Brand · Camp Gear
An Igloo cooler comes in three kinds: hard ice chests from the tiny Playmate up to big marine and rolling coolers, soft coolers and backpacks, and electric coolers that run without ice. Real talk: the brand covers almost every size a deer camp argues about, so the choice is size, wheels and how you'll keep it cold. (Renee says I own more coolers than she owns casserole dishes. She's counting the wrong cupboard.)
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On this site, Igloo covers three product types: hard coolers, soft coolers and electric coolers. The grid above splits into more lines than that, so here's the map:
The grid filters by type and changes as listings come and go. So I'll write about the lines and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this week. Most specs here come from Amazon listings, and the grid marks those values. Where a listing doesn't say, the grid shows a dash.
The Playmate is the one everybody's dad had. Igloo's own press release marked its 50th anniversary in 2021, and describes the Little Playmate with a trademarked tent top, a swivel lid and a push-button on the side. In the grid, the Playmates and the Retro coolers run from a 4-quart Mini to a 16-quart model, per the listings.
Small hard coolers do one job: lunch and drinks for one or two people for a day. They're also the right size for the cooler that rides in the truck cab. (Mine holds sandwiches and the good mustard. Walt asks about the mustard every year.) The small cooler page covers that size across brands.
This is where most camp food lives. The listings put the Trailmate in sizes from 25 to 50 quarts without wheels, the BMX at 25 quarts with a blow-molded build (a hollow plastic shell, not rotomolded), and the Profile II at 30 quarts. A mid-size hard cooler is the weekend cooler. Big enough for two days of food, light enough for one person to carry empty. The 50 qt cooler page covers the most common camp size.
At the top of the size range, per the listings:
The Marine Ultra listings claim up to 5 days of ice retention on two models. The maker says that; no one at this camp measured it. Big coolers matter for deer camp because a deer season isn't a day trip. The large cooler page covers the type across brands.
Here's the ice math, though: a big cooler full of ice is heavy, and a big cooler half full of ice warms up faster. Buy the size you'll fill.
Wheels show up across the lineup, per the listings:
Wheels help on gravel and parking lots. They help less on mud and leaves, and they add weight and bulk you carry even when the cooler is empty. Rule of thumb from someone who's dragged a cooler up the Hemlock Run porch steps: wheels are for the flat part of the trip. The stairs are still yours. Coolers with wheels across brands are on the cooler with wheels page.
Igloo's soft coolers are built for carry, not for a week of ice. The grid lists:
Sizes are given in cans, per the listings, from a small 6-can bag up to a 36-can Snapdown. A backpack cooler leaves your hands free for a chair and a bow case. The backpack cooler page and the soft cooler page cover those types across brands.
Don't throw a soft cooler in the washing machine. Igloo's FAQ says machine washing or drying can damage heat-sealed seams. Spot-clean it with mild detergent and water, and test the detergent on a hidden spot first.
Igloo launched its ICF line of electric compressor coolers in January 2024, per its own press release. A compressor cooler works like a small refrigerator. Igloo says the ICF sets from 0 to 68°F and works as a fridge or a freezer. It runs on a 12/24V DC car outlet or a 100–240V AC outlet, both cables included. Igloo also describes a 3-stage battery protection system that shuts the cooler off when it detects low voltage, so it doesn't drain the truck battery.
The grid lists the ICF 32 and ICF 60. Compressor coolers across brands are on the electric cooler page and the portable fridge page.
Check the battery anyway. A cooler that protects your battery still needs one with enough charge to start the truck on Sunday.
The grid also lists the IE42C, which its listing describes as thermoelectric on 12V DC with an AC adapter. A thermoelectric cooler has no compressor, and that's the line between it and the ICF coolers. How cold the exact model gets is in the maker's spec, so read it before you plan on frozen anything. The thermoelectric cooler page explains the type across brands.
Hard coolers are sized in quarts, soft coolers in cans. Rule of thumb: count days and people, then add room for ice. A cooler that's too big for the trip is a cooler that's half air.
