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Kit Dillon is a writer focused on bags and travel gear. He has worked for Wirecutter for a decade and lost count of the number of bags he has tested. Cold Packaging
After another round of testing, we have a new hard cooler pick, the RTIC 52 QT Ultra-Light Cooler, and a new hard cooler pick for long, tough outings, the Canyon Coolers Outfitter 55 Quart Cooler.
Expectations for what makes a good cooler have radically shifted in the last decade—thanks in no small part to a few companies building better gear that stubbornly outlasts and outclasses coolers from familiar old names.
After spending many years evaluating more than 50 cooler models, we’ve chosen six that are well made, well insulated, and well suited for a range of outings.
The RTIC 52 QT Ultra-Light Cooler is our best pick for most people who want a lightweight cooler that can do it all at a decent price.
However, we also have a pick for adventuring, one that rolls, a soft cooler for light work, a backpack cooler, and a disposable cooler.
We use two methods, measuring meltwater and temperature changes, to find coolers that keep food and drinks cold for a long time.
For hard coolers, 50 to 55 quarts is big enough for a variety of tasks. For soft coolers, we recommend the 20- to 24-can range.
If you find yourself in need of a cooler while away from home, skip the cheap polystyrene cooler in favor of a compostable one.
For most people, Yeti hard coolers are overkill. Two exceptions: if you need a cooler with wheels or if you’re in bear country.
We’ve covered coolers for more than seven years now, building on hundreds of hours of research and watching the category change and evolve in a myriad of ways.
For this guide, we’ve done the following over the years:
Better insulated and less expensive than the competition, this hard cooler keeps things ice cold for five days, and a well-designed drain port makes it easy to clean.
May be out of stock
Lightweight and well-insulated, the RTIC 52 QT Ultra-Light Cooler is a perfect cooler for a long weekend away, car-camping trips, tailgating, or keeping as a backup cooler in your garage in case your power suddenly goes out.
It’s lightweight but sturdy. The Ultra-Light Cooler compares in strength to roto-molded coolers (roto-molding creates evenly distributed plastic parts through a heated rotating mold), such as ones from Yeti, but at 21 pounds, it’s significantly lighter. This is because, despite looking like a roto-molded cooler, the Ultra-Light series is injection-molded, which uses less plastic and results in a lighter cooler.
It’s easy to move. It’s lighter than any of the other comparably sized hard coolers we tested and the easiest to move around. The Ultra-Light Cooler has two nylon ropes slotted through plastic handles that are easy enough to use. It also has a small area to insert your hand for lifting, but it’s less comfortable to carry that way.
It has plenty of insulation without sacrificing capacity. The Ultra-Light Cooler has less insulation around the sides while keeping the standard 3 inches of insulation within the lid (similar to a Yeti cooler). Compared with other roto-molded picks, the interior is very spacious. It can easily carry a week’s worth of refrigerated groceries for two. I use the 52-quart model every week to pick up groceries in Hawaii and drive them home. It fits easily in my trunk, and I can count on it, with a few ice packs, to keep dairy cold even after hours driving around in tropical heat. In our testing, we also found that the Ultra-Light Cooler consistently keeps ice frozen and maintains a food-safe temperature (40 °F) for up to three or four days in the shade with use. RTIC also sells a freezable divider and basket. They’re good if you prefer a little extra organization while packing your cooler.
It cuts price, but not details. RTIC coolers—both the ultralight and rotomolded variety—are somewhat notorious for being two-thirds of the price of Yeti coolers without sacrificing performance. Yeti can (and does) charge a premium for its name. But cutting the price doesn’t necessarily mean that RTIC cut any corners. The latches on the Ultra-Light Cooler are made from a stiff rubber and seal down the gasket of the lid with the telltale exhalation of air from a full seal. However, over time I wouldn’t expect this seal to remain watertight—it’s just not built to that high a specification. The Ultra-Light Cooler has two drain ports with cap stays made of wire.
Exterior dimensions: 27.25 by 17.25 by 17 inches (WDH) Interior dimensions: 21.25 by 12 by 12 inches (WDH) Weight: 21 pounds Capacity: 52 quarts
This roto-molded cooler is almost indestructible and has a lifetime warranty to back it up. It kept our ice frozen for a week and costs a touch less than a comparable Yeti cooler.
The Canyon Coolers Outfitter 55 Quart Cooler is all but indestructible for longer camping and rafting trips if you don’t mind giving up a bit of interior space for thicker insulation.
