Keep it cold
Sizing, ice life, hard vs. soft, and customizing coolers for crews and events.
Match the cooler to the trip: a 12-can soft cooler bag suits a lunch or a short walk to the water, a cooler backpack carries a day's food and drinks hands-free, and a ~25-quart hard cooler handles a full day or an overnight for one or two people. As a rule of thumb, plan for roughly a 2:1 ice-to-contents ratio for the longest cold retention.
Pre-chill the cooler and its contents, pack it full (empty space melts ice faster), use block ice or frozen jugs alongside cubes, and keep it closed and out of direct sun. A roto-molded hard cooler with a full-perimeter gasket holds cold far longer than a basic cooler.
Choose a hard cooler for the longest ice life, durability, and a sturdy seat or table at camp; choose a soft cooler bag or backpack when you want light, packable, hands-free carry for a few hours. Many people keep both — a hard cooler for base camp and a soft one for the move.
Our soft cooler bags and backpacks use insulated, leak-resistant liners with sealed seams so condensation and melt stay inside, and the hard cooler uses a gasketed lid. They're built to ride in a trunk or boat without soaking everything around them.
Yes — coolers are popular branded gifts, and most accept a full-color imprint or dome tag. Tell us the quantity and artwork and we'll confirm the imprint area, method, and timing before production.
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