Summer 2024 belonged to Brat. Summer 2025 belongs to Yeti.
Yeti is the brand on everyone’s lips this season. Whether you’re obsessed with the Yeti Tundra, Yeti Roadie, Yeti backpack, Yeti tumbler, Yeti water bottle, or anything in between, you’re probably well into the Yeti hype right now.
If you ask me, Yeti makes the best coolers in the world. The Yeti lineup ranges from $1,000+ gargantuan coolers to eeny-weeny mini coolers. Me? I’ve got the mid-range Yeti Roadie 32 wheeled cooler, and I’m in love.
The Yeti Roadie is the coolest cooler in all the land, in terms of both looks and functionality.
Wheels! So smooth! So stable!
What do you look for when you’re shopping for coolers? Insulation? Style? Portability? Ideally all three. The best cooler is one that combines chill time, aesthetics, and ease of use. Thankfully, the Yeti Roadie checks all of those boxes.
A cooler’s ability to retain cold its the primary feature, right? But a lot of people overlook transportability. If it’s too much of a pain to get your cooler to its intended location, you’re probably not going to be using the cooler as much as you might like.
Thankfully, the Yeti Roadie has wheels for all my moving needs. Oh, but these wheels do not simply exist. They exist, and they perform. The Yeti Roadie’s wheels are butter-smooth, maneuverable, and hardy.
Just look at that wheel. Yeti’s cooler wheels are constructed from one piece of durable rubber. This basically means that the tire physically cannot puncture and deflate. Yeti calls it “NeverFlat™ wheels”, which, while a little melodramatic, sums it up perfectly.
I live in Bath, U.K., which is a lovely historical, hilly city. In this context, historical and hilly kind of just means a pain to get around. If the streets aren’t cobbled, they’re steep. If the streets aren’t full of twisty alleyways and staircases, they’re full of tourists. This means getting around with a massive cooler box should be frustrating, right?
Wrong, actually. Thanks to the lovely NeverFlat tires, I was able to drag the Roadie cooler up steep stone stairs, across cobbled paths, and over uneven grass to my heart’s desire. When I made my friends pull the cooler, they all remarked on how easy it was to maneuver. Major kudos points to the Yeti, here.
Ice ice baby
As I’ve said before, a cooler box’s primary function is to keep cool things, well, cool. (How many times can I say cool in 5 seconds challenge.) The Yeti Roadie eats staying cool for breakfast.
While I have yet to take the Yeti on a multi-day adventure (that’s happening in August, mark it in your calendars, please), it’s performed excellently on every day trip thus far.
As I’ve already mentioned, I awarded the Yeti Roadie a near-unbeatable 4.5-star rating in my review. During the testing period, it was able to keep cans refrigerator-cold for 72 hours. I was opening the cooler and removing cans every 4 hours (to reflect real-world usage), and the Roadie still outperformed all the competition.
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As you can see from the photographs above, the Yeti Roadie was still ice cold at 72 hours in. I have no doubts about taking it on 3+ day camping trips. Imagine cracking open a cold beverage on day four of a ruthless hiking trail? I can’t quite envisage anything better.
Cool in more ways than one
The Yeti Roadie cooler has kind of been deified in my friendship group. Every time we plan a park, beach, or camping trip, there’s a chorus of, “Is the Yeti coming?”. The people love it. They crave the Yeti.
I think that’s because of how cool Yeti’s gear is. Sure, it’s all functional, but it’s also a fashion statement. Gorpcore has been a style for a couple of years now, and I don’t think it’s going away any time soon. Just look at the Keen Hyperport H2 sandals — they’re so ugly, but so stylish at the same time.
If something is ruggedly utilitarian but also trendy, it’ll stand the test of time. It also helps that Yeti engineers all of its products to be “practically indestructible.” The Roadie cooler also doubles up as a miniature wagon, which only adds to its practicality. It comes on every trip, and will do until the end of time.
Just look at how useful that is. Not only does the Yeti Roadie carry a whole day’s worth of snacks and drinks, it also carries a bean bag and a speaker. Yes, I had to be careful while pulling my cargo, but I had a great time.
I don’t know how Yeti gear grew to become so cool. The bold, bright colors certainly have something to do with it, but I also think that when something is a genuinely fantastic product, trendiness comes with it.