It’s just as effective as any big-name brand, with a better warranty. Most people do not need a roto-molded cooler. Those coolers are big. They’re heavy. They carry less than other, same-size coolers because of the amount of insulation they’re packed with. In short, they’re impractical for most mundane needs—a fact that has stopped absolutely no one from buying them in record numbers. That said, the Outfitter cooler stood out during our testing for its excellent insulation and sleek construction: It’s just as tough as any of its competitors and, with 2.7 inches of insulation, it keeps ice from melting for as long as any cooler we tested. And unlike its RTIC or Yeti competitors, it’s protected by a lifelong warranty.
It’s nearly indestructible. To be fair, we could say this about most any roto-molded cooler with bear-resistant certification. But the Outfitter is tough in an already tough field. It weighs 26 pounds with a hinge molded into the frame. The Outfitter’s trick is its minimal exterior, which leaves very little purchase or edge to catch on if the cooler takes a fall. It feels and carries like a well-packed brick, which makes sense given its IGBC (Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee) bear-resistant certification. As with all such certified coolers, you do need to add a bolt or padlock.
It’s as strong as a comparable Yeti cooler, at a better price. This is the hardest cooler category to test and ultimately choose a pick within. All high-end roto-molded coolers are increasingly coalescing into a single position, with similar price, performance, and construction. The three that currently rise to the top are from RTIC, Canyon, and Yeti. RTIC’s coolers are always the least expensive, but they aren’t certified as bear-resistant. Yeti has all the name recognition, a consistent track record, and bear-resistant certification. But in our comparisons, The Outfitter cooler is a touch cheaper per quart of space and has slightly more insulation than either the RTIC or Yeti coolers. It’s bear-resistant-certified and has the best warranty of the three brands. Plus, certain small details in the Outfitter’s shape and design make it ideal for rigging to outdoor vehicles like ATVs and rafts.
What about the Pro model? Canyon Coolers makes a similar model to our pick called the Pro 65 Quart Cooler. It’s mostly the same cooler but larger and beefed up with oversize latches, insulated drainage, heavier insulation, and small modifications to the body to make it easier to stow cam latches when securing down the cooler. These upgrades would seem to exceed the needs of most people, but you may prefer the extra performance.
Exterior dimensions: 28 by 15.5 by 16.75 inches (WDH) Interior dimensions: 21 by 10.5 by 12.75 inches (WDH) Weight: 26 pounds Capacity: 55 quarts
The handle and wheels on the Tundra Haul are the best we’ve come across. This cooler feels like you can roll it across anything without the handle straining or bending or the wheels breaking.
The Yeti Tundra Haul Wheeled Cooler pairs the indestructible nature of a roto-molded cooler with top-of-the-line handles and wheels for moving around with ease.
It has strong hardware. The Tundra Haul is expensive, but when you’re choosing a wheeled model, it’s worth paying for hardware that won’t break or strain under heavy loads. It has taken us a few years to recommend a wheeled cooler simply because none have seemed built to last longer than a season or two—especially in the handle. Once loaded with ice, drinks, and food, a 37-pound cooler can more than double in weight. When someone then tilts the cooler up, all that weight goes into the wheelbase or leans into the handle hinge. The arm of the Tundra Haul is made from a thick-gauge welded aluminum, the quality of which you can feel immediately when you lift it.
It has tough wheels. The wheels are a single-construction plastic and not hollow or feeble-feeling as on so many other coolers. Remarkably, when we lifted this cooler—fully loaded with cans, food, and many pounds of ice—by the handle, the experience didn’t feel that different from wheeling around a high-end piece of luggage.
It’s built to last and bear-resistant. This cooler, like everything in the Tundra collection, is certified bear-resistant by the IGBC.
Exterior dimensions: 28.1 by 18.6 by 19.6 inches (WDH) Interior dimensions: 19.1 by 11.4 by 14.1 inches (WDH) Weight: 37 pounds Capacity: 55 quarts
This simple lunch-box-style cooler is insulated with thick, closed-cell foam and made from a durable coated nylon. Like all soft coolers, though, it will show the effects of sun and heat damage over time.
We recommend the RTIC Soft Pack Cooler 20 Can if you need a simple soft cooler for a lunch box or daily carrying that’s durable enough to stand up to some decent abuse and time in the sun.
