A month ago, I packed up my Toyota 4Runner and headed west on a road trip of epic proportions. Through Mesa Verde National Park, the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree National Park, Bend, Oregon, and to countless craft breweries along the way. The plan was to dirtbag it — to sleep in the back of the car and minimize eating out by cooking up healthy campfire cuisine along the way. So I loaded up my Yeti Tundra 35 with fresh greens, and eggs, and chicken breasts, and delicious snacks. I added one block of frozen Yeti Ice, a little additional ice, and crossed my fingers that all of my groceries wouldn’t perish on the road. They didn’t. The Yeti Tundra 35 is a beast. It’s small enough for one person to handle, but big enough to comfortably hold food for a week (plus a few beverages as well). It’s designed so well, that it makes for an excellent substitute refrigerator in your outdoor home away from home. This cooler is also easy to drain and clean, especially after you’ve eaten all of your food, but need a place to keep your haul of rare craft beers from up and down the west coast nice and cool.
Pros: This cooler keeps it’s contents cool for what seems like forever. Each of Yeti’s coolers in the Tundra series (there are 12!) feature 3 inches of PermaFrost Insulation and a FatWall Design that keeps ice icy, often for a few days at a time, and keeps perishables safely cold. The Tundra 35 is also the smallest cooler in the Tundra line, and designed to be light enough, and functional enough with unique DoubleHaul polyester rope handles, for one person to lift and carry. The Tundra 35 also sports BearFoot Non-Slip technology, which means it won’t be sliding around in your car while you drive.
Cons: The cooler’s heavy duty rubber lid latches are designed to be bear-resistant and durable, but apparently not finger pinching-resistant. If I had a nickel for every time I got some part of my hand caught while closing this lid…
Where We Took It: On the ultimate dirtbag road trip through Colorado, the Grand Canyon, Arizona’s slot canyons, Joshua Tree National Park, Bend, Oregon and to a ridiculous amount of awesome craft breweries along the way.
