Our other grievance is we wish there was an exterior pocket on this soft cooler to help carry utensils and napkins or slide in trash. 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. The Hydro Flask Day Escape Tote ($150) offers a streamlined, lightweight, and durable design. We used this cooler for park BBQs and loved how comfortable it was to slip over our shoulders and carry.
A final highlight is the accessory-ready exterior, which allows you to easily connect add-ons like their Rambler Bottle Sling or SideKick Dry Gear Case (sold separately). During the warmer months, there’s nothing better than sitting on a beach or in a park with a cold can of something refreshing and some chilled snacks to munch on. While we’ve previously tested igloo soft cooler hard-sided coolers, we decided to focus on soft-sided coolers, which promise to keep food and drinks cold without the heft and bulk. Much like the brand’s hard-sided gallery, Yeti delivers best-in-class soft designs with the Hopper Flip. It powerfully preserves ice and keeps fare colder for longer, which is key for full-send days and muggy, hot conditions.
Overall, this cooler bag measures measures 13.5 inches long, 12.75 inches wide, and 13.5 inches tall. This portable insulated cooler features advanced insulation that keeps drinks and food cold for a full day at the beach or lake. No need to worry about bringing this waterproof cooler close to the surf or onto your boat.
Our affordable soft cooler designs are thoughtful, intuitive and reliable because we think of YOU and the ways you’ll use your cooler every day or on extended adventures. Soft coolers are better for activities like a summertime picnic in the park or a day hike. The price tags on modern soft coolers igloo water cooler may be shocking if you haven’t shopped for one before. Most higher-end offerings are well over $100, and the top-of-the-line options are as much as $300 or more. If your budget is tight or you aren’t sure you need the best soft cooler around, consider some of our lower-cost recommendations.
By adding a fully supportive, weight-bearing waist belt, this cooler is ideal for relieving your shoulders when you need your cooler filled to the brim with delicious picnic provisions. While the IceMule is our favorite igloo trailmate for smaller and medium loads because of its comfortable straps and flexible body, the Trail Pack is our go-to choice for heavy cargo. It’s comfortable like a daypack and saves your shoulders over the long haul.
And where the Yeti still had about half of its ice frozen, our testers reported only about 20 percent of the ice placed in the Icemule stayed frozen. Instead, you should use freshly frozen cubed ice, ice blocks, or reusable ice packs. The prices of soft coolers in our guide range from the $30 Mountainsmith Takeout, which is the smallest cooler, to the OtterBox Trooper 20 Cooler ($250) with top-shelf ice retention.
Premium models tend to have great cushioning along the straps, as evidenced by RovR’s TravelR 30, RTIC’s Soft Pack Cooler, and Engel’s HD30. 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). After researching today’s best soft coolers, we selected several to try firsthand, including mini ice chests with soft-sided walls, insulated totes, foldable bags, lunch boxes, and cooler backpacks. After inspecting the coolers, we recorded our first impressions of the materials, capacity, quality, and appearance. Next, we packed them with drinks, food, and ice and brought them along to multiple outings to see how they performed in real-life settings. 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.
Igloo’s Outdoor Pro Snapdown Backpack has a deep, wide main compartment with insulated walls, plus various pockets and even a handy built-in bottle opener. After a few hours, most of the ice was still intact, the cans were chilled, and the bag didn’t leak at all when we flipped it over. We then sent the coolers to field testers for additional insights. We packed the coolers with the stated capacity of cans (when possible); we also filled the coolers with ice once the cans were packed. Once the coolers were full, we began testing for portability and durability by carrying the coolers around the lab and up and down steps and pushing them off tables onto a concrete floor. Yeti claims the Hopper BackFlip 24 can hold 20 cans at a two to one ice ratio.