Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire RTIC 20 QT coolers

Always bought cheaper Coleman or igloo coolers.Want to buy a decent cooler for our pontoon boat/or going on trips,looking to purchase a RTIC 20 qt cooler.They have them on there website for $129 with shipping included.Any good,bad ugly comments on this brand.Thanks.

I’m not sure what size mine is. it’ll hold an 18 pack and some ice best cooler I have ever had my hands on

Good brand. Mine is great, but doesnt have people drooling on it like a Yeti.

Mine can survive a few fish on ice.

Some here know of what I speak.

We have one for our boat, wifey gets them for safety awards. She works in the office. How the hell is she gonna get hurt? I have Yeti coolers too. The RTIC is just as good.

That’s exactly what I am looking at for my boat too. Seems the perfect size to replace one of our back seats

Wifey always gets white. I’d kill for a green one.

I've got three, 20, 45, and 65 quart (?) I always get carried away, I'm not really impressed. They are well built, but are really heavy and are over sized compared to the internal capacity. I 've got a couple of older Igloo coolers with the extra insulation, not sure of size, but about the same as my 45 quart RTIC chest. In a side by side test I could see no advantage in ice holding of the RTIC, the Igloo might be a tad bit better. I understand RTIC is coming out with a new lighter weight chest , hence the lower sales price. The RTIC is almost a exact clone of the pricey YETI.

After spending the extra money on the RTIC, I've found I use the cheap Igloo's most of the time, just handier, to haul around and hold ice just as well. Hinges and handles sometime break, but are cheap and easy to replace.

I've got a 45 and over the summer the first year it payed for itself with not having to run for ice

I read somewhere either on the cooler or the tag that said avoid sitting on or standing on in hot weather as it can deform the lid,sounds like it might be true but don't know. Seems someone is always sitting on mine and no issue.

I carry meat, frozen fruit, or fish across country regularly - ok, at least annually - with an Rtic 20 or 30 quart soft cooler.

99% of the years, it makes a similar trip Or three with a hunting friend or relative. I have yet to have one fail to keep everything frozen solid for up to 24 hours of travel.

The hard coolers are as good, ice for 5-7 days with minimal opening. We use the bigger coolers for moving fish back from the OBX, they keep fish fresh most of week without worry.

I have a Yeti, but bigger in size. They certainly keep things colder, longer. Are they worth the extra price, I think so, but it depends how and where you use coolers.

I have one, and it seems to be OK. It is very thick, and very heavy for the amount it holds. I think it was made in china so I wont buy another.

RTIC is a great cooler.

I have an Rtic and like it very much.

For the money though, the “Lifetime” cooler gets my vote. It’s made in USA which is an added bonus.

Dave

Check out Canyon Coolers. Made in USA, lifetime warranty, and better quality than RTIC.

Great info,Thanks.

If anyone is looking for a soft-sided cooler. Check out Polarbear coolers. Don't take the price serious. If you order two coolers, you get them half price, or two for one.

Did you buy all three at the same time?

Thanks........... I might get a bigger cooler in the future and I'm starting to wean myself off the made in China stuff.

This

I have Yeti coolers and Rtic coolers. They are fantastic if used for the right reasons. They can be used incorrectly which will minimize their performance to equal their more affordable competition.

PROPER USE SCENARIO #1
- You have high expectations of traveling long distance or elapsed time while keeping something cold or frozen inside of a cooler.

- You cool down the interior of the (Yeti/Rtic) cooler by placing several ice packs inside prior to packing your cold or frozen products inside. Once the cooler has cooled sufficiently you pack said cold or frozen products inside the cooler. You pack items tightly with little airspace and then surround items with ice or freezer packs that freeze to below the temperature of ice.

- Once you have embarked on your trip or began your elapsed time of storage you do not open the cooler until the trip is over or the planned length of time has passed.

- All items have now been kept cold, kept frozen, or even brought down to a lower temperature than prior to packing. You are a “happy camper” and realize that you have made a good investment.


PROPER USE SCENARIO #2
- You have spent a lifetime using typical Igloo or Coleman style coolers and typically treat them rough. You throw them around, they get beat up in the bed of truck or boat, people sit or stand on them and collapse the kids, or even worse...your latches or hinges break on a regular basis.

- You are now fed up and you want a cooler that does all of the same things that your old cooler did....keep beer cold while you have fun. However, you want your cooler to last a lifetime.

- You buy a Yeti/Rtic and now you are happy forever because you have a high quality beer and ice container that does not let you down.

- You are slightly disappointed in yourself for being an out of shape sissy that thinks the cooler is heavy.


IMPROPER USE SCENARIO #1
- You want a cooler to use as a beer and ice container and you want it to keep ice for eternity so you research a bit and hear conflicting information but decide to spend your hard earned cash on a Yeti/Rtic.

- You keep the cooler outside in your truck/boat in the hot sun and weather. On the way out to have some fun you buy a case of beer and a bag of ice. Once you get to the “fun zone” you dump all the beer and ice into the cooler.

- After the interior of the cooler and the beer have finally been chilled by the ice and the ice has been sufficiently melted by the hot cooler and warm beer; you begin a vicious cycle of opening the cooler for another beer every ten minutes until the cooler is empty.

- You go home, log on to 24hourcampfire, create a new thread and begin to expound upon your expertise in overpriced/poor performing beer and ice storage units.