We’ve tested several of this style, and the IceMule Pro is hands down our favorite for sheer carrying comfort. It has soft, wide shoulder straps, a longer torso for more even weight distribution, and a flexible shape that accommodates whatever you’ve filled it with. The walls of the cooler can also be inflated or deflated with a simple valve, adding both insulation and comfort against your back. In the face of some innovative competition, for years now, the IceMule remains the most comfortable model we’ve tested for carrying moderate provisions on a multi-mile hike.
We took this cooler on a two-person, 3,400-mile road trip from Colorado to Washington for ski mountaineering followed by ocean surfing. Then we linked up river surf spots through Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, camping igloo water cooler along the way. 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.
Importantly, not all coolers measure interior capacity in the same way. Some use cans as a unit of measure, while others use liters, quarts, or gallons. That said, “cans” is the most commonly used measurement for soft coolers (hard-sided models are generally listed in quarts), and we’ve utilized that spec throughout this article whenever available.
When we lugged this Yeti around, we liked the feel of the handles and shoulder straps. The hitch points on the front allows for you to secure all sorts of gear within easy reach. The grip handle comes with an ergonomic and rubberized design to ensure the user’s hands don’t feel pressure or annoyance. The shoulder strap is adjustable in case you’re bringing plates of food or other items to a party, and the front slip pocket has space for extra food.
During our cold retention tests, the Yeti Hopper Flip 18 maintained an internal temperature of below 40°F for over 46 hours. Overall, we think this Arctic Zone cooler is a generalist crowd pleaser. You can easily roll it from the parking lot to the beach, or detach it and sling it over your shoulder. Traveling in the outdoors may require carrying certain amounts, or sizes, of items each day or for the entire journey. That’s where the Realtree group comes in, as you’ll be able to choose between the Tactical Duffel, Gizmo, Square 30, Launch 2 Go and HLC 12 Cooler Bags. The Daytripper’s Commuter Bag and Dual Compartment Tote are the smaller options, weighing in at 1.62 lbs.
It maintained sub 50° F temps for 75 hours, offering over three days of refreshing beverages. The OtterBox Trooper 20 and AO 24 are also noteworthy here, offering food-safe temps below 40° F for 61 and 57 hours, respectively. Unlike hard-sided coolers, the pliable-sided construction of soft coolers makes them easy to store when not in use. Many soft coolers can be collapsed and stored away after being emptied and wiped clean of water. When testing soft coolers, we focused on performance, capacity, and how comfortable each is to carry.
For this article, we separated the insights of soft coolers from the rest so we could compare alike models and determine which ones are worthy of our seal of approval. There are no extra frills here, so don’t expect any extra pockets or hooks; however, it features a padded cross-body strap, many color options, and hours of ice retention. It’s great for people with limited storage space or who are always traveling igloo water cooler because you can roll it right up and stow it away when not in use. It’s also waterproof and floats (there’s a valve that adds air to the insulation layer), so feel free to carry it with you right into the lake or ocean. With many exciting backpack coolers now on the scene, we retested this pack next to several new models, and the IceMule Pro handily holds its own among the backpack-style coolers.