The best part of partnering with us for your Key Chains, Sports Bottles, T-Shirts, Tote Bags, Mugs, Pens and other promo items is that you can get the best package prices for your items! Certainly, a canvas tote bag are going to be made with canvas. If maximum portability is your goal, you’re not going to find a higher-quality option than this backpack cooler from Yeti. The extremely high price relative to other soft models is likely to be a drawback, but if your priority is hands-free portability and you want a premium cooler, it could be a good fit. Its vertical design also gives it a relatively small footprint, and allows you to store taller items like wine bottles or 2-liters. Although its telescoping handle was by far the sturdiest and well-made of all of the models we tested (as you’d expect from the premium price), I felt that the single-piece design of the Pelican Elite 45 handle was just better suited for wheeling around. We preferred the strap design used on the RTIC Soft Pack 30 and other premium soft coolers, where the top handle is anchored to the cooler body rather than the lid. Similar in design to the AO Cooler, this duffel-bag-style cooler provides a wide zippered opening, perfect for quickly dumping ice bags.

And, he said, don’t forget to “top the cooler with ice to completely cover your cans. Stack these on one half of the cooler, alternating every layer with ice.” But with these layers, don’t salt the ice; here, you want the ice to stay whole as long as possible. On the surface, this RTIC cooler looked like it could be a great full-sized wheeled option for those who don’t have the budget for a Pelican Elite 45, but want something more durable than the Igloo Maxcold 50 Quart. The cavernous interior can hold 56 cans, and the super light weight (7.2 lbs) makes it great for a single person to lift or wheel around. The flimsy telescoping handle, hollow, thin wheels, and limited sealing (there’s no seal on the lid, so meltwater pours out when you tip it over to wheel it around). It uses a powerful magnetic closure to form an airtight seal – that’s still really easy to open and close – as well as two compression straps to provide even more security for the ice and items inside.

Considering the sturdy build quality of the rest of the unit, we imagine this is a production or quality assurance glitch, but still makes us hesitant to recommend this over less expensive alternatives. Despite the relatively thin insulation and light weight, this cooler still kept its contents at a cool 34.8 degrees after 48 hours, even cooler than our top pick, the Yeti Tundra 45. It’s extremely expensive considering the limited capacity, but if you want a backpack cooler that will keep your items cold for a long time, it could be worth the investment. “They work to keep everything cool while at the same time keeping the ice fresh for drinks,” she said. To begin, Perez recommends layering about 3 inches of ice in the bottom – you’re probably thinking that this goes against the advice above, but he adds kosher salt to the ice, which changes everything. A wide, flat bottom makes it easy to plop it down when you’re finished carrying it and stays upright when rooting through it. The Igloo 30 was, however, the best raw performer among the soft coolers, so if you’re not likely to carry it around it is absolutely worth a look: it kept its interior temperature better than any other soft-sided cooler, reaching only 38.2 degrees after 48 hours.

It didn’t perform particularly well in our temperature test though, reaching 49 degrees after 48 hours, so like all of the soft coolers we tested it’s better suited to single-day adventures. “Yeti coolers are literally the best at keeping food and drinks cold. Both Michael Perez, regional chef and chef de cuisine of Loro Dallas and Shane McBride, director of operations and partner at New York and Palm Beach’s Pig Beach BBQ, recommend Yeti coolers for entertaining. ” said Perez, who services customers who wait in line outside in 100-plus degree heat with an impressive multiple-Yeti set-up. Frozen and sweating, he watched her for a minute or two, with her soft, bare back turned to him, comb her copper hair with a copper brush, and although he couldn’t see her face, knew with complete assurance who she was. The really small and cute ones usually tossed in a salad are called cherry tomatoes while the large ones you see included inside sandwiches are called the heirloom kind. Heavy-duty side clasps secure the corners while you carry it around, considerably shrinking the length to a more manageable size. Finally, Perez said, leave the other side for food.