RTIC Coolers: A Rugged Alternative to Yeti?

Let me say first of all that I’m just sharing some info here. This is NOT a review.

I saw an ad for this company called RTIC and thought it might be worth checking out. We all know that Yeti makes good coolers. We also know that Yeti’s stuff is outrageously expensive. So when I saw an ad that claims that RTIC is “Half the price of Yeti and holds more ice,” I thought I’d take a look.

Here’s what they say on their home page:

RTIC Coolers is a leading direct to consumer retailer of premium rotomolded coolers & stainless steel tumblers. By leveraging technology, direct marketing and the company’s national network of fulfillment centers, RTIC is able to offer top-quality coolers and tumblers at half the price of comparable YETI Products.

These images, grabbed from the RTIC site where they’re placed side by side, makes it look like RTIC is a Yeti lookalike, offering little difference.

On a comparison page, RTIC’s products claim to have a little more internal capacity, hence the “holds more ice” claim.

RTIC’s return policy looks pretty great. They say you can try it for 90 days and “If you’re not happy with your purchase we will send you a prepaid return shipping label.”

They’re making no secret of their competition with Yeti. They offer Yeti’s retail prices right on their product ordering pages. And they’re right, RTIC prices are about half of Yeti’s. For example, the RTIC 20 pictured above sells for $124.99 shipped, while the Yeti Roadie 20 lists for $249.99.

How good are they, how well do they hold ice, and how long will they last? Can’t say. But it’s nice to see some less-insane prices on the market. Plus, their online reviews look pretty good, and some of their prices are actually less than half of Yeti.

Have you tried RTIC coolers? Would you?

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.