From there, we purchased the best 30 coolers we could find to take to our lab in Brooklyn for testing. While our testers noted this cooler is large and heavy and not the easiest to lug around, we also appreciate that the cooler floats in the water, is spill- and leakproof, and comes in four sizes. We also found it to be an ideal road trip size as it’s small enough to fit easily into a car yet sufficient to carry drinks and snacks for a few people. We enjoyed using this cooler on a road trip from California to the Midwest and back to California and saw it as the perfect cooling copilot. For the weekend warrior, the rugged adventurer, the daily luncher, the boater, the weekday commuter, the beach-goer, the Sunday hiker, the park picnicker, the snack provider (aka MOM)…the list goes on.
Justin Park is a Breckenridge, Colorado-based writer and videographer covering action sports, health & fitness, and the outdoors. From multi-day backpacking and hunting trips to simple road trips to weeks on Lake Powell in 100+ degree temperatures, he’s dependent on quality coolers in the field. He currently likes the Hydro Flask Day Escape 20L for quick road-tripping and the Yeti BackFlip for more serious cooling on the go. Capacities in a soft cooler are often stated in sheer storage capacity listed in various volume measures such as gallons, quarts, or liters.
We’re the testing team at Reviewed, which means we designed and implemented the experiments involved in this article. Carrying it around was comfortable, thanks to the padded straps and chest and hip straps, and the weight was evenly distributed. Greg’s a co-founder of bestcooler.reviews and author of 100+ product reviews and comparisons on this website. When not at work, igloo trailmate Greg’s an avid sportsman who enjoys running marathons, loves snowboarding, hiking and discovering new single tracks on his bike. Prices at both websites range from $10 to $200, depending on what type and size you choose. For retail purchases returned with a receipt, please return the unused and unopened item, with the
original sales receipt, for a full refund or exchange.
Backpack coolers like the Hydro Flask 20 L Day Escape are the easiest to manage with full harnesses that can be worn like a standard daypack (we outline these more in depth below). But as long as you don’t drop it off the south rim of the Grand Canyon, you’re likely to have this cooler for a very, very long time. And not surprisingly, it had some of the best ice retention and coldest temperatures at the end of our 24-hour test. The Hopper igloo soft cooler Flip’s inside temperature only raised by about 6 degrees over 24 hours, thanks to Yeti’s closed-cell insulation, for which it’s become infamous. While we tested during cooler fall temperatures, the Walker delivered days of ice retention versus the hours we got from flimsier bag-style soft coolers. Those times would be shortened in direct sun and high temps, but the thick walls of the Walker are more than enough for a day at the beach.
Non-expedited orders are processed for shipment within two business days of payment verification, excluding holidays. You will receive a shipping confirmation e-mail once your order has shipped. The e-mail will provide your tracking number and link to the shipping carriers tracking page. Edibles that only need to be chilled should be placed closer to the top of the cooler. 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.
In our lab, the temperature inside the tote actually dropped 8 degrees between two hours and 24 hours after filling it with ice. Previously, we tested hard coolers in the summer in Baltimore through a week that saw highs of 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and lows of 64 to 72 degrees. And more recently we tested most of our picks again throughout the year in Hawaii. The price spread among soft coolers is significant, ranging from just $25 for the Coleman 24-Hour 16-Can Cooler all the way up to $300 for RovR’s premium TravelR 30.
If we had to generalize it, we would say that you should expect to get approximately half of the claimed ice retention time in real-world use, give or take a bit depending on your specific circumstances. REI has a knack for balancing performance and affordability, and their Cool Haul 24 is no exception. Like much of its soft-sided competition, the REI bag also includes daisy-chain webbing for securing extra gear, as well as a handy bottle opener. And because the Cool Haul’s inner insulated box can be separated from the outer shell, cleaning is a snap (the shell can also be used without the liner as a tote).
These foams, which weigh around 0.5 pound per cubic foot, are light and easy to compress. To test the portability of each soft cooler, the team walked around with each of the coolers to see how comfortable they were to carry. The coolers were all tipped upside down to see if they were, in fact, leakproof.
The thick extruded closed cell foam in the Marine Ultra will keep whatever sodas, water bottles, beer, or snacks you keep inside cold for the entire day. This also makes the cooler reliable for days at the office when you want to have your lunch outside when the sun is out. Whatever cooler brand you trust should be able to provide items that can satisfy you in any igloo water cooler situation. We’ve tested Polar Bear coolers for seven years now, buying them or receiving test units from Polar Bear. Recently, however, we’ve been let down by the lifespan of its soft coolers (though not this backpack in particular). 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.