bit of a trek to get to your destination, and your preferred option is not comfortable to lug along (like if it’s a hefty boy that doesn’t have wheels or a shoulder strap). In any case, I have used and loved dozens if not hundreds of coolers in my life, and I want to tell you about the one that will be my go-to this summer. 

I require a lot out of my coolers. I love drinking wine and eating hummus while playing frisbee at the park, and I love bringing a ton of beers with my friends to tailgate at Guaranteed Rate Field before a White Sox game. (Don’t message me about their record this season, please — I’m very aware of it.) A few times a year, I spend a long weekend at a cabin in Michigan, and I’ll pack enough food to cook and eat for days. In short, you could call me an expert at bringing food and drink from one place to another.

For a long time, my ride-or-die cooler was the Yeti Roadie 48 — a wheeled, ultra tough beast with a periscope handle, incredible insulation, and hardcore latches to make it entirely leakproof. It even has a nozzle on the bottom so you can drain out the water after a long night of using ice to keep drinks cool. And on that note, it can hold over 50 pounds of ice, or almost 80 cans. It’s like the “Stone Cold” Steve Austin of coolers: It’s massive, powerful, and always shows up to win. That said, it can be too big and heavy for some tasks, making it an arduous passenger in small cars or places with stairs. I still ride with it often, to be sure, but when Yeti sent me a Hopper M30 to test out, it quickly assumed the pole position.

Yeti Hopper M30 Soft Cooler

The M30 is slightly smaller than the Roadie 48 (if you couldn’t tell just from the numbers), but it’s the perfect size for tailgating, road trips, park hangs, or simply taking some drinks to the backyard. If you’re just partying, it can handle almost four dozen cans or 13 bottles of wine; or, if it’s ice and food you need, the M30 holds over 30 pounds of ice. However, to maximize space for fun stuff on shorter uses, I highly recommendoo picking up the Yeti Thin Ice accessory, which basically keeps your bounty super cool and sits flat on the bottom or side, removing the need for voluminous ice. (In my opinion, the Thin Ice is one of the great inventions in the modern era of coolers.) However you pack it, the Hopper M30 has Yeti’s ColdCell technology, which sees the walls and bottom insulated with closed-cell rubber foam. I’m truly not kidding when I say that I often leave ice and beer in this overnight, and it’s still cold well into the next day and even evening.

Space-wise, the M30 is absolutely awesome. It sits about 25 inches wide and less than a foot deep, meaning it’s perfect for the back seat of your car, or can easily squeeze between other items in the trunk. As far as transportation goes, it’s got a pretty amazing, heavy-duty shoulder strap that’ll make it feel like your gym bag — I’ve often packed it with a weekend’s worth of food, and was surprised at how evenly the weight was distributed. The outside of the bag uses Yeti’s DryHide shell, which is a high-density, waterproof fabric that repels punctures and UV rays. And the magnetic MagShield Access opening is extremely strong when it comes to keeping everything sealed and leakproof.

All in all, the Yeti Hopper M30 represents the best of all worlds. It’s very spacious (but has a conservative footprint), it’s super easy to transport, and, perhaps most importantly, it keeps things cold for a long time. Finally, there are six nice colors to choose from, though I don’t see how you could pass up the stunning, seasonal King Crab orange. If you want to stick with your current boring, weak cooler for a summer full of warm beer and strenuous schlepping, go for it — but I’ll be chilling with the M30.

Shop More Coolers on Amazon:

Yeti Roadie 48

Igloo Retro Picnic Cooler

Icemule Jaunt Backpack Cooler

Rtic Soft Cooler