The Yeti Roadie cooler is a premium cooler designed to hold up to 20qts. of ice

Impressions: Yeti was founded by two brothers, Roy and Ryan Sieders, both of which grew up hunting and fishing. Over time they saw a need for a better cooler as the traditional coolers they employed often failed. They experienced handles and latches breaking or lids collapsing under pressure. They founded the company with one goal, to build a cooler that they personally would use every day if it existed, one that was built for the serious outdoor enthusiast rather than for the mass discount retailers. Thus the “Yeti” premium cooler was born.

The Roadie comes with a stainless steel handle for one handed transport

The idea of a premium cooler takes a little getting used to for some people. A cooler is something you buy at the drugstore, or the gas station to hold your ice and a few beverages, right? That may be true if you are heading to the beach for a few hours, but for many outdoor enthusiasts a cooler can be one of the most important pieces of kit. The Yeti Roadie definitely falls in the premium category when it comes to features and price.

Though it may look large the space inside is smaller than you might expect with the thick walled construction

This compact cooler is called the Roadie 20 because it is designed to hold up to 20lbs of ice, and it is able to keep that ice in solid form for not hours, but even days, depending on the conditions and content to ice ratio. Like Yeti’s original and larger Tundra Series coolers the Roadie is constructed out of UV-resistant polyethylene and the walls on this cooler are thick. So thick that the second you pick up this cooler the weight is an immediate indicator that this is not your run of the mill cooler. Though the cooler may physically look pretty larger once you open the lid you will notice the actual storage area is not that big due to the thick walled design.

The latches are non conventional heavy duty rubber

The Roadie is easy to carry short distances thanks to an integrated stainless steel handle that is finished with an EVA foam grip. This handle locks solidly into place when it is positioned vertically making it easier to control the Roadie as you maneuver it into tight spaces, like the backseat of your truck or into the center console of your boat.

Casey is timid at first to bash on the Roadie

Real World Tests: Before hitting the water we put the Roadie through the paces in the lab. On their website Yeti has a video of a 500lb man named Big Bald Mike who attempts to destroy a Yeti cooler. Since we didn’t have access to Big Bald Mike we enlisted the help of one of our resident gear thrashers… Ms. Casey. With hammer in hand Casey bashed on every side of the Roadie, then she proceeded to jump on the cooler and even tried to over extend the latch to the breaking point. There was no amount of encouragement (trash talking) from our side that enabled Casey to do any damage beyond imparting a few cosmetic scratches to the surface of the Roadie.

After five minutes of pounding Casey isn't able to do any damage, even with a hammer

It was finally time to see just how the Roadie would perform in a variety of real world conditions so we took the cooler camping, fishing, off-roading, and even partook in a little impromptu tailgating.

Next Section: Time to hit the road, "off-road" that is