YETI Hopper Flip 18 Soft Cooler: A Great Day Tripper

Quick Verdict: A Great Soft Cooler for all-day adventures

The Yeti Hopper Flip 18 excels as a daily workhorse cooler for 3-4 people who want convenience over maximum ice retention. While it can't match the multi-day performance of Yeti's hard coolers like the Roadie series, it’s improved air-tight zipper and durable exterior make it a great choice for day adventures and frequent use. Check out our coverage of the YETI Roadie 15 and 15 vs. 24. It is a great cooler for all-day excursions as well as keeping beverages cool at game time.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Pros and Cons Based on My Use

What I Like

✅ Perfect size for a small group – Great for 3–4 people on day trips

✅ Wide flip-top opening – Easy to load, easy to access

✅ Zipper design is much improved – A joy to use compared to my old YETI tote

✅ Boxy shape – Non-tapered, rectangular interior fits cans and food containers without wasted space

✅ Rugged but still portable – Not too heavy or bulky. 4.5lbs compared to 9.6lbs on the Roadie 15

What I Don’t Like

➖ Not made for multi-day ice retention – It’s great for a soft cooler, but doesn't perform as well as something like the YETI Roadie series, which limits this cooler to overnights at most. It also lacks dry-ice compatibility, which would be a an easy way to extend the cooling performance.

➖ Expensive for a soft cooler – But that’s the YETI tax. You know you’re paying a premium for the quality design, construction…and name. You can pick up the RTIC Ultra-tough Softshell for $110 (a full 63% less than the YETI Hopper Flip 18)

Specs on the YETI Hopper Flip 18

Why I Picked the Hopper Flip 18

I wanted a cooler that is easy to carry but not flimsy. I usually pack for myself and a couple others, whether friends for a day on the trail or the family for a day of paddle boarding at the lake, and the Flip 18 hits that sweet spot—not too bulky, but still roomy enough for a full day of drinks and food.

The flip-top design is one of the biggest reasons I went with this model. The rectangular interior doesn’t taper like other soft coolers I’ve used, which makes it much easier to stack cans and food containers without wasted space.

How Much Can the YETI Hopper Flip 18 Hold?

In general you should use a 2:1 ice ratio with any cooler, which means twice as much ice as food and drink. My experience is that you can bend this rule on day trips. I very often use this cooler with two ice packs and no loose ice, but only when I’ve fully pre-cooled it. The capacity of this cooler on paper is 30 cans, which is achieved by 2 layers of 15 cans (each level is 3 rows, 5 cans long). With the 2:1 ice ratio, this cooler can fit 18 cans along with loose ice packed around them. These specs make this a great cooler for packing drinks for team sports and I’ve used it on the sidelines of soccer games for both adult beverages and stuffed full of drink boxes for the team, but this size doesn’t work great if all you have is a few cans.

A cooler will not stay cold if there is a bunch of empty space. If you only fill it with a few cans and a small amount of ice, then expect things to stay cold only for a couple of hours before the ice melts. My recommendation is to pile on more ice to fill as much space as you can. I’ve passed over the Hopper Flip 18 a few times because I don’t have enough to fill it. In a perfect world I’d have the YETI Hopper Flip 12 or even Hopper Flip 8 in addition to the 18. If your primary need is for keeping a few drinks cold at a ball game then I’d recommend one of these smaller sizes.

More often though I’m packing lunch and snacks for a group of four. It does well with a mix of bottles, cans, and food containers. In the picture above there are four sandwiches, grapes, watermelon, and drinks. You can see that I have more food than ice. This was great for a 5 hour day at the lake with temperatures in the mid-80s and the cooler in the sun, but again I'll stress that you should fill in with loose ice for best performance.

How I Pack It for Day Trips

Here is my typical rountine:

• Pre-cool it overnight. This is a very important step for proper performance of any cooler. I either fill it with a bag of ice or stick the cooler (lid open) in my fridge the night before.
• Pack for 3–4 people. Usually this means a mix of cans, bottles, sandwiches, fruit, and a few small containers with snacks. Remember, that empty space in the cooler with seriously reduce ice retention.
• Fill with ice. The general rule is 2:1 ice to contents. For day trips I often violate this, but it depends what I'm packing. In my example two ice packs kept everything cool, but I'd recommend surrounding contents with ice packs and also filling space with loose ice.

Ice Retention: What I’ve Seen in the Real World

The Hopper Flip 18 won’t match a hard cooler when it comes to multi-day ice retention, but for 24–36 hour trips, it works great—especially if I pre-cool it.

With ice packs, loose ice, and smart packing, I’ve come back from all-day outings with cold drinks and some unmelted ice. I don’t expect it to hold for multiple days like a YETI Roadie, but I’ve never had warm drinks after just a day out, even in summer heat.

Tips for maximum cooler performance:

Pre-cool your cooler - This is absolutely essential. You'll lose a lot of ice cooling down a room-temperature cooler.

Fill empty space - Empty space is the enemy of cooling. The less food you pack the more ice you will need.

Can You Use Dry Ice in the YETI Hopper Flip 18?

No—this cooler is not compatible with dry ice.

That’s one of the trade-offs with the Hopper Flip line. Dry ice can damage the liner and the soft cooler can actually burst, as the zipper is airtight. If dry ice is important to you, you’ll need a hard-sided cooler like the YETI Roadie 24 or Tundra 45.

The Improved HydroLok™ Zipper

I own an older YETI Hopper Tote and the zipper on it was borderline brutal—especially for my kids or anyone without strong hands.

The HydroLok™ zipper on the YETI Hopper Flip 18 is firm, but way smoother. The large T-handle on the zipper pull gives you real leverage, which makes it easier to open and close—even when the cooler is packed full. My kids can use it without asking for help, which wasn’t the case before. Even with the smoother operation, the HydroLok™ zipper forms an airtight seal, which is huge for ice performance vs. cheaper soft coolers (and also why you can't use dry ice with the Hopper series). 

Final Thoughts

If you're looking for a soft cooler you can use regularly—without fighting the zipper or babysitting the ice all day—the Hopper Flip 18 has worked well for me. It’s not the cheapest cooler out there, and it doesn’t do dry ice, but for grab-and-go trips with friends or family, it’s a solid daily workhorse.