The Back of the Tahoe, Made Roomier: Our Lifewit Cooler Bag Story

The first thing I noticed after I swapped the hard cooler for the Lifewit bag was not the cold. It was the quiet. No lid to wrestle, no drain plug to forget, no heavy box sliding around when I took a turn. I am Wade Thibodeaux. I am 61, retired four years ago from the parts desk at a truck dealership, and I live in Baton Rouge. Renee and I drive to six to eight pro road games a season, and about two a season we fly. The back of our 2019 Tahoe is the packing puzzle every Friday night, and for years the hard cooler was the piece that did not fit.

We kept a hard cooler for years. It was fine for fishing and fine for a barbecue where somebody else carries it. In the Tahoe it took up too much of the back, and it was heavy for two people in their sixties to lift in and out. I am not going to pretend we are frail. I am saying that after a long day, a heavy cooler is one more chore. So 38 months ago we bought the Lifewit collapsible cooler bag, the 50-can size, 30 liters. It measures about 15.7 by 10.6 by 12.2 inches, it has a 600D Oxford outer and a PEVA liner, two side mesh pockets and a shoulder strap. It is lightweight and portable. That is the listing. Here is what it means in a driveway.

On a Friday night I pack it on the kitchen counter. Frozen water bottles go in the bottom, then ice packs, then sandwiches, fruit, water and soft drinks. The 30 liters is enough for the two of us for the drive and the parking lot, with room for a couple of extra waters for the people who always ask. I put it behind the second row in the Tahoe. Renee puts the clear bag on the second row. The cooler stays in the back. On game day it stays cold through the drive and through a tailgate. I am not going to give you an hour number, because I have not measured one, and I do not think a number from my driveway would help you in yours.

The bag has been on about 20 road trips. It is 38 months old, which makes it the oldest thing on the game day shelf in the hall closet. It has not been replaced. The shoulder strap is the part I use most. I can carry it from the kitchen to the Tahoe with one hand, and I can carry it from the Tahoe to a tailgate table without hugging it against my chest. The two side mesh pockets hold water bottles where I can see them. When the bag is empty at the end of the day, it folds down and goes on the shelf. That is the whole reason it beat the hard cooler: it gives back the back of the Tahoe.

It gave us back the back of the Tahoe, and it kept the sandwiches cold from Baton Rouge to the parking lot.

Now the honest part. The Lifewit bag is not a hard cooler. It can sweat on the outside on a hot, humid day, so I set it on a towel in the cargo area. It is not as tough as a molded cooler, and you cannot sit on it. When it is half empty it slumps, and the shape goes a little flat. None of that has cost us a meal. But if you want a cooler that doubles as a seat or a step, this is not that.

The hard cooler is still in the garage. We use it for fishing and for the occasional backyard cookout where it stays in one place. We never take both on a game trip. There is no point. The Lifewit bag holds what we need for the drive and the parking lot, and the hard cooler would just take up the room we saved. If we are flying, the cooler stays home. The clear bag folds into the carry-on, and the cooler does not come out of the closet.

At the stadium, the cooler never goes past the parking lot. It stays locked in the Tahoe. That is not a rule I am quoting. It is just what we do, because we are not carrying a 30-liter bag through a gate when the clear bag already holds what we need. If you are checking the gate rules for a bag, check the stadium's own website before you leave home. Rules differ, and they change. I say many stadiums publish a 12 by 6 by 12 inch bag size. I do not say all. The Lifewit bag is not the bag we take to the gate anyway.

Who it suits: if you drive to games, if you pack for two or four, and if you want the cooler to live in the back of the SUV without stealing the whole cargo area, this is a sensible bag. It suits a tailgate that happens in the parking lot, not a hike to a beach. If you need to keep ice for a long weekend or you want something you can sit on, get a hard cooler. If you are flying, leave it home. That is the plain version.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If we were sitting at my kitchen table, I would tell you to measure your cargo area before you buy any cooler. I would tell you to pack it the night before, because a bag you pack at 6 a.m. is a bag you forget something in. I would tell you that the Lifewit bag is not a hard cooler and it is not trying to be. It is a soft bag that holds 30 liters, carries with a shoulder strap, and folds down when the day is over. It has been in our Tahoe for 38 months and about 20 road trips. It has sweated on a hot day and it has slumped when half empty. It has also kept our lunch cold and left room for the seats and the clear bag. For two people in their sixties who drive to road games, that is a fair trade. Check the stadium's website for gate rules, check the weather, and do not expect one bag to do every job.