Best SOFT Coolers From $30 and Up (HANDS-ON)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- Are you looking for the best soft cooler like Yeti but cheaper? Welcome to the most comprehensive guide to the best soft coolers of 2023! Whether you're searching for the best backpack cooler for hiking adventures or the best large soft cooler for camping or family picnics, this guide has got you covered. 🧊❄️
📌 IN THIS VIDEO:
1. Ice Retention Test: See how these coolers really stand up to the test of time, and which one keeps your drinks chilled the longest.
2. Buying Guide: Learn what essential factors you need to consider before investing in a soft cooler.
3. Top 8 Soft Cooler Reviews: Dive deep into a hands-on review of 8 of the best soft-sided coolers on the market. Experience first-hand insights, pros, and cons, ensuring you make an informed choice.
🎒 WHY WATCH THIS?
If you're in the market for a new soft cooler, this guide is tailor-made for you. With the coolers right in front of me, I'll give you a first-hand look and insights into the strengths and drawbacks of each model. No fluff, no sponsored content, just honest reviews for genuine buyers.
Sign up for our anti-boring email newsletter about outdoor gear and deals! 👉 outdoorempire.com/youtube-sig...
👍 LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for more detailed buyer's guides and reviews!
🔍 Find more cooler tips, tricks, and reviews on our website!
outdoorempire.com/tag/coolers/
🎥 WATCH MORE awesome cooler reviews:
• Unveiling the BEST Rot...
• 6 BEST Wheeled Coolers...
• Best Hard Cooler 2023?...
• A Cooler That DOESN'T ...
🛍️ FIND THE COOLERS MENTIONED HERE:
⚡️ Cordova Backcountry Daypack Cooler - amzn.to/3EhYC5B
⚡️ RTIC Soft Pack Cooler - alnk.to/3ckfp9G or amzn.to/44x9TcO
⚡️ Titan by Arctic Zone Zipperless Hardbody Cooler - amzn.to/45T97Yu
⚡️ Engel HD30 - amzn.to/3szAVTx
⚡️ Titan by Arctic Zone Rolling Cooler - amzn.to/3PkslAY
⚡️ IceMule Pro - alnk.to/5jjlb5L or amzn.to/3Ejd25d or alnk.to/7M7WUpN
⚡️ Moosejaw Chilladilla Backpack - alnk.to/1C5qzBe
⚡️ Quechua Hiking Backpack Cooler - alnk.to/hDonQ1q
💬 HAVE QUESTIONS OR SUGGESTIONS?
Leave a comment below! I'll do my best to get back to you.
📸 Follow us on Instagram!
/ outdoorempirecom
00:00 Ice Retention Test
04:59 Ice Retention Results
06:57 What To Look For
11:14 Best Overall Soft Coolers
17:51 Best Large Soft Coolers
23:43 Best Backpack Coolers
33:19 How To Choose a Soft Cooler
DISCLOSURE: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you click on a link we may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
![TOP 5 Best Backpack cooler [ 2024 Buyer's Guide ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RaZM4I860F0/mqdefault.jpg)
⚡ Best Overall Small Soft Cooler - amzn.to/3EhYC5B
⚡ Best Large Soft Cooler - amzn.to/3szAVTx
⚡ Best Backpack Cooler - alnk.to/5jjlb5L
*Affiliate links, FYI
Really helpful video! You pointed out all the features I'll look for in our next backpack cooler. Thank you!
You're most welcome and thank you for watching!
I love the dedication. Keep up the good work.
Thank you and will do!
I love my ice mule cooler. Did well on a boating trip for us, the backpack style is great for that.
Good call!
A back pack strap broke on my black IceMule pro XL after about a year of use had miles of carry with it. Customer support sent me out a brand new cooler easily and didn’t ask for the broken one back. I love it so much I got the R-Jaunt 20l and used it on a recent vacation in Mexico. It came on every day trip and supplied a 8 person group of drinks easily. It also packed well in my luggage.
