REI Co-op  Cool Haul 18 Soft Cooler

Sure you can spend a couple of hundred dollars more on a name brand 'status' cooler that will keep your ice cold for an additional day or two or you could buy this one, freeze your own block of ice and make it last for several days keeping everything in it ice cold. I took the cooler on a camping trip and froze a 2-3 in block of ice the size of the bottom of the cooler and placed cold beer and frozen food on top. Lasted more than the 65 hours advertised and there was still a little ice left on the fourth day after opening and closing many times throughout the week. Light enough to hike into camp, and worth it to have cold beer and fresh food as a luxury on a short backpack or camping trip.

I’ve used this cooler for a few weeks. A yeti 4lb ice pack fits perfectly on the bottom, and a 2lb pack fits perfectly on the side. I am able to keep drinks and food cold for 2+ days in the summer before I need to re-freeze the ice packs. My only annoyances have been that the zippers tend to get caught on the liner if the corner of the lid gets folded in when you begin closing it since the liner is taller than the zipper height. Also, the strap only attaches at the corners which makes carrying this cooler awkward- I wish there was a handle on the lid for easy one-handed carrying since it isn’t that heavy. Overall, it serves me well. I have not used ice in this cooler.

Firstly, this cooler has 2 parts - a pull-out inner/insulated bucket and the outer nylon "shell; zipper is NOT waterproof. Understanding this, you will have a better experience with this cooler. Upon seeing a few bad reviews here about this product - mainly about leaking. I decided to try this one out and took it out last weekend. A friend had the same one. His leaked, mine didn't. What we discovered was that if you over fill or tip the cooler such that the melted ice flows over the top portion of the insulated bucket and in between it and the outer shell - this is where the water will leak because the outer shell is NOT waterproofed. The inner bucket IS WATERPROOF. This is mind, it WILL NEVER LEAK. Now, as far as keeping stuff cold ... it works as advertised. I had an ice pack and about a pound and a half of melted ice inside and it kept it super cold for 3 days without issue.

I really want to love this cooler because I love REI, but it has leaked since the first use. Everything stays cold, but whenever I pick it up, it’s sitting in a puddle of water. I’ve purchased other soft-sided coolers without having this problem, and I see other reviews stating no leakage, but I haven’t been so lucky. I keep giving it another shot, but after just taking it to the beach for a week and it leaving puddles behind and trails of water when I walk with it, I think it’s time to replace it.

Tried to ignore the reviews and give it a go. Unfortunately had to return it today. A cooler should not leak, this does - a lot. What I mean is that even picking it up slightly off center causes water to not only pour out the zipper but also spill down the inside of the cooler insert and sit between the bottom of the cooler and the insert. With time this sleeps through the bottom of the cooler and the entire cooler becomes saturated. That’s not all - whole it seems having a removable insert helps matters it actually is the design flaw that made me return it. Not only does water spill out the top and down the sides as I mentioned above, the insert also becomes saturated and is not waterproof (crazy right?). The insert when I take it home and clean it out is soggy and takes days to dry out completely. As much as I love to support REI, i’ll stick to other brands for soft coolers.

I used this cooler for water bottles last weekend for the Blues Fest in WNY. Started off with frozen ice packs and switched to bags of ice. The weekend was hot and muggy. Right off I noticed the bag was sweating since the top was continually wet. Once I turned to ice the bag seemed to leak like a sieve. For this weekend it was OK since the bag was outside and kept in the shade. I would not keep it anywhere that moisture would be a problem. I'm considering returning this expensive 18 bottle cooler.

Bought this to use as a drink cooler on my 6 day camping trip at the lake. This thing held ice nicely. It kept drinks cold. Perfect size too. Not too big, not too small :). My only gripe, like others mentioned, is that it is not water proof. I know it's not a Yeti or like other high end coolers and I thought I could live with it not being waterproof. I was wrong. It did have ice and melted ice water with it on my shoulder and just barely leaning over to pickup something it spilled water all over me. Yes, it would be a great day cooler if you are using ice packs. However, try to refreeze icepacks when you are camping. Unless you have a fridge/freezer, ice packs are not an option when on a multiday trip.

We stopped into REI while on a week road trip after having our existing cooler just completely failing to keep anything cold. We were desperate and considering a Yeti but really didn't want to spend that much. After talking with a rep in store we ended up with this REI cooler and it has met all our needs so far! It kept our food and ice cold for somewhere between 24-48 hours while on the rest of the road trip. Has a nice zipper pocket on the inside of the lid that we used for some veggies or other items that we didn't want to get wet as ice melted. It also has tips on the inside of the lid on the best way to pack and keep food cold in a cooler. The only downside that we found, and from other reviews, the zipper is now waterproof. We had the cooler VERY packed and as the ice melted, if you tip the cooler so that water is at the level of the zipper, water will come through. We were just careful to keep it upright and it wasn't an issue.

Took this to the beach on a 100F day and kept a ton of drinks and food cool the whole time. I'm a yeti fan and did not have high expectations for this cooler, I was super impressed. Not sure why everyone uses ice in this type of cooler...a 4lb yeti ice block fits perfectly at the bottom of this cooler and surprise surprise doesn't leak like everyone else using actual ice..... Get yourself a reusable ice block and you'll be plenty happy.

Have had the cooler for about a month now, has been on a couple road trips. Does a good job keeping items cold even when ice is almost melted, holds cool for a good couple days. Good size, easy to sling over my shoulder, usual excellent REI quality. Definitely enjoying the cooler, already thinking about the 12 can.