It has heavy insulation in a small package. The lid of the Soft Pack Cooler is capped by more than 2 inches of closed-cell insulation, half an inch more than in the Yeti Hopper Flip 12 Soft Cooler. The walls of the RTIC Soft Pack Cooler are also a touch thicker than those of the Yeti Hopper Flip. Head-to-head, all that extra insulation seems to give the Soft Pack Cooler an insulating edge, though the difference in daily use remains marginal.
It’s cheaper than comparable options. The Soft Pack Cooler has a design similar to that of the Yeti Hopper Flip but costs less than half the price. That said, when you compare all the details—the hardware, the stitching, the material design—the Yeti cooler is likely to last longer with daily use.
It’s reasonably tough yet light. The exterior of the cooler is made of a durable, thickly coated nylon—waterproof and tough. Its malleability and light weight also make it easy to carry.
Dimensions: 13.75 by 9.5 by 13.5 inches (WDH) Weight: 3 pounds Capacity: 15 quarts
This comfortable, tough, waterproof backpack cooler, which holds about 36 cans, insulates just as well as any soft cooler we’ve tested. It is very expensive, though.
The Yeti Hopper M20 Backpack Soft Cooler is great if you need a backpack that can last longer than any other soft cooler available.
It’s built for tough use. Like all Yeti gear, the Hopper backpack verges on being overengineered for strength and durability. Everything from the TPU-laminated nylon, which makes it waterproof and tough as nails, to the bar tack stitching (that is, zigzag stitching reinforcing the shoulder straps, which increases the bag’s integrity under weight) is designed to ensure that this bag will last for years through some of the toughest conditions you’ll encounter. Of course, the interior is insulated by closed-cell foam and secured with a magnetic roll-top lid. It’s not as tough as our hard cooler picks, but it’s the toughest soft cooler we’ve tried.
It’s easy to carry. After using and testing 15 backpack coolers over the past seven years, we’ve found that the extra attention to detail becomes increasingly important the more straps and layers a soft cooler has. Fully loaded—with 22 pounds of ice or 36 cans—the Hopper backpack cooler is still remarkably easy to carry. The waterproofing both within and without protects your body from any leaks or moisture sweating through from your load of ice.
It retains ice for a day. Over the years, we’ve tested the Hopper backpack in a variety of climates. While the bag can occasionally keep things cold for more than a day, this depends on how it’s packed and where it’s stored. On average, I’m comfortable assuming that the Hopper will keep whatever I’ve packed cold for a solid day regardless of the situation.
Strong magnets tend to snap closed. Yeti introduced a magnetic closure in 2022, which offered a huge improvement on the former zipper closure but also introduced its own complications. The bag is now significantly easier to open but also more difficult to keep open. Yeti seems to have added some bridging support to help hold the bag open, but those magnets simply want to be together.
Note: These magnets were the reason that Yeti voluntarily recalled this bag in 2023. The liner containing them was reported to fail on many occasions, releasing the magnets and creating a serious hazard for anyone who might swallow them. Yeti has since updated the design, securing the magnets more firmly.
Dimensions: 15.3 by 9.9 by 18 inches (WDH) Weight: 6.6 pounds Capacity: 20 quarts
Skip the Styrofoam next time you need a disposable cooler. The paper pulp of the Recool composts easily in the backyard, and it performs basically as well as any cheap single-use cooler
The Igloo Recool 16 Qt Cooler is a disposable alternative to the ubiquitous Styrofoam cooler you see on grocery shelves in the summer.
It’s biodegradable. A disposable cooler is always just a backup option, but sometimes it’s nearly unavoidable, such as when you’re caught out at a picnic or having a lucky day fishing. The Recool lives up to the hype: It’s as effective as a polystyrene cooler, you can reuse it a few times, and it composts easily. The Recool’s wood-pulp material (similar to papier-mâché), bound with a biodegradable wax called alkyl ketene dimer, doesn’t dissolve when wet.
It stacks up to the polystyrene alternative. We tested the Recool and a number of cheap, comparably sized foam competitors, filling them up with ice (both types held roughly 16 quarts) and then waiting, measuring the accumulated meltwater over time. The Recool promises to keep ice frozen for up to 12 hours, but we found in our testing that the cold lasts for more like six or eight hours, depending on how much food or drink you have in there—a result similar to what we saw in our testing of polystyrene equivalents. As for the testing units themselves, well, they’ve disappeared now. More dirt for my garden.
