REI Co-op Trailgate 30L Weekend Cooler Review
Our favorite affordable soft cooler for camping, picnics, and day trips
August 28th, 2025
Home → Gear Reviews → Camping
Our verdict
The REI Co-op Trailgate 30L Weekend soft cooler is an affordable soft cooler with all of the features of coolers twice its price–plus some added benefits. Like similar soft coolers, it has ice retention that lasts 2-3 days. It's easy to load with a flip-top design and has a rectangular design that makes it easy to pack in a car. We liked its handles and well-padded shoulder strap better than other coolers. It even has zipped pockets!
What really makes the Trailgate shine is it has a removable liner that makes it easy to clean. Compared to most rectangular soft coolers, the REI Co-op Trailgate 30L has a larger capacity and can store taller bottles (such as wine bottles), plus it has external pockets.
Yes, it doesn't have the color options or brand name cache of other soft coolers. But if functionality and price are your main priority, the Trailgate 30L Weekend is the best choice. While its performance during ice retention tests wasn't the absolute best of the coolers we tested, the difference was a handful of hours, and the REI Trailgate is about half the price of similar performing coolers. Plus, the Trailgate 30L has a removable liner that can be pre-chilled and removed for easier cleaning. And it's made of bluesign and recycled materials.
Oftentimes, the REI version of a name-brand outdoor item is good, but doesn't blow the original out of the water. In the case of the Trailgate 30L Weekend, the REI brand version may be the best for most people. If you want a rectangular soft cooler for weekend camping, the REI Trailgate is certainly the best budget soft cooler, if not the best soft cooler in general.
We create reader-supported, objective, independently-selected gear reviews. This story may contain affiliate links, which help fund our website. When you click on the links to purchase gear, we may get a commission, without costing you an extra cent. Thank you for supporting our work and mission of outdoor coverage for every body! Learn more.
REI Co-op Trailgate 30L Weekend Cooler specifications
Capacity: 30 liters/1,831 cubic inches (also available in 20 liters/1,221 cubic inches)
Can Capacity: 24 cans with 10 lbs of ice
Ice Retention: 64+ hours below 40°F
Weight: 5 lbs 15 oz
Dimensions: 16" x 15" x 12"
Materials: Recycled nylon outer (bluesign approved), recycled polyester (bluesign approved)/EVA liner
Best for: Weekend camping, car camping, tailgating, picnics, backyard barbeques
Features: Thermoformed hard top, removable liner, bottle opener
Sustainability: bluesign approved fabric, recycled materials, Climate Label Certified
Price: $159.95
Comparison table
| SOFT COOLER | COOLER TYPE | CAPACITIES AVAILABLE | CANS IT CAN FIT | WEIGHT (LBS) | MSRP* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REI Trailgate 30L Weekend Cooler | Rectangular | 20, 30 L | 24 | 5.9 | $160 |
| REI Trailgate 20L Weekend Cooler | Rectangular | 20, 30 L | 18 | 4.5 | $130 |
| YETI Hopper Flip Cooler | Rectangular | 8, 12, 18 L | 13 | 3.1 | $250 |
| YETI M20 2.0 Backpack Soft Cooler | Backpack | 12, 20 L | 36 | 5.6 | $325 |
| YETI Hopper M30 2.0 Soft Cooler | Rectangular | 15, 30L | 42 | 7.0 | $350 |
Who is it for?
People who are interested in the YETI Hopper Flip, but want something more affordable, backed by REI's guarantee
People who want a higher capacity soft cooler that is tall enough for wine bottles
Weekend campers needing reliable cooling for 2-4 day trips
Anyone needing easy cleaning with a removable liner system
Environmentally conscious users valuing sustainable materials and construction
Tailgaters and road trippers needing organized storage with multiple pockets
Car campers who want a flat tabletop surface for food prep and storage, and easy packing in the car
How we tested
The REI Trailgate 30 L Weekend Cooler at a hike-in picnic spot along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley.
I spent a month living out of the REI Trailgate 30L Weekend Cooler while camping and living at a summer camp in the Eastern Sierra. We used it first to transport food up from the city to the camp, especially fresh fruit, vegetables, pesto, and fancy cheese that are hard to find locally. Then, we used it daily to take lunch to lakes for swimming and kayaking, and to trailheads for daily hikes. We used it for grocery trips to the "big" town an hour away to keep the groceries cool on the way home.
