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

They are made in China

Hold Ice as well or better than Yeti

$129? sheesh good price.

28qt Coleman Coastal Marine Extreme is a third of the cost and keeps ice almost as long.

I have an RTIC 20 and love it; holds ice longer than my Yeti 45. But lately I’ve been looking at the Orca 20 as a replacement. Why? Because the Orcas are made in the USA. If I can help it, I’m finished buying anything made in CHINA.

The only bad thing about a nice cooler is some MF will steal it. They won’t bother a cheap one.

I have two Canyon coolers. Had Yetis that I won in fishing tournaments and the Canyons performed just as well. People were willing to pay big money for the Yetis so I sent them down the road and kept the Canyons.

The heavy rotomolded coolers all perform about the same. Looks for simple hinges, latches and handles.

Orca will usually have a sale around BlackFriday.

Or fug it up putting a fisch in it. Gives them that fishy nonvirginal smell. Like uh, fisch. I luv that smell. The smell of success.

Thank you sir, I’ll hold off on my order

I didn’t read all the other posts.

I own several RTIC coolers. The big ass ones and the smaller ones. They are fantastic at keep items cold for long periods of time when packed correctly. I use mine for long trips to the coast and cross country hunting trips. I can make it back to TN with an animal from western states or fish from the coast no problem. I like using the thick plastic simply orange juice style containers or used Gatorade bottle to make solid ice containers. Otherwise, dry ice when necessary. Don’t open it.

For a standard beverage cooler that you are in and out of they are a waste of time and money in my opinion. They are heavy for that purpose and they will vapor lock. That said, they will last forever. I take my igloo on the boat.

I made a latch bar that goes thru the slot in the cooler. Lime the store ones yeti makes. Only free. Made a lanyard from stainless cable. Mostly for looks. Not everyone carries cable cutters around.

Got yetis as safety awards. Still in the box. Free yeti bag cooler. Free k2 coolers. Evil oil companies.


I use a orca. Lucked when Tractor supply carried them. Was in clearance. And happened to be clearance + 20% off day.

Gave $129 for the 26 qt. Made is USA.

Not giving my opinion, but the OPs post stemmed me to check out the reviews on Amazon. 141 reviews with a 4.5 star rating.
Check them out. Most good, but some horrible.

Both my son in law and I each have two RTIC's . They are great and the price is better than Yeti.

I have a 20. It's been riding around in the back of my truck all summer for a few years. Everything still works as it should. The rubber gasket seal is what sets it above cheaper coolers. That said I bought it on sale and paid less than $75. If it was stolen I'd buy another.

A few posts have alluded to my personal thoughts on all similar coolers.
Big, heavy, small capacity, expensive.
I rarely ever need to keep ice for a week. 3 days is a long time
for us. Maybe 6 or 8 weekends a year. Even then, ice is available if I need.

A good size Coleman fits us much better.


Others have different needs.

Knew a guy that had his yeti 45 stolen off the back of his truck. So he went out and bought a second one, but this time he drilled down through the inside of the cooler and bolted down in the bed of his truck. Then he proceeded to glue scalpel blades to each handle. One morning not long after he did that he went to put his lunch in the cooler to go to work he noticed a dripping red trail down his flatbed. He hasn't had any problems since. Lol

Skip the 20 and go with the next size up. The 20 barely holds a six pack and a full bag of ice, it's heavy as heck and the cheap tube handle makes it a pain to try to carry. The next size up at least has rope handles so it's easier for one or two to carry it.

Lifetime cooler is a joke. I wouldn't carry another one out of the store for free.

For a one day outing save your money and stick with a cheaper cooler

Hahaha. Tff..

I have and have used various RTIC and Yeti coolers for a number of different uses
The soft coolers are excellent for boats and inside of cars etc for drinks and snacks. Think hours.......
The hard coolers are great for long term use. Like a hunting or camping trip. Think days!
They are big and heavy. In my opinion they are not the cooler to use for beer and other drinks especially on the average pleasure boat.
Use a soft RTIC or Yeti or cheaper cooler for drinks in a boat or similar use. They are considerably smaller and lighter and extremely efficient.
The hard coolers are excellent for offshore fishing where another few bags of ice are a mere 30-40 miles away.
The big roto molded hard plastic coolers just tend to be far too large and heavy for the average pleasure boat and just don't seem practical to me to use as a beverage cooler.
Good luck with whatever you decide.