Dimensions: 15 by 11 by 11.38 inches (WDH) Weight: 1.5 pounds Capacity: 16 quarts
After nearly a decade testing coolers, I can say one thing for certain. Ice melt tests are overrated. At this point, every YouTube reviewer we’ve seen (many of whom do excellent work) has done ice measure tests on every conceivable cooler, and the results are so far, after some analysis and comparison, unsurprising. The coolers with the most insulation tend to keep ice frozen the longest. Arguing over a few hours difference of ice melt between high-end coolers after several days of testing is just not that interesting or informative.
For all coolers we tested, here are the criteria we used:
Insulation: Different types of insulation work in their own ways to minimize heat transfer into a cooler. Open- and closed-cell foams act as insulators to reduce heat conduction, while fabrics and liners, such as coated polyurethane and reflective Mylar, create a radiant barrier that reduces and reflects heat radiation.
Closed-cell foam is considered a better insulator than open-cell foam because the tiny bubbles of gas in closed-cell foam remain independent from one another. Air bubbles that do not share cell walls and in effect stay insulated from one another are better at reducing the overall transfer of heat through the foam. In contrast, open-cell foam is permeable to air and water like a sponge (which is why it frequently appears in foam pillows, as it’s squishier and it breathes).
Every cooler maker (especially soft cooler manufacturers) wants to claim that it uses closed-cell foam in its coolers, but after hours of research, we’ve found a lot of gray area between what is advertised as closed-cell foam and what actually is closed-cell foam. Generally, the more expensive the cooler, the better it insulates, the better the foam.
Construction: We looked closely at how every cooler is built. The design of the hard coolers—how they fit into tight spaces, the durability of the walls and lid—is a mark of how they perform in tough environments. For soft coolers, we considered the stitching and welds, while paying close attention to the overall durability of the soft materials chosen for each bag.
Hardware and fabric: We considered the external hardware, the shoulder straps, the buckles, the zippers, and the fabric, all of which had to make the cooler comfortable to carry and sturdy enough to survive regular use in a boat, on an ATV, or sliding around in the trunk of a car. For backpack coolers, we also specifically looked for reports of how comfortable (or uncomfortable) they were to wear, and we took into account our own experience as well.
Cost: This is always a consideration, of course. The baseline price of good coolers has increased over the years. Thankfully, the performance of these coolers has also increased (while at least somewhat matching the price increase). Where possible, we tried to find the best balance of performance, cost, and warranty.
Over the years, as we’ve published and updated this guide and related articles, we’ve stuck by two testing methods: measuring meltwater over time to illustrate the relative performance of insulation between coolers, and measuring temperature change over time to determine the total length of time that ice stays preserved in a cooler. This year we began a meta-analysis of online reviews to look for trends and compare the average findings with our own results.
Everybody has different needs, and we couldn’t test every single size of cooler available. Instead, we decided to focus on the most utilitarian and family-friendly sizes we could find. (The exception is backpack coolers, which often come in only one size.)
Among hard coolers, if you’re using your cooler for something like grocery shopping, small weekend gatherings, or barbecues, 50 to 55 quarts is plenty. It’s the standard size we now recommend for most families.
Larger coolers work best for specialized situations. If you’re a boater, as Carolyn Shearlock of The Boat Galley wrote, a “65- or 70-quart cooler is about the minimum size needed to have enough ice and space for food” for a weeklong trip for two. Again, the right size for you depends on how you pack your cooler and how long you need to keep things cold (more ice takes up more volume). Another example came up last year during a power outage, when one of our staff members was able to move most of the contents of a fridge into a 70-quart cooler, along with the necessary ice to keep it cold.
For soft coolers, we recommend anything in the 20- to 24-can range. That’s enough to hold plenty of ice, drinks, and food for a family of three. Anything smaller, and you end up carrying a lot of bag and not much of anything else. The smaller sizes just don’t have enough room to be functional for anything except an individual lunch or a few drinks.
If you can’t spend more than $100 for a chest cooler: Consider the Coleman 316 Series 52-Quart Marine Hard Cooler, a version of our previous top pick for everyday use. Don’t expect week-long ice retention from this cooler. But if you need a lightweight workhorse for grocery runs or a daylong picnic for less than half the price of our top pick (but far less than half the performance), the Marine Hard Cooler is a good choice. The problem we’ve had with it over the years is keeping up with the company’s naming and model conventions, which seem to change out of the blue with accompanying changes to design and performance.