But when the refrigerator stopped working at the summer camp I was living at, we relied on the REI Co-op Trailgate 30 L Weekend Cooler even more. This became more than just the thing that held our lunch. It held our breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and tomorrow's, too. I've bought a lot of ice for this cooler just to function in daily life and got to know how many hours I could push it before needing to buy more.
When I got back home, I spent the rest of the summer using this cooler on a weekly basis, but am thankful that I have access to a refrigerator again. Back in "normal" life, I've used the REI Co-op Trailgate 30L to transport my favorite ice cream across Los Angeles, protecting it from the summer heat in hours of traffic. I've used it to keep drinks cool on road trips. I've used it at backyard barbeques to keep drinks cold for guests. I've walked it over to listen to live music in the park. It works just as well as a camping cooler as a daily cooler.
What we liked
A padded shoulder strap makes this large cooler easier to carry around. A generous front zip pocket means you have room to carry utensils.
Easy to open lid makes it fast to pack and easy to see where all your food is
Taller design accommodates taller bottles, such as wine bottles
Larger volume than similar rectangular soft coolers like the YETI Flip
Easy to clean with removable liner
Rectangular shape makes it easy to pack in a vehicle with your other camping gear
Shoulder strap and handles are easy to carry and shoulder strap can be stored in the zip pocket
Made of recycled and bluesign-approved fabric
About half the price of the YETI Hopper Flip soft cooler
Less flashy than the YETI cooler so I'm a little less worried about car break-ins
What could be better
Ice retention is not quite as good as the YETI soft cooler
Not as many colors as other brands
Not offered in sizes smaller than 20L, so not suitable for a solo person's lunch
Not the "status symbol" of the YETI soft cooler
Features
The REI Co-op Trailgate 30L has a sturdy removable liner that makes cleaning easy.
Thermoformed hard top design
Like all soft coolers, the REI Co-op Trailgate 30 L is more durable than traditional soft-top coolers and not as heavy (or expensive) as a traditional hard-sided cooler. It has a rigid flat surface that works as tabletop or food prep area when space on your picnic table is limited or when you need a chopping area when you're sitting on a camp blanket directly on the ground. When in the car, that structure provides enough structural integrity and to protect delicate food like peaches or strawberries during transport. It's also rectangular in shape and firm enough that it creates a stackable design for efficient packing in vehicles or storage in a garage or closet when you're back home.
Removable liner system
The REI Co-op Trailgate has a removable liner to make cleaning easier. You can also pre-chill the liner (right) or use the liner-less bag (left) as a tote bag.
A unique feature we like about this cooler is it has a leakproof liner that can be removed for easier cleaning. You can also pre-cool the liner by chilling it separately before use. We never did this, but the outer shell could double as regular tote bag when the liner is removed. In theory, having replaceable components extends your cooler's lifespan, though we couldn't find just the liner for sale anywhere on REI's website.
Ice retention and insulation
The REI Trailgate 30 L Weekend Cooler is advertised as keeping 24 cans cold below 40°F for over 64 hours with 10 lbs of ice. On a Friday afternoon, at 75F, we put 10 pounds of ice in along with our food. That ice stayed in there and hadn't completely melted by Monday morning, when we could make it back to the store to get more ice.
We found the zippered lid design minimizes leaks if the cooler tips over. Another handy thing is that the cooler tips and usage instructions are printed inside the lid for reference, so you don't have to go looking for a paper manual or find something online.
Organization and storage
The REI Trailgate Weekend cooler has pockets galore. There's an inside pocket that can hold utensils or a bottle opener and also comes with printed tips on how to use the cooler.
Somewhat rare among soft coolers, the REI Co-op Trailgate 30L has a front organizer pocket with a zipper for utensils, napkins, and a shoulder strap. It also has side stash pockets for quick-access items like keys and phone. Like higher-end soft coolers, it has a built-in bottle opener eliminates the need to pack a separate tool. In general, we found that despite generous pockets, the placement of the pockets never interfered with our ability to access the main compartment.
