High quality, soft-sided coolers have treated me and my crew well for years. As mentioned, all items should be frozen rock-solid and packed tightly. Have gotten 30-hours out of them before thawing. The only food issue we ever had was in 2016 when the C&I folks wanted to have a long chat about the chicken breasts we brought down. They even wanted to see the receipt! Had the receipt; was a non-issue, and paid $10. Quality is the big difference with bringing your own foods. We like good steaks and certain specialty foods that are unavailable there, so bringing a few things down is no big deal.