Nice, great to hear about the customer service! And good point on being able to roll it up and pack it for a trip, nice feature as well.
Great job bro! Just what I needed!
Glad to hear it!
I have 2 rtic coolers about that size and larger. Both have failed corners on the lid top. I used some glue to slow the failure, but they are not water tight now. One cooler has a failed zipper so I can’t close the lid now. BUT, they are both 8 years old. They also seem better built with more features than the current versions. I’ll buy something else to replace, probably Cordova. Thanks for the great video!
Thanks so much for adding the Costco bag, that’s been my biggest curiosity.
Engel backpack cooler leaks through the seems when water is in it. I don’t understand the purpose of a roll top unless it’s the style of ice mule, if it’s just a roll top on the top of the cooler and has seems, water will come through if it tips over. The cooler also creates condensation. Cooler would be better if they just had a waterproof zipper instead of
Thanks for the great reviews. I've been looking for a good soft cooler and couldn't stomach buying the Yeti. I purchased the Cordova using your affiliate link.
Good choice! And thanks so much for the support! I still like mine and use it.
Great video! Love how you break down your choices and give us a good look at how the coolers work.
Just wanted to give a little more insight to the ICE Mule Pro that I didn’t see you touch on. The valve system on the ICE Mule is actually used to create more insulation. Once you put all of your ice and items in the cooler you can blow air into the valve to create more insulation between the outer layer and the insulation layer and thus increasing ice retention.
Just thought I’d share 😊.
Thanks for sharing. That's an interesting concept seeing how most cooler companies claim air is ice's #1 enemy. I'll have to try that and see what happens.
@@outdoorempirecom his point being that the air doesn't go into the actual cooler. It isn't an enemy because it is a separate layer like a vacuum bottle such as a Yeti or Hydroflask. The air layer in concept should make the ice last longer.
Would like to see an update with a Yeti Hopper Flip!
I’m a cooler junkie now and I like it. Great videos!!
Haha awesome! I didn't know it was a thing until I made a couple of these videos.
Great video, lots of effort you put into this. I have owned the engel HD30 for a few years now, still going strong. One thing to note, and I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned yet, but on the engel HD30, the vacuum port isnt to remove excess air from the interior chamber where the food and ice are. Its to remove the excess air from the walls so the insulation can do its job. Opening the top of the cooler after vacuuming the air out will not undo what you did. I vacuum mine before each trip to increase performance. It does help! Thanks again for the great video
Thanks for pointing that out. I clearly missed that as well. But it seems obvious now since there is no port or hole on the inner lining.
Absolutely pumped about this video. After the comment section decided that the hard yeti coolers just aren't cutting it on some of these trips anymore..
You and me both!
On the water tight coolers with zippers - those zippers absolutely need periodic lubrication or they will fail prematurely. Before first use and afterwards when the zipper starts feeling stiff - lubricate it inside and out. Just a pea size blob on the zipper park and one more somewhere along the middle. Some coolers come with a tube of lubricant with purchase. For those that don't or if you run out, you can purchase zipper lubricant where sewing supplies are sold or if you can't find it, silicone plumbers' grease will do the job just as well. Use only silicone grease, petroleum based grease will degrade plastic and rubberized fabric coatings.
Ice muel you can blow air into to create more air insolation
15:46
Both Rtic coolers I’ve had had zipper failures within a three year span each. When those fail the cooler is then unusable. A top that cannot close is useless as a cooler.
That's great insight, thanks for sharing.
The Titan is junk. My titan stays in an Ac patrol vehicle all day. I'll be lucky if it's lukewarm by mid day of a 12 hour shift. Don't throw your money away.
Good to know!
😮😮😮😮 And I just bought one.
@@PetePuebla could always bring it back
I thought about the Titan guide series cooler. The Titan with the hard interior liner doesn’t seem to be that good.
