Chill Out with the Best Soft Coolers

The Hydro Flask Unbound soft cooler pack is equal parts portable and efficient. I can’t tell you how much I loathed having to cart around my family’s old Coleman tub style cooler. Little ole me struggled to hang on to the giant thing and if something like the Hydro Flask had existed, I think I would have been a lot happier. You might be a lot happier too since the Hydro Flask Unbound allows you to carry about 25 cans of either adult beverage or soda. 

Although it might be a bit on the small side, where the Hydro Flask unbound really shines is in its cooling capability. Combined with an ice pack, the Hydro Flask Unbound can keep food and drinks cold up to 48 hours due in part to the smart insulation and welded seal seams to keep the cold in and the heat out. The Hydro Flask Unbound Soft Cooler pack is available for $200.

By far one of the most popular soft sided coolers out there today, the Yeti Hopper M30 comes in a variety of colors and features the great insulating capability that you’ve come to expect from the Yeti lineup of coolers. A quick and convenient magnetic lock replaces the normal zipper closure method meaning you can get to your cold items quickly without having to unstrap the cooler.

The design of the Hopper M30 means that you can carry more weight than a standard satchel or day bag. In all it has a capacity of about 7.2gallons which means you can carry either 20 cans of beer or 28 pounds of just ice if you’ve been tasked with bringing that. Yeti always recommends a 2:1 ratio of Ice to beverage to get the most out of their coolers. The Yeti Hopper M30 is available for $299.98. and comes in 7 different colors.

This last one on our list comes from RTIC, a company who started out pretty small in the cooling and insulating business but has come to be one of the more dominant “off brand” names in the business. The RTIC Soft Cooler 30 has enough space for bottles or cans and enough ice to keep things cold for days. The construction isn’t quite as durable as others on this list but the insulation capabilities are up to scratch. The Leakproof top and thick insulation means that you won’t find water outside of the cool and you won’t end up having the cooler sweat as the day goes by. 

As with the Cabela’s hybrid design, the RTIC Soft Cooler 30 features a more rigid design which means that things stay organized better, and you won’t inadvertently end up overstuffing the bag and subjecting it to a lot of undue wear and possibly a zipper failure. The RTIC Soft cooler 30 is the least expensive option on this list at just. $99.99.

Here we’ve got another backpack for you and this time it’s from Yeti. The Yeti BackFlip is a watertight cooler that is made from Dryhide shell fabric meaning it is not just waterproof, but also durable and resistant to UV and mildew accumulation. The Hydrolok zipper is both waterproof and leak proof which means that even if you accidentally take a hard turn and the backpack flips over, you won’t have a mess of water all over the inside of your car.

Another unique thing about the BackFlip I’ve seen people do to increase their cooling efficiency is submerge the sealed backpack underwater with the ice in order to further shade the backpack from the heat. Even if you don’t do this, the backpack is great to bring out on the boat or to a tailgate party as it can keep up to 20 12-ounce cans of beer or soda cool and still have room for all the ice you’ll need to keep them cold. The Yeti Hopper BackFlip 24 is available for $299.99.

You’re going to take a hit on capacity with this one but where the Cabela’s Hybrid soft sided cooler is going to help you is in price and portability. The cooler is much smaller than the other soft sided coolers on this list, but it is also much less expensive. Normal soft sided coolers tend to bulge and deform when subjected with the weight of ice and beverages and this can lead to them being hard to close and carry. Not the Hybrid. The design is tall enough so that you could fit 9 cans of beer or maybe 6 bottles with room to spare for ice. As an added feature, the Cabela’s soft sided cooler comes with an integrated bottle opener, so you don’t have to worry about leaving yours at home by accident. 

The hybrid design incorporates a rigid top frame and leak proof top latching lid so that you can efficiently work with the space you’re given and not have to worry about getting things sealed up. Coincidentally this also leads to things staying colder for longer provided you don’t leave the top open. The Cabela’s Hybrid Soft Sided cooler is available for $119.99.