Looking For A More Affordable Alternative To A Yeti Cooler? Customers Recommend These 2 Brands

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Yeti coolers are expensive, but they can be worth it if you prioritize durability, performance, and the prestige that comes with the Yeti name. But we aren't all outdoor adventurers trekking into the wilderness with nothing but our backpacks and the food we can fit in a cooler to keep us alive for the next week. That can make the Yeti price tag hard to swallow. If you're looking for a cooler that can provide the reliability you actually need without making a serious dent in your budget, there are more affordable alternatives. This is where RTIC (pronounced "ahr-tik") and Pelican distinguish themselves.

These brands offer quality performance without the exorbitant prices of Yeti coolers. Customers who've tried these brands were impressed by their efficiency and affordability. A Redditor compared their Pelican positively to other brands, including their 75-quart Yeti Tundra, explaining, "Pelican 80qt wheeled cooler beat the rest by about a whole day in ice retention." They're not alone. A lot of reviewers on Amazon said something similar. Another Reddit user attests to RTIC's reliability, saying, "My Rtic kept my ice going for my whole 3 day trip. 199$ versus 400!" 

RTIC and Pelican are by no means cheap, but each has models that are much more affordable than Yeti, and some even have similar specs to coveted Yeti products, including exceptional ice retention suitable for more realistic everyday scenarios, such as cookouts and road trips. And they hold up just as well in direct comparisons to the popular Yeti coolers.

A Reddit user says, "Recently put an arctic 45 to the test next to a yeti 45 and if they didn't have logos on them I wouldn't know what was cheaper. The arctic was way lighter to carry as well. I won't bring my yeti camping again." That's not surprising. It's said that the founders of RTIC specifically created the brand to compete with Yeti. And when you factor in prices of chests with similar sizes and features, it becomes even more apparent. For example, RTIC's 145-Quart Ultra Tough Cooler is $522. The closest Yeti models are either 125 or 160 quarts for $625 or $795, respectively. In general, RTIC allows you to save a significant amount of money, even with a slightly bigger capacity, while giving you similar features — a drain system, tough handles, and rotomolded construction. So if space is your main concern when you're parking your car, then hauling your cooler across rocky rivers to go camping, a more spacious RTIC cooler helps you do it for less. And you're still enjoying similar functionality to Yeti.

Both brands also have impressive ice retention features. For instance, the smaller RTIC 45-Quart Ultra-Tough Cooler ($239 versus $325 for the same size Yeti) highlights its ability to stay cold for five days, and according to the company, its models can generally fare well over a 10-day period. While the Yeti company's official position is that it varies based on circumstances and it never officially states how long Yeti products retain ice (other than "days"), folks report the same five- to 10-day timeframe. Even though RTIC's features don't seem to be significantly better than Yeti, it is worth the side-by-side comparison. And for its prices, it makes for an even wiser choice.

Larger Pelican models actually tend to be a similar price or more expensive than similar Yeti coolers. For example, the Yeti Tundra 45 is $325, and the 75 is $475, while Pelican's 50- and 80-quart models are $311 and $590, respectively. But Pelican still shines when it comes to smaller, personal-size coolers, which generally cost less (sometimes significantly so) than comparable Yeti coolers. They aren't the most stylish coolers you've ever seen, but they top Yeti in one significant feature people tend to want in personal coolers: convenient built-in storage.

If you're taking a couple-hour jaunt to grandma's house, heading to the club for a round of golf, or doing a day trip to an experience-filled local gem, a Yeti is just overkill, both in terms of ice retention and price. Pelican's 8-, 14-, and 20-quart models are significantly cheaper than similar options from Yeti and hold ice for at least 24 hours. One Redditor who bought both the 14-quart Pelican ($119) and the 15-quart Yeti Roadie ($200) ultimately decided the Pelican was the better option thanks to its dry box feature, which allows you to keep at least some of the contents separate from the compartment with ice. And the 8-quart Pelican "lunch box" size, which is $69, comes ready to go with an ice pack, inner tray, and dry-storage compartment, while you'll pay $165 for Yeti's and have to buy all that stuff separately.

Since the Pelican options will last overnight (at least) and have the features you need in a personal cooler, paying more for the Yeti seems unnecessary. Unless you really need your lunch to last a couple of days, save your money.