The exterior pockets provide ample space for cutlery, keys, a wallet, and a phone. Additionally, a bungee can hold onto a beach towel or jacket, and the daisy chains can clip on extra gear. In our experience, the sweet spot is often right in the middle, with many of our most frequently used soft coolers offering space for around cans igloo trailmate with ice. These designs are sufficiently sized for day trips or weekend road trips, manageable in terms of weight and portability, and won’t take up a ton of space in your vehicle or garage. RovR Products’ RollR collection put them on the map in the wheeled cooler category with a competitive mix of durability and ice retention.
The materials are high-quality with closed-cell foam insulation, a vinyl-coated polyester exterior, and snazzy YKK zippers. But without a shoulder strap, it wasn’t ideal to transport the Hobie Cooler more than short distances. But even with a pad, the strap was not comfortable for the weight-to-weight ratio of this tall cooler. So don’t plan on walking far with this softie or make sure your shoulders are covered for a little extra cushion. The two side handles aren’t the most comfortable to grab, and we wish they weren’t adjacent to the shoulder straps’ attachment points.
Other highlights include a waterproof exterior that stands up well to rough use and outer lash points for strapping to a kayak or boat. Finally, we love the smooth-operating zipper that requires minimal force to open (not always the case with watertight designs), provides a reliable seal, and is easy to igloo trailmate realign if it separates. All told, the Day Escape’s sleek but well-rounded design was quick to win us over, earning it our endorsement as the best backpack cooler of the year. When you need cold food and drinks for a trip to the campsite, lake, or beach, look to the Igloo 40-Can Soft Cooler with Wheels.
It’s the perfect companion and size for a group of three or four to have a few cans each throughout the day. Despite looking like a Yeti—and having thicker insulation on its lid (by half an inch)—it didn’t quite have the same performance as igloo water cooler the Yeti Hopper. At the end of our 24-hour ice test, the Orca had no remaining solid ice, while the Yeti had some. And where the Yeti’s inner temperature increased by about 6 degrees over 24 hours, the Orca’s went up by about 13 degrees.
We discovered that just because a bottle opener is clipped onto the end doesn’t mean it will reliably open bottles. Finally, we wiped down the interior to see how easy it was to clean each cooler. The low price tag does come at the cost of some durability, though. This is not the model we would expect to last the longest, as its materials and craftsmanship are not top-tier.
The insulation is a metal-coated plastic blend, which did a solid job of preserving the ice and goods. We loved the soft interior liner and the waterproof zipper that prevents any leaks from the top. The Snow Peak Soft Cooler did well on a weekend road trip to climb in Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains and camp out, but wouldn’t be able to retain ice for longer durations.
The zipper is a little sticky when the lid is all the way shut, but we take that as a sign it’s truly locking arctic climes inside. It’s also worth noting that hard shell coolers typically offer better insulation overall, but that doesn’t mean that soft coolers are left in the dirt. If they’re made right, they can be nearly as effective at insulating over time. For instance, multiple versions of RTIC’s hard and soft coolers can keep ice frozen for literal days at a time.
While putting this compact and lightweight cooler through its paces, we found every aspect to be highly engineered and durable. The zipper is supremely leak-proof and the DryHide exterior resisted scratches and punctures. Even when it’s chock-full of ice and cans, this Arctic Zone cooler is easy to maneuver. Plus, cargo nets on the side and a zippered flap on the front allow you to roll out all the essentials like wipes and additional snacks. The design makes the Collapse & Cool offerings for Igloo’s soft bags easy to clean. Storage is easy thanks to the collapsible setup, and being leak-resistant allows the right amount of water to stay inside.
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. That said, there are still some discrepancies to be aware of, the biggest of which is whether or not ice is included in that estimate. We did our best to clarify in the write-ups and comparison table above, but it’s an important distinction to keep in mind when shopping for a soft cooler. Soft coolers are ideal for shorter trips or when you don’t want to lug a heavy hard-sided cooler. Often much lighter, soft-sided coolers still promise to keep food and drinks cool for days, if needed.