Portability and comfort
A huge bonus of this cooler is the huge, padded, adjustable shoulder strap for longer hauls. Other coolers also have straps but this one was particularly wide and padded. The shoulder strap is also removable so it doesn't get in the way when packing the car.
In total, the REI Co-op Trailgate is relatively lightweight at under six pounds. It fits well in vehicle storage and tight spaces, although the 30L version is pretty big. It's designed to be tall enough to hold wine bottles, but sometimes 30L was almost too big for daily use and hauling around. It worked well with our two testing vehicles, a Subaru Forester and Toyota mini van, but we've read people with smaller cars like Honda Civics finding it too tall to put in the backseat for easy access.
Sustainability features
The Trailgate is made from recycled nylon and polyester materials meeting bluesign criteria. It also is made of nonfluorinated DWR treatment avoids use of PFAS "forever chemicals" (why it matters) and comes with the REI Co-op Climate Label Certification. We found the Trailgate has durable construction, though it didn't feel quite as hearty as the YETI Flip cooler. Like other REI products, it is made with responsible manufacturing practices and material sourcing
Performance in the field
The REI Trailgate 30L Weekend cooler at a picnic at the Yosemite Valley visitor center during a 19-hour day trip.
Ice retention
REI claims a 64+ hour ice retention for this cooler. We found that if we load it up with 10 pounds of ice on a Friday afternoon, there will still be some ice chunks on Monday morning when we drain the system. Soft coolers, in general, will hold ice for a weekend whereas hard-sided coolers can last 5 days or more.
We conducted numerous ice tests side-by-side with the REI Trailgate 30L, a YETI Tundra hard-sided cooler, the YETI M30 2.0 Tote Bag Soft Cooler, and the REI Campwell Folding cooler, with temperatures around 80°F during the day. While there was ice, it consistently kept the contents cool, though (no surprise here) the items towards the bottom, closer to the ice, tended to stay cooler.
Durability
The REI Trailgate may be a soft cooler, but it is surprisingly robust. The surface fabric is abrasion- and puncture-resistant. We did not baby this cooler at all; we threw it around in the trunk, carried it on hikes in Yosemite, and took it to picnics at the park. It looks the same as when we got it, even after near-daily use all summer.
Portability
The REI Trailgate Weekend cooler comes with a long and surprisingly comfortable shoulder strap. By its nature, rectangular soft coolers are unwieldy to carry long distances. We carried it into a picnic spot along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley as well as the beach of Tenaya Lake in Tuolumne Meadows and the beach of Mono Lake along trails and bike paths.
Unsurprisingly, we found the YETI Hopper Soft Cooler backpack to be much easier to carry for longer distances and steeper trails, such as the short trail down to Tioga Lake from the trailhead.
But for most situations where we wanted a cooler, the Trailgate's padded shoulder strap was great. The longest I carried this cooler at a time was about two miles and that was as far as I wanted to carry it given the design. I'd say 0.25 mile to a mile is the sweet spot before I'd want to switch over to a backpack cooler.
For in town and loading and unloading the car, the dual straps on the tops and sides of the Trailgate Weekend cooler were all we needed.
Organization
The Trailgate Weekend Cooler has multiple exterior pockets that help keep small items like utensils and bottle openers accessible and organized. There's a big one on the front and a smaller one on the side. They're both out of the way from the main compartment so you don't really notice it until you need it. I also like that they are zippered. The REI Campwell 18L folding cooler we tested has an external pocket but it lacks zippers, so I never felt comfortable putting my keys or phone in there. That isn't the case with the Trailgate cooler.
Versatility
We hear that some campers like to use the flat top of this cooler as extra workspace for their camp kitchen. Sure, I may have thrown a lantern on top for some extra light, but I'm not using the flat top to chop vegetables or prep a meal. The handle gets in the way.
REI Co-op Trailgate 30L vs. similar coolers
The Trailgate 30L is a lot like the YETI Hopper Flip soft cooler in design. The Trailgate 30L has a larger volume and is taller, so you can fit more food inside and you can get in taller bottles like wine bottles. It's also less expensive. The ice retention isn't quite as good as the YETI Hopper Flip (but just by a few hours). But the pockets and shoulder strap are better on the REI Trailgate, in our opinion. Everyone can agree that the colors on the REI soft cooler aren't as fun as on a YETI. But if you don't need the style and status symbol of the YETI Hopper Flip, then at half the price, the REI Trailgate is the obvious choice.
