Like competing chairs, the Chair One has a nylon and mesh seat and aluminum legs, which are linked with shock cord (the chair legs are made out of the same material as high-end tent poles). The canopy quickly and easily transforms into a carrying ozark trail chair case—just wrap it around the chair and snap it closed with two plastic buckles, and you can carry the whole thing on your back like an oblong backpack. We brought this chair to a dense Los Angeles neighborhood to watch Fourth of July fireworks.
At just 21 ounces, the Alite Monarch was the lightest of the three chairs we tested in this category, as well as the most compact, but its two-legged design required your own legs to serve as the third leg of the stool. REI’s Flexlite Chair has been replaced by an entire flock of Flexlite chairs; the one that is the closest to replacing the original Flexlite in the lineup is the Co-op Flexlite Camp Chair. The design, size, and weight is nearly identical, but the nylon fabric has been replaced with polyester.
It’s also able to fit a wine bottle inside or within one of the external side pockets. The Engel HD30 and RTIC Soft Pack include small low-profile pockets ozark trail chair great for keys or a phone. The HD30 is the largest in our lineup and will fit just about any odd-shaped food item you could take on your picnic.
The softer canvas exteriors and flexible insulated walls of the AO 24 Pack and REI Pack Away are much more comfortable bouncing against our sides and feel like a duffel bag. One of the most frustrating qualities of many models we tested is their challenging zippers. So far, manufacturers haven’t been able to produce a zipper that’s waterproof and easy to use. Many soft cooler zippers not only require two hands to open and close but also quite a bit of straining and muttering through clenched teeth. Among backpack models, the RTIC Backpack 30 and the Engel Roll Top BP25 Backpack reign supreme. Much like other RTIC models, the Backpack Cooler 30 is made from heavy-duty materials, including a watertight zipper.
A single long opening makes it uncomplicated to load and easy to search. On the outside, a large zippered pocket provides a good amount of dry storage, and its duffel-style handles can be joined together for easy transportation. Its flexible shape allows you to fold it flat for storage (a unique feature that most of the competition can’t claim) and easily accommodates tall objects, such as 750 ml wine bottles.
From the best camping stoves and top portable fire pits to the best camping tents and coziest and top-rated sleeping bags, we’ve got the scoop on the gear that’s worth your money (and the stuff that isn’t). Soft coolers offer portability and versatility that traditional hard coolers can’t. From lunchboxes to beach days, we meticulously put these soft-shelled sidekicks through the paces, side-by-side, to discover which are the best insulators, the supremely rugged, and the sensationally portable. We fully loaded these coolers, walked with them for miles, and went through hundreds of pounds of ice.
We have a few issues with this wagon—the telescoping handle can feel flimsy, and it costs around $50 more than the standard Mac Sports wagon. But after previously recommending a cheaper, less-sturdy beach wagon—which broke after a year—we think the Mac Sports All Terrain’s overall durability and maneuverability on sand make it worth the increased cost. With many exciting drybag coolers now on the scene, the IceMule Pro 33 handily holds its own among the rest. The large roll-top design allows easy access to its contents, so you won’t have to remove everything on top to reach that last cold soda at the bottom. Toss this on the kayak or paddleboard, or tug it along on your next float trip.
Dan and JJ hand pick the lowest priced and highest rated items on the web to offer you the best quality shopping deals. The IceMule Classic and IceMule Pro 33 were both relatively durable and resistant to our abuse, though the straps’ attachment points seemed perhaps not quite as reliable or as robust as we’d like them to be. These dry bag coolers did great in our submersion tests, and they float, making these a great option to take along on the kayak. This wagon has wider wheels that can traverse sandy terrain with ease.
Any gear’s durability comes down to a few simple factors—the quality of its materials and components, the method of construction, and the overall design. The coolers we tested feature a wide variety and quality of materials. We assessed durability over months of use, paying attention to how they handle daily rigors. We threw them around, dropped them on the ground, and filled them to the brim with heavy drinks. We also packed, emptied, repacked, and bounced them around in back seats and truck beds, left them out in the sun for hours, strapped them into water-logged boats, and anything else we could think of. The clear winners in this class are the backpack-style coolers, as the weight distribution across both shoulders and resting behind you will almost always beat out a unilateral carry.
The cupholders on the L.L.Bean Kids’ Base Camp Chair aren’t as roomy as those on our picks, and they are not as adept at holding stubby water bottles or mugs of hot chocolate. You can stow this featherlight, compressible chair in a backpack or even a work bag. This low-profile chair is easy to carry, and it adjusts for uneven ground. Select a chair with a built-in canopy, which will give you a little patch of cool at any campsite or cookout. After researching dozens of wagons and testing 10, we concluded that the Mac Sports Collapsible Folding Outdoor Utility Wagon is the best all-around wagon for basic toting.