If the cooler goes from truck to tailgate, skip the wheels. If it goes from the parking lot to a campsite, wheels earn their weight. Igloo's rollers run from small spinners to the 110-quart Glide.
Ice coolers need nothing but ice. Electric coolers need power the whole time. If camp has a generator or the truck runs every day, an ICF compressor cooler can freeze. If camp is a cabin with no power, buy ice. My law: every cord you need is one more cord you'll forget.
Drain plugs, wheels, can capacities and ice-retention claims are in the grid where the listings give them. Compare those, not the color.
Igloo's FAQ is short and practical:
My one opinion on this page: treat any ice-retention number as a best case. Igloo's own tips list the conditions that make ice last: shade, pre-chilled food, solid blocks, closed latches. A real deer camp cooler gets opened at 5 a.m., noon and every time somebody "just wants to look." Plan for fewer days than the label.
For cleaning, Igloo says to use water and mild detergent for light dirt, a diluted baking soda solution for tougher stains, then rinse and dry completely. Store a hard cooler with the drain plug open so trapped moisture can escape. Shut it wet and spring opens with a smell.
The big hard coolers earn their place at deer camp after the shot, not before it. Penn State Extension's venison guide lists a large cooler full of ice or snow among the things to bring. It says to cool the carcass quickly to 35 to 40°F, with ice or snow sealed in plastic storage bags and packed in the cavity, and to hold the carcass at 40°F or below for two to three days at most.
Sealed bags are the point. Meltwater from loose ice shouldn't sit on meat. So I keep two coolers at camp: one for food we eat, one for ice we'll need later. The ice cooler stays shut until somebody actually needs it, which is the whole trick.
A drain plug helps here, and so does a cooler big enough for quartered meat in bags. Size it to the job, and check your state wildlife agency for transport and processing rules.
Both brands make hard, soft and electric coolers, and they show up side by side in every big-box aisle in America. On this site the differences are in the mix:
Newell Brands lists Coleman among its brands, and describes a Coleman manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kansas. If you want the rest of the campsite from one brand, that's Coleman's side of the grid. If you want a compressor cooler, Igloo's ICF line is on this side. The Coleman brand page has its lineup.
Here's what I could verify from the maker and its parent company:
Cool it the night before, pack it in the morning, and keep the lid shut once you're there. Renee says that's the most organized sentence I've ever said.
What can be checked is in the specs and the maker's pages. The hard coolers in the grid run from a 4-quart Playmate Mini up to a 150-quart marine cooler, several with wheels or drain plugs per the listings, and Igloo's ICF electric coolers list a 0 to 68°F range. Whether one suits you depends on size, carry and how long you need it cold.
Yes. The grid lists Igloo rolling coolers in the Trailmate, Glide, Latitude, Marine Ultra and Tag Along lines, from a small 20-quart spinner up to a 110-quart roller, per the listings. Wheels help on a long walk from the truck, and they add weight and bulk when the cooler is empty.
Igloo's iceless coolers run on power instead of ice. The ICF line uses a compressor and, per Igloo, sets from 0 to 68°F as a fridge or freezer on 12/24V DC or 100–240V AC power. The grid also lists a thermoelectric model. Both need a power source the whole time they're cooling.
Dometic, which bought Igloo in 2021, describes Igloo as founded in 1947, headquartered in Katy, Texas, and operating its own facility in Texas, where it makes most of its products in-house. Check the listing of the exact cooler if where it's made matters to you.
Igloo's FAQ says to clean light dirt with water and mild detergent, use diluted baking soda for tougher stains, rinse everything off and dry it completely. Store it with the drain plug open. Don't machine wash soft cooler bags; spot-clean them instead, because washing can damage heat-sealed seams.
The product grid on this page links to Igloo listings on Amazon US, filtered by hard cooler, soft cooler and electric cooler. Igloo also sells on its own site. Availability changes week to week, so the grid shows only listings live right now.
