Polar Bear’s Original Nylon Soft Cooler was one of the most portable and best at cold-retention among all coolers we tested. Our testers loved the short handles on top of the bag and included shoulder strap. “It feels like a large tote bag and carries like one,” is how one tester put it. Additional features on soft coolers include hard clip points, daisy chains, webbing straps, and bungee cords for carrying extra gear. Most soft coolers have side or top handles, two straps that swing up to secure together above the cooler, or a removable shoulder strap. A bunch of designs have a combination of handles and straps, too.
There’s just one big main compartment, but it has the brand’s HitchPoint Grid, allowing you to attach other things to the outside. We believe in offering the very best value, quality, and selection. Refunds are issued to the original form of payment, unless returned in store
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Top-of-the-line, exceptionally featured heavy-duty cooler! The Igloo® Super Tough™ product line is designed to meet the increasing demand for higher… One potential issue, especially when transporting for lunch, is the cooler leaked a bit from the zipper.
The Soft Pack features a wide lid that stays wide open for easy packing of all those refrigerated goodies. Likewise, they each have excellent internal capacity, with the RovR fitting 39 cans and the AO 36. The REI Pack Away and Arctic Zone Deep Freeze 30 also impressed us with their storage features and capacity. The igloo soft cooler Pack Away has gear hooks scattered throughout the pack, so there is no need to ditch the travel mug or bottle opener at home. The Deep Freeze holds up to 30 cans, and its ribbed inside helps keep them settled in place. Additionally, it has stretchy mesh side pockets and a bungee cord for holding a blanket or jacket.
The Yeti Hopper Flip has seriously impressive temperature retention. We took it to the beach on a sunny day that hit the upper 80s, and all the ice was still intact when the sun went down. Though it’s relatively compact, the interior is surprisingly spacious.
It has pockets galore, with the main cooler compartment, two mesh bottle sleeves, and multiple zipper pockets. With this many options, you can easily pack up for a picnic, cutlery included. We specifically appreciated the hidden zipper pouch along the backside of the pack that could stealthily fit your phone or keys.
When it comes to cold storage, the Ozark Trail did decently, keeping its interior cool for 38 hours. However, the quality of its webbing feels on the thin side and the straps are less comfortable than others on this list. In terms of keeping things cold, this Coleman soft cooler fell to the back of the pack of the soft coolers we tested. Our sensors igloo water cooler showed us it warmed up to 40°F after just 26 hours, which places the Coleman in the bottom half of the coolers we tested. With Igloo’s soft coolers, you have plenty of choices, depending on the situation. While all of these soft coolers have a touch of black on the outside, the three main choices for colors are agama teal, blaze red and acid green.
A soft cooler that claims 24-hour ice retention is usually lighter duty than one that claims three days or more. You should never consider these numbers as performance guarantees, but as a crude spec to gauge where a cooler stands within the category, I find the estimates useful. The soft coolers in our guide range from the Mountainsmith Takeout, which can fit six cans, to the 38 L Snow Peak Soft Cooler. Most of our choice soft coolers are either larger (30 L to 38 L) for group multiday trips or more compact (12 L to 19 L).
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The Arctic Zone Titan Deep Freeze 30 offers great utility for a steal. Despite having some of the thinnest insulation of any model we tested, it maintained recommended food temperatures for a little over two days, which was right around the group average. The zipperless design for the main compartment makes it completely painless to use, and the hard plastic interior makes it simple to pack. A removable plastic shelf adds functionality, keeping sensitive items out of melted ice, and numerous pockets adorn the outside for wine corkscrews, napkins, and silverware. Durability varies considerably between soft coolers, and a good way to differentiate between models is to look at denier (D), which is a measurement of fabric thickness. RovR’s TravelR 30 is another standout in terms of durability with a burly TPU base and welded seams that give it a very hardwearing feel.