Im looking to possibly upgrade my day/beverage cooler on my raft. My brother has one of those soft sided coolers that holds ice forever. What is the best cooler on the market for day/beverage cooler for a raft? Thanks guys.
+1 for the Polar Bear soft cooler. I have the nylon version and it's going on two years of almost everyday use (yep) and it works great like the day I bought it. Youtube soft cooler tests or read amazon comparison reviews. These polar bear coolers test right up with or better than coolers three times the cost (including the Yupi coolers).
Have used this all summer in 90 degree plus temps, including a scorching 3 day trip to Arches NP, ice cold beverages, even after ice melted at the end of day 3. Highly recommend, can cram and jam a lot of beverages in it...helps to pre-chill cooler as well as drinks.
I was given a new soft cooler from OtterBox. So far so good. It is the larger size if I am correct. Has a nice convertible backpack strap that can be used as a backpack or as a shoulder strap. Overall it looks to be built bombproof, I can't imagine it would fall apart given how sturdy it looks and feels. Has a really nice latch and wide mouth opening so very easy to load and use. So far I can't complain.
I have not done any trips with it much longer than an afternoon so yet to experience the full ice retention capabilities but so far its been great on shorter trips.
It is backed by lifetime warranty and I have had incredible customer service with my phone case so the fact that they will back the product up so heavily for life makes me feel really good. I won mine so did not purchase but I see they are expensive and are in the Yeti premium level of product. Worth taking a look at them.
Plus one on the Hoppers. I run with 2 yeti hoppers as captains bags/coolers in my 16’. One is a 30 and the other is a 40. They are the old style top loading zipper. As noted water pools there after rapids. The tapered shape is perfect for fitting up against a tube. I strap them into the cockpit by the grab handles at the top of the cooler. Then I run a loop strap that is attached to the floor webbing up and through the MOLLE loops on the front of the yeti to keep them in place for a flip, etc.
They don’t leak either. I have had one lashed to a thwart in my 13’ that we flipped and paddled upside down through a class 3 on purpose. When we flipped it right side up 10 minutes later, no water inside.
One I use as a dry bag/box. The other is rigged as a drinks cooler.
They hold ice well too. I will freeze lemonades, water bottles, etc and lay them sideways on the bottom of the cooler 2 layers deep. Then I pour a water and ice cubes slurry between the frozen drink bottles. I want the slurry to reach the top of the bottles. Then I add about 5lbs of dry ice and zip it closed leaving a .5cm opening on the end of the zipper for the CO2 gas to escape. I leave it overnight. Next morning I add as many carbonated cans as I can to the frozen cooler. 5 days on Hells Canyon and my water and lemonades,etc are still frozen at the end of the trip.
This last trip I added the 24 yeti rectangular backpack cooler to the bow of the raft. I strapped it into the webbing and the front D ring. Worked great for my passengers.
We've got the Canyon Quest soft sided cooler. It's basically an insulated dry bag, and we love it. Holds ice great, and the backpack straps have come in handy way more than we ever thought.
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