The Best From Our Tests: A Review of YETI's Roadie 24 Cooler

We love the smart, sleek, and practical design

As expected with a YETI product, the Roadie 24 features a top-shelf design. "This cooler is sturdy and beautifully designed," one tester said. "It's sleek and compact and has a comfortable carry strap, and molded sturdy carry handles that I almost didn't realize were there because they blended in. The dual latches close easily and feel snug. There are four rubber pads on the bottom to prevent sliding."

YETI designed this model to be tall and take up less space width-wise, making it ideal for tossing in the car or on a boat. Thoughtful touches like the BearFoot Non-Slip Feet help prevent the cooler from sliding. The quick-latches work with one hand, and the structure of the cooler makes it perfect for a bonus seat that we've found handy while tying on flies before fishing and swapping stories afterward.

Our one design qualm? We'd like to see a drain plug for water that accumulates from the melted ice. The obvious solution that we've adopted is using ice packs. But do note there's no drain plug.

The ice retention was almost too strong

We first tested the Roadie 24 in Iowa during the summer. Despite the heat and humidity, 24 hours after initially placing ice and drinks in the cooler, the internal temperature read about 33 degrees F. Throughout our testing since then, ice has had no problem lasting for days. Most recently, I used it as an extra beverage refrigeration system during Thanksgiving in our garage, where the temperature stayed mainly in the 50s and 60s. Four days after initially putting a block of ice in the cooler, some ice was still there to the point where I got put it in the sun to speed up the melt.

YETI uses its PermaFrost Insulation, which is a pressure-injected polyurethane combined with an interlock lid system and ColdLock gasket to keep cold items cool and hot items warm. The result is a system that will keep beverages cold for days.

We jumped on, dropped, and tossed around this cooler with no breaks

Durability is pretty much always where YETI products will thrive. Say what you will about YETI's higher prices, but you're paying for a nearly indestructible product. The Roadie 24 is no different, and we can't imagine how you'd actually break this cooler to the point of rendering it unusable.

From the beefy construction to the webbing and plastic handles, this cooler is built to last. It's also designed to be used as a seat. We've jumped on it, tossed it off tables and ladders onto concrete, and pushed it out of multiple trucks with no noticeable damage besides a few scratches.

If we do have two gripes, one is the cooler did open upon impact a few times as the rubber strap latches were not as secure as closures on other coolers. And this cooler is not leakproof (something YETI discloses on its site), so if you are using loose ice and it melts, it will leak out if tipped on its side or upside down.

Two carrying styles help make this cooler mostly easy to carry

There are two ways to carry the Roadie 24—with a strap and handle, and two lip handles on the cooler. Either way, we found it relatively easy to tote around. But, as expected with any hardside cooler with this insulation and durability, it's not built with extreme portability in mind. It'd be annoying to carry for longer distances as the cooler will bash into your legs while carrying it with the strap, which is not long enough to throw over your shoulder. And while the two lip handles are very well placed, carrying this cooler for much more than a half mile or so will still be tiring. If portability is important to you, we suggest opting for a softside or backpack cooler.

It'll fit wine bottles, cans, and more

Overall, this cooler would carry drinks for a small group or a day's worth of food and drink for a duo. We could also see it being a solid overnight car camping option for a solo or duo of campers. YETI designed this cooler to be tall enough to fit a wine bottle or two-liter soda bottles, which we found it did. It will fit up to 18 cans with YETI's recommended 2-to-1 ice-to-can ratio, and we could fit 30 cans with no ice.

Is the YETI Roadie 24 worth the cost

One of the most common questions and brands I'm asked about is YETI and if it's worth the cost. My answer is always that it depends on you. Do you need a highly durable high-end cooler? And do you need to spend a few hundred on it? I will say I've never been disappointed with a YETI product, including the Roadie 24. A YETI product's primary benefit is its longevity, which stems from its durability. Will other coolers on the market hold ice and keep your food and drink cool for as long as a YETI? Probably. RTIC is one brand, in particular, we've seen hold ice for as long as a YETI. But we're not sure you'll find a cooler that will last as long. I've used YETI products for up to 10 years now without anything breaking that I wasn't purposely trying to break (by throwing it off a roof—don't ask).

The upshot is if you're willing to splurge a couple of hundred bucks on a cooler, we don't think you can make a better investment than a YETI.

Why Trust TripSavvy

Nathan Allen is TripSavvy's outdoor gear editor. He first saw a YETI cooler more than a decade ago when his dad showed him the softside YETI he'd recently purchased. When Nathan found out how much his dad paid for it, he found it absurd. But now he gets it. Nathan currently rotates between the M20 Soft Backpack Cooler, Hopper Flip 18 Soft Cooler, and Roadie 24. For those looking for a similar quality cooler but don't want to spend (quite) the same amount, check out RTIC or Igloo.