Soft coolers: field notes from a season of hauling
Soft coolers are the category where the price gap between the cheap one and the famous one is widest, and where the famous one is most often worth it. The reason is a single part: the zipper. A soft cooler that keeps ice for a day but leaks from the closure after one summer is a bag, not a cooler. Everything below is ranked with that in mind.
What I look for, in order
1. The closure. A wide, waterproof zipper or a magnetic roll-top. Regular zippers with a rubber flap over them count as regular zippers. 2. Straps. A padded shoulder strap at minimum. Backpack straps if you ever walk more than a parking lot. 3. A liner you can wipe out with your hand in one pass. Seams and corners inside the liner are where the smell lives. 4. Then, and only then, ice retention.
The one I would buy at full price
YETI's Hopper M30 replaced the zipper with a magnetic strip that folds shut, and it is the first soft cooler closure I have never once cursed at. It is heavy for a soft cooler and the price is silly, but it is the one that will still be in service in five years. Watch the page: the M30 spends most of the year at list and drops for short windows, and the colours go on sale at different times.
The one most people should buy
Igloo Trailmate 30 Soft CoolerIgloo$99.99
Igloo's Trailmate is the sensible middle. The zipper is a proper waterproof one, the strap is padded, and it holds a day of ice without drama. At its current price it is roughly a third of the YETI and does two thirds of the job. That is a good deal.
The backpack case
Stanley All Day Madeleine 14.8 QT. Midi Backpack CoolerStanley$170.00
If the cooler walks, it should ride on your back. Stanley's Madeleine is smaller than it looks in photos, but it carries like a daypack and the top opening is wide enough to actually find things. I'd pick this over a shoulder-bag cooler for anyone who bikes, hikes, or takes a train to a picnic.
Where the house brand stands
Store brands in this category have improved a lot. They win on liner and lose on the zipper, every time. If you are buying for a season of soccer sidelines and will replace it without grief, buy the cheap one. If you want it to last, pay for the closure.
When to buy
Soft coolers do not drop as hard as hard coolers at the end of summer. They move in October when stores reset for the holidays, and colourways clear one at a time. If the colour doesn't matter to you, you can usually find a discontinued shade at a real discount.