Same. I started bringing food to work driving truck 12 hours a day. It's worthless. I put it on my passenger side floor and have the foot AC on all day and it still sucks
Titan seems like the ultimate beer cooler. Good insulation, built decent enough, and easier to get into compared to the hard to open RTIC, Yeti, etc zippers that take two hands. Plus if you are opening it every 30 minutes it doesn't really need 1.5" insulation cause air is constantly getting in
Thanks for the vid!
You bet, and great points! The quick access is definitely a nice feature on those Titans. Plus they're pretty cheap!
I work in a steel stamping/heat treatment plant with no AC (it's been getting to over 115 inside this past week). I use the 30-can Titan for my lunchbox. It might not hold Ice as long, but with two ice packs It keeps everything freezing cold for 13-hour shifts and I can get into them with 1 hand quickly.
Great video. Waterproof zippers is the biggest thing I notice as you go between price tiers. On warranty, I'm on my 3rd yeti flip 12 each time the 3yr warranty reset, zipper teeth broke each time. So yes not cheap but when I got 3 for that price can't complain. 2nd time they asked me if I wanted to upgrade to a tundra for free.
Good point! Great to hear they took good care of you.
I'm done with Yeti for the same reason. My company has purchased over 20 and the zippers are broke on all of them
Perfect timing
Glad to hear it!
I came here for the coolers and got coolers+. Nice Nordiques Hat btw.
Glad to hear it. Go Nords! R.I.P.
Thank you for your wonderful research and review! If you are doing this again sometime could you try a geckobrands backback cooler? Work gave us one for free but our sporting store (Scheels) has them currently for $50. I absolutely love it! It holds ice over night and after 3 days the ice was all melted but still hadn't leaked out. Thats a win for my kitchen! Also cleaned up nicely after getting salt all over the inside. Not sure how that happened. But if you do one of these again check it out!
Will do, thanks for the tip!
Great review. The coho soft cooler is also very good
Good to know!
Great review my man! I carry mail for a living and them LLV's are usually 15-20 degrees hotter than the outside temp and all last year had great luck with the RTIC brand backpack cooler! Thing I hate is it isn't a waterproof zipper but I just throw some of their branded ice packs in there and have ice cold drinks/snacks all day long. If the wife says you gotta clean feel free to send me that RTIC 😂😂
Awesome! Thanks for watching and for the comment. Good tips too. I'll let you know about that RTIC. 😉
I deliver mail also! I've been using the backpack cooler from Costco, Titan deep freeze. Its nice for a $35 backpack but the quality isn't there for the long term, especially with the abuse it takes in the LLV. I just switched to the Grizzly drifter 12+ which is really nice but doesn't really have a good place in the truck. Its rough out here haha.
Great videos ! I will like to know about the chiladilla 36 cans with the latch leak proof and the titan same latch.
Noted thanks!
He’s right I’ll never need to keep ice frozen for more than a handful of hrs at best lol I do appreciate quality though. I
Bought a icemule because it doesn’t leak at all on top of that I can use it to get groceries on my motorcycle 👌🏾
Nice! The IceMule sounds perfect for that.
Crazy all the coolers i didnt know existed in your videos.. we have very few choices in alaska at the stores. Im surprised more dont have lights in them like that frog one ..that was 😎
Ya that light is a clever touch.
The Cons of the Moosejaw are that the rubber zipper fails after the first couple uses. Walmart wont accept returns after 90 days and Moosejaw claims they don't have to honor their own warranty after it is sold from the retailer! I've never heard something so nonsensical.
These items are too expensive for regular people to jsut blow money on and then be told to eat the cost of the poor quality.
That is ridiculous. Since I did this video, Moosejaw was bought out by Dick's Sporting Goods. They cut the Ice Fort hard cooler line entirely. Perhaps that has influenced customer service as well. Too bad.
Like your real world experiments ! Have you ever tried the beach coolers with big wheels ? I'm curious to how the hold up... can you try them sometime?
I've tried a few. I did another video on coolers with wheels.
Yukon ice chest and backpack is part of igloo, but made in the USA Texas and Michigan.