The rectangular REI Trailgate 30L and YETI Hopper Flip are both easier to load than soft bag/tote bag-style soft coolers like the YETI Hopper M30 2.0 and the REI Campwell Folding Cooler. They're also easier to load than backpack style coolers like the YETI M20 2.0 Backpack Soft Cooler we tested.
We think it's fair to say that rectangular soft coolers in general are a better option for daily driver coolers. However, they're less compact than the soft bag/tote bag style, so they're not as well-suited for storing in the off-season or for people living in small apartments.
Should I buy the REI Co-op Trailgate 30L?
The Trailgate 30 L is a sizeable cooler that some may find too big to fit in their car. If that is the case, opt for the 20L version.
Buy if you want reliable weekend cooling with hard-top functionality and sustainable construction at a reasonable price.
Skip if you need maximum ice retention for extended trips, need a more comfortable carry system for longer or steeper trails, or want better colors or style.
Similar products
YETI Hopper M30 2.0
Cooler type: Rectangular
Cans it can fit: 42
Weight (lbs): 7.0
MSRP: $350
The YETI Hopper M30 is an insulated tote-style soft cooler bag with the same 30L capacity as the REI Trailgate. It does an even better job than the REI Trailgate 30L at storing taller items like wine bottles. The M30 is also much easier to store when empty because aside from its base, it can be squished down flat.
However, we found that despite the wide-mouth, the Trailgate (and Hopper Flip) design is easier to pack and see all your food than the Hopper M30. The Hopper M30 also doesn't keep ice as long as the REI Trailgate. Like the Hopper Flip, it has lots of fun colors and designs and the YETI name-brand.
YETI Hopper M30 2.0
Cooler type: Rectangular
Cans it can fit: 13
Weight (lbs): 3.1
MSRP: $250
The YETI Hopper Flip is the most similar soft cooler we tested to the REI Co-op Trailgate 30 L Weekend Cooler. They both are rectangular hard-top, soft-bodied coolers that open from the top. Both keep ice for around a weekend. The Flip—even in its biggest size—is smaller at 18L whereas the Trailgate goes up to 30L. The Trailgate also has pockets and a removable liner, making it easier to clean out. In ice retention tests, the Flip does better, but only by about five hours. The Trailgate doesn't come in as many fun colors and doesn't have the name brand status symbol of a YETI Cooler, but is half the price.
YETI Hopper Flip
Cooler type: Backpack
Cans it can fit: 36
Weight (lbs): 5.6
MSRP: $325
The YETI Hopper is a soft cooler backpack. I liked the Hopper better for times when I wanted to bring a cooler on a longer or steeper hike on rougher terrain. It also has the benefit of compressing more flat for storage when empty. Still, the Hopper's ice retention was only ~36 hours, compared to the REI Trailgate's ~60 hours.
YETI Hopper Softcooler Backpack
Why you should trust us / About the author
Liz spent the summer testing soft coolers side-by-side.
Liz Thomas is an award-winning writer and the Editor-in-Chief of Treeline Review.
Liz ended up relying on her REI Trailgate 30 L when her refrigerator broke during a month-long trip to a mountain cabin. During that time, she got to know this cooler really well including how long she can push it until getting new ice, the best way to dump out water, and exactly how many days of groceries will fit inside.
Liz is a former Fastest Known Time (FKT) record holder on the Appalachian Trail. She was guest editor at Backpacker Magazine, where she is currently the columnist of “Ask a Thru-hiker” and instructor of their online class, Thru-Hiking 101. Her first book, Long Trails: Mastering the Art of the Thru-hike, was the recipient of the National Outdoor Book Award for Best Instructional Book called by judges destined to become the “Bible of the Sport.”
Liz has talked gear on Good Morning America (TV), in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post, Men’s Journal, Women’s Health, Gizmodo, and Outside Magazine. She represented the sport of hiking at President Obama’s Great American Outdoors Initiative.
You can read all of Liz’s articles on her website or Treeline Review author page.
