If your fingers can compress the foam more than 75%, you’re probably dealing with open-cell foam. If the foam feels denser than that and doesn’t compress much at all, you probably have your hands on closed-cell foam. But where do you want to go with your cooler, and how do you want to get there? Depending on the size and type you’re planning to take with you, you may have already put some limitations on your adventures. Without considering overall capacity, the most portable coolers will be more comfortable to carry for longer distances and amounts of time. Though robust and watertight, its zipper is much easier to use and comes with zipper lubricant included, helping it to remain explicative-free.
A lifelong user of coolers, he appreciates the innovation of soft backpack coolers. For a few years now, Nathan has loved his Yeti Hopper BackFlip and Yeti Hopper Flip, but the Icemule cooler packs mentioned in this roundup are quickly becoming his new go-to’s in certain situations. While the can measurement standard is helpful, keep in mind you’ll need to devote at least some of that volume to ice. The amount of ice you put in a cooler is totally subjective and depends on how cold you want the cooler’s contents and the conditions and temperatures in which you’ll be taking the cooler. Just make sure to read the specs carefully and assume that max can carrying capacity listed is for only cans in most cases. We also measured for cold and ice retention by taking the inside temperature of each cooler at two hours after filling them with cans and ice and then 24 hours after filling them with cans and ice.
We also give kudos to the igloo soft cooler-cell foam insulation of the Hopper M30. Inevitably, we had to be strategic with how we packed things, due to the tall, slim shape. Neither type of cooler is “better.” Hard coolers work well when you need long-lasting cooling and don’t need to carry them much more than a hundred yards.
All of these are great soft-sided coolers, each trying its best to outdo the others. We’ve tested Polar Bear coolers for seven years now, buying them or receiving test units from Polar Bear. For a long time Polar Bear led the way in soft-cooler designs. Recently, however, we’ve been let down by the lifespan of its soft coolers . But with care, you can extend the lifespan of any soft cooler—the number one rule seems to be not to leave it out in the sun. For hard coolers, a 70-quart model is big enough for a variety of tasks.
The real win for the Reactor over the Yeti is the price factor. You’re getting a premium cooler at just a fraction of the price of the Yeti (for example, the Igloo backpack options is just $119 compared to $299 for the Yeti Hopper). The ice retention on the Reactor series is fairly good, even if it’s not breathtaking. The ice retention is advertised to be 2 days for the 30-can and a full day for the 18-can. The backpacks are particularly handy because they have interior zipper pockets to keep small accessories in. The greatest features for this bag are spaciousness, being resistant to water and other forms of damage, and being easy to carry.
We assessed durability over months of use, paying attention to how they handle daily rigors. We threw them around, dropped them on the ground, and filled them to the brim with heavy drinks. One of the most frustrating qualities of many of the models we tested is their challenging zippers.
We took the igloo soft cooler Hopper M30 Soft Cooler ($350) on a Southwest Colorado road trip to the Hardrock 100 race to volunteer and car camp. A team of editors and testers from TripSavvy and Dotdash Meredith’s food group sites like Simply Recipes, Serious Eats, The Spruce Eats, and Liquor conducted testing in our Brooklyn lab. We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.
However, taller coolers get trickier with access to buried items, so you have to be mindful when packing the cooler. The cooler’s multilayer insulation didn’t keep the ice very well, and the waxed canvas is stylish and soft but soaks up water and gets heavy. According to our ice retention test, this cooler is capable of holding ice for close to 45 hours. The 1-inch closed-cell high-density foam worked well to keep our food and beverages chilled while baking under the sun during a mid-summer music festival. We’re not surprised, given RovR makes one of the best hard-side coolers, hands down. The robust zipper closure takes some effort and time to open, but the wide T-shaped pull makes the job comfortable.