If our roto-molded pick is sold out: Consider the Yeti Tundra 45 Hard Cooler, which carries the IGBC bear-resistant imprimatur. It’s the same price as the Canyon Coolers Outfitter 55 Quart Cooler, our roto-molded pick, but the Outfitter has a lifetime warranty versus the Tundra cooler’s five-year warranty. Yeti is the brand that everyone recognizes, though, and many people covet. If you already know you want the name, buy the name. At least you know that this cooler is also well made and (with the proper locks) built to resist hungry bears. We’re very much splitting hairs in this category, any of our picks for roto-molded design will serve you well.
If you’re looking for a soft cooler that floats: Consider the Icemule Classic Medium 15L, which is capable of floating even when loaded. This cooler has an interesting design, similar to that of a stuff sack you might use while camping. It’s really meant for the sporty crowd, paddleboarding or kayaking specifically. It performed fairly well in our tests, although its light, open-cell foam insulation hindered it some in our melt testing.
RTIC 45 QT Ultra-Tough Cooler: Its performance is right in line with our Yeti and Canyon Cooler roto-molded picks, but it’s about $100 less than either when comparing cost-per-quart, and the Ultra-Tough Cooler carries a five-year warranty. That said, our top pick, the RTIC 52 QT Ultra-Light Cooler, is the best bang for your buck.
Engel 45 High Performance Hard Cooler and Ice Box: It almost meets the level of other top-end coolers, except it’s consistently let down by its latches, which garner numerous complaints online—complaints we had as well during testing. They just aren’t robust enough.
Pelican 50QT Elite Cooler: The cooler has bizarre plastic ribbing and extended hard handles that take up needless space in most situations, making it awkward to use on boats or utility vehicles.
Bison Coolers 50 QT Cooler: This roto-molded design, intended for hunters and fishers, is as good as any we tested, but our top-pick roto-molded cooler from RTIC is just as good—and a good deal cheaper.
Yeti Roadie 48 Wheeled Cooler: The Roadie cooler is designed with a telescoping handle, similar to a carry-on piece of luggage. This change in the center of gravity may make it easier to maneuver than our top rolling cooler pick in certain situations, but the difference wasn’t immediately clear to us in testing. Our main concern is the price; the complexity of the telescoping handle adds to the price per cubic liter significantly.
Polar Bear Coolers 24 Pack Original Nylon Soft Side Cooler: This cooler, our former top pick among soft coolers, is lightweight, sturdy, and easy to pack. But the cooler’s lack of durability (especially to sun damage) over the years prevents us from continuing to recommend it.
AO Canvas Series 24 Pack Cooler: A decade ago this cooler worked decently well when compared with the competition. But its 0.75-inch open-cell insulation doesn’t compare to our current pick—it’s not as well insulated and nowhere near as durable.
StrongBags Glacier Flight Crew Luggage Cooler: Manufactured specifically for pilots and flight crews, these bags are overpriced and underperform. Unless you need a soft cooler specifically sized for overhead compartments, as this one is, buy a cheaper bag that keeps things cool longer.
Coleman Chiller 30-Can Soft-Sided Portable Cooler: This Coleman soft cooler, which comes with a removable hard-plastic liner meant to keep your food from being squashed, has thin insulation that just didn’t perform well.
Yeti Hopper Flip 18 Soft Cooler: Similar in design to our soft cooler pick, the Hopper Flip cooler is a good option, but as with all Yeti models, this soft cooler’s build and attention to detail are reflected in the price. For a simple design like this, we just didn’t see that it made much of a difference, and the RTIC soft cooler is practically just as good and much less expensive.
Yeti Hopper M30 Tote Soft Cooler: This tote is similar to our backpack cooler from Yeti, but it’s larger and designed to carry as a shoulder bag. We found it unwieldy for the size. I suppose for short distances or as a car cooler it would work well for a family. But the backpack form seems much more functional.
Icemule Urbano 30L: The Urbano looks better than it performs. It isn’t as good an insulator as our other picks. If you need a cooler for day trips, our backpack cooler pick is likely to serve you better.
This article was edited by Ria Misra and Christine Ryan.
Kit Dillon is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. He was previously an app developer, oil derrick inspector, public-radio archivist, and sandwich shop owner. He has written for Popular Science, The Awl, and the New York Observer, among others. When called on, he can still make a mean sandwich.
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