Good to know.
Selling a brand new Moosejaw Chilladilla on Offer Up rite now for 75 bucks....come and get it!
Great videos. Could you do a comparative review of fish kill cooler bags? Not a lot of info out there on them.
Interesting idea, thanks.
Can you do a soft cooler with ice packs test
I have that same rtic cooler. Worth every penny and super reliable
Nice!
Until the zipper is cracked will be useless
i want to try one. how long have you had it? i seen people complaining of zipper and other quality stuff.
Nice Nordiques cap!
Cheers!
I guess I'll take one of your 50 coolers haha thanks
Haha, you're welcome. It is becoming a problematic and space consuming habit. 😂
How does the Oyster vacuum insulated compare to the RTIC? Using ice on a camping trip?
Thanks
The Oyster will last longer. I took it on a 3 day 2 night campout and had regular ice and sodas in or and it kept those drinks delightfully chilly all weekend and there was still a bunch of ice when we got home. On another trip that softshell RTIC held some fresh food and half ice and the ice was spent after 2 nights, all water.
@@outdoorempirecom o wow that is a huge difference.
I have the 30 can RTIC and like you say by the 2nd day there was no ice, only water.
Capacity wise is one much bigger than the other or they can carry about the same stuff?
Do you have the weight of the Oyster with the shoulder strap?
Thanks!
@@theflyerpr40d The Oyster is definitely larger inside. Can hold 36 cans with the two ice packs included with it. But with ice, cut that in half about. The Oyster is also heavier than the RTIC soft cooler, but it's not near as heavy as a typical hard cooler.
@@outdoorempirecom thanks for the detailed reply! That help a lot!
I went to order the Cordova recently, after seeing another of your videos only to see "preorder now for October delivery" WTF!
Scored a chilla dilla for 50$ today pretty stoked
Sweeeeeet! 🤑
Is that a Welch Springer Spaniel or a Brittany?
A Brittany! His name is Huck and he's an old fella.
Grizzly coolers are made in the USA with a LIFETIME WARRANTY!
Yep, got me one recently and tested it out in another video.
@@outdoorempirecom Could you review the Grizzly Drifter series of coolers? I think the lunch cooler market from these high end makers is being ignored! I need a cooler that can hold my lunch/drinks as well as my light tools/pens/sunglasses ect. thanks!
Bison coolers makes a soft cooler made in the USA
Good to know, I'll check it out. Thanks!
I am bummed there wasn't an igloo backpack cooler in there. As I just bought one and it's solid so far. It was 30 plus tax. Holds 24 cans. Chest strap. I like it right now.
Thanks for sharing! I'll check that out in the future.
Does anyone have or tried the Magellan outdoors pro 24?
I don't have any experience, no Academy Sports in my area. But it seems like a decent cooler and I believe it comes at a reasonable price.
If I’m going to be carrying beer for survival than we can all just carry a refrigerator and a generator
🤔
Bison soft coolers are not imported.
Good to know, I'll check them out!
No Yeti cooler?!
Nope I checked one out in store, but couldn't justify the $300 price tag when others like the RTIC and Cordova only ran $120 for something just as good. I'm sure there soft coolers are excellent, Yeti makes quality gear!
@@outdoorempirecom but in order to be fair and comprehensive in your fun review, your need it. Because Decathlon (even if I m French) doesn’t deserve to be in your review. By the way don’t forget REi who sells one. Usually REi is always good in quality/price.
I never plan on buying a Yeti, but I've seen other tests that show despite being "identical" the Yeti soft cooler has a more dense insulation and keeps ice longer than the RTIC. Could be worth a test in the future @@outdoorempirecom
We are from the PLIDINNA brand.We have a lot to about high-value products that would be of interest to you? We have sent you an email inviting you to take a look.
UPS driver .. i currently run a Titan Cooler the large one which is a beast (not a yeti fanboy lol ) but Been in the market for a backpack cooler… i appreciate you 🫡