Coleman understands the tendency to consider the cooler the unofficial extra chair at the tailgating party, so they made their lid able to withstand two-hundred-fifty pounds of cookout enthusiast. Holding up to eighty-four cans and keeping them cold for up to five days, the Xtreme also has a telescoping handle that locks so you can push or pull your cooler to the heart of the action. If you wanted something a little more heavy duty, you’re not going to get many that are as rugged, tough, and sturdy as the Milee Heavy Duty Wheeled Cooler.
The Original can do exactly what you need it to do, which is to keep things cold for the day while you focus on the fun at hand. As with all soft coolers, you shouldn’t leave the RTIC Soft Pack Cooler out in the sun or resting on very hot surfaces igloo ice chest like the back of a pickup truck or on top of a picnic table for a long time. Although the exterior of the cooler is made of a durable, thickly coated nylon—waterproof and tough—the sun and heat will degrade the material and slowly wear it out.
There are also a couple of wheeled versions of the Igloo MaxCold that I haven’t tested yet. Given how well the non-wheeled version performed, I have to imagine that they’d be better picks than the other wheeled coolers I tested in this price range, the Igloo Latitude and Coleman Xtreme. Both of those felt cheap and flimsy to me, and neither one performed well enough to merit any extra consideration.
We’ve tested Polar Bear coolers for seven years now, buying them or receiving test units from Polar Bear. Recently, however, we’ve been let down by the lifespan of its soft coolers (though not this backpack in particular). But with care, you can extend the lifespan of any soft cooler—the number one rule seems to be not to leave it out in the sun. The Original is made with an exterior of 840-denier UV-resistant nylon wrapped around open-cell foam. Technically less insulating than closed-cell foam, open-cell foam performs fairly well for most applications as long as the cooler isn’t left in the open sun.
The resulting product is strong and especially rigid feeling, and typically it weighs more than 1.7 pounds per cubic foot with more than 90% of its air cells closed to one another. Closed-cell foam is also water-impermeable—so it’s an ideal material for, say, surfers’ wetsuits. The RTIC 65 has rope handles with a plastic tube for gripping and two rubber latches for holding the lid closed, mimicking the design of most other, comparable coolers. This roto-molded cooler costs far less than the Yeti Tundra 65 but performs just as well in nearly every way. It’s almost indestructible, it has two drainage ports and replaceable parts, and it kept our ice frozen for 10 days. If you wanted a cooler that is more rugged and that’ll be able to handle the rougher types of terrain you will witness when camping, hiking, and whatnot, the Coleman 55-Quart Rugged A/T Wheeled Cooler is one that we suggest you take a look at.
Sure, these are not ideal for longer trips but not everybody goes away for days. A good addition to game-day trailer parties, BBQs or just general trips where you need to bring the party with you. If you’re just planning a day out rather than a igloo electric cooler weekend or longer, the Picnic at Ascot Ultimate Travel Cooler is one that we feel you should take a look at. It is smaller than most on this list at 36-quarts but it will still hold up to 32 cans of drink and keep it cold for a good 24-hours.