Magellan Outdoors has a double-latching, double-hinged removable lid and happens to have won our picks for best small and large cooler. The easy-to-use, double-latched design means you can open the cooler from either side and, if you’d prefer, you can disengage the latches on both sides to remove the lid altogether. The performance data on this little cooler is excellent, with the lowest temperature reached and the lowest average temperature of the bunch.
We started in the lab with rigorous insulation testing and continued assessments through a wide range of real-world uses. From picnics in the park to beach BBQs, we carted these models everywhere we went to learn which models were most portable and enjoyable to use. We also went through hundreds of pounds of ice and frosty cans in our rigorous insulation tests. Whether you’re setting out on a road trip or a hunting trip, we can help you choose your perfect icebox.
Another benefit of high-end hard-sided units is durability—the difference in quality is immediately apparent and some of the best out there are truly meant to last a lifetime. All that said, if you just need a reliable cooler for days at the beach or packing a lunch on the road, it’s probably a good idea to save your cash. But if you consistently head outside for days at a time, the investment is well worth it.
Its clever design makes it both good-looking and highly effective. That said, finding the best cooler for your needs is complicated by a crowded field, with a list of options that’s grown steadily in recent years. It would definitely be time to pack in some more ice or wrap up your camping trip.
Yet, because it’s so small (relatively speaking), we hardly miss those extra features. The Roadie is not airtight or leakproof — there is a sizeable gap where the ends coleman instant tent of the rubber seals meet that’s only covered by a piece of fabric tape. The most important metric for most of us is how well an ice chest keeps food cold and fresh.
It’s also important to point out that some companies provide different warranties for their hard-sided versus soft-sided offerings. For example, Yeti covers its Tundra and Roadie collections with a five-year warranty, while their soft-sided Hopper is only covered for three. I was able to fill the Lifetime High Performance Cooler with 62.4 quarts of water without causing coleman sundome it to overflow when I shut the lid. Keep shopping and you’ll find coolers on wheels, thermoelectric coolers, coolers with power and even a cooler backpack or two — truly coolers as far as the eye can see. We make regular work of testing coolers in our climate-controlled lab, with the ultimate goal of making it a little easier to find the best cooler for your buck.
That’s enough to hold plenty of ice, drinks, and food for a family of three. Anything smaller, and you end up carrying a lot of bag and not carrying much of anything else. There just isn’t enough room in those smaller sizes for them to be functional for anything except an individual lunch or a few drinks. The RTIC 65 has rope handles with a plastic tube for gripping and two rubber latches for holding the lid closed, mimicking the design of most other, comparable coolers.