Backpack Cooler

What makes a backpack cooler different

A backpack cooler is a soft cooler with shoulder straps instead of a single strap or tote handles. That one change decides everything else. A tote rides on one shoulder or swings from your hand. A backpack cooler sits against your spine, so it gets judged like a pack: how it fits, where the weight sits, and whether you can still walk normally with it on.

The shared basics of soft coolers (fabric shell, foam walls, a liner, a lighter build than a hard cooler) are on the cooler bag page, and the whole family of coolers is on the coolers page. This page is about the version you wear.

Here's who it's for. Anybody whose cooler has to travel on foot further than the tailgate. The walk to a ground blind with lunch. The half mile of sand from the parking lot. The boat ramp, the trail to a fishing hole, the long way around the gate at the farm. If your cooler never leaves the truck bed, you don't need one of these, and I'll get to that.

The table under this text lists coolers whose makers sell them as backpacks. It shows capacity, can count, weight, closure, leak and water claims and the maker's ice claim where the maker gives one. The table marks values read from the Amazon listing when the maker is silent; a dash means neither states it, not a guess. Weight is always the maker's own figure.

What to look at when you pick a backpack cooler

Here's the order I'd check things in, starting with what you'll feel on your back.

Capacity: check the quarts against the inside dimensions

Capacity is listed in quarts. A quart is a quarter gallon, and NIST defines the US liquid quart as exactly 57.75 cubic inches. That number lets you check a maker's claim with a tape measure.

The ice math, using one maker's published numbers: a roll-top backpack cooler sold as 25 quarts lists its inside at 7 x 12 x 18 inches. That's 1,512 cubic inches. Divide by 57.75 and you get about 26 quarts. The claim holds up. When the inside dimensions are listed, do the math. When they aren't, the exterior size is the best you've got, and the walls and foam eat into it.

The same page lists the outside at 9 x 14 x 20 inches, so about an inch of each side is wall. That's the trade with a backpack cooler. Thicker foam holds cold longer and makes a fatter pack for the same inside space.

Loaded weight is the number your shoulders read

The table lists the empty weight. That's the smallest number in the whole deal. Engel's soft-versus-hard article says it plainly: soft coolers are much lighter than hard ones, and the weight mostly comes from what you pack. Bison's guide adds that soft cooler capacity is limited by having to carry it.

So think about the full cooler. Engel's own ice tips call for about two-thirds ice, and ice is the heavy part of any load. A cooler packed the way coolers like to be packed gets heavy fast. (Renee says I pack a cooler like I'm being graded. I am. By the ice.)

My one opinion on this page: buy a backpack cooler for how it carries full, not how it looks empty. The reason is in the orthopedic surgeons' backpack advice, written for school packs but true for any pack: use both straps, keep the load close to your back, and put heavier things low and toward the center. A cooler that fits you lets you do all three. One that doesn't hangs off your shoulders like a sack of wet laundry.

Straps, chest strap and back panel decide the carry

Look at what the maker lists for the harness. One roll-top model lists padded mesh shoulder straps, a chest strap, a foam-padded back panel and three grab handles. That's a good checklist to hold any backpack cooler against:

• Padded shoulder straps: wide enough not to dig in when the cooler is full
• Chest strap: keeps the straps from sliding off your shoulders on a long walk
• Padded back panel: keeps the cold wall off your spine and the corners out of your kidneys
• Grab handles: for lifting it into the truck or onto a boat seat without wrestling the straps
• Side straps or D-rings: for a jacket, a seat cushion or a small dry bag

A back panel matters more than it looks. The cooler side of a cooler is cold and wet with condensation. Ask me how I know. One long walk with a cold, damp rectangle against your shirt, in November, is enough.

Closure: roll-top, waterproof zipper or standard zipper

The table's closure column tells you how the top shuts. It's the biggest build difference between backpack coolers.

• Roll-top: you fold the top down several times and buckle it. One maker calls its roll-top a watertight seal and notes in its Q&A that the rolled top isn't insulated like the sides.
• Waterproof zipper: a stiff welded zipper that seals out water and air. One maker says its welded zipper needs lubrication to work right.
• Standard zipper: easy to open and close, but not a water seal. Treat the cooler as water-resistant at best.

A roll-top is slower to open. That's not all bad. Every time you open a cooler, warm air gets in, and the FDA's outdoor food advice is to limit how often you open it. A closure that takes 10 seconds makes you think about whether you really need a soda.

Leakproof and water resistance are maker claims

The table has a leakproof column and a water-resistance column. Read them as what the maker says, because that's what they are.

Leaks start at seams and closures. The roll-top maker above says its seams are welded rather than sewn, which it credits with keeping air and water from leaking. A sewn seam has needle holes. A welded seam doesn't. That's the difference between a cooler that rides upright fine and one that can lie in the back seat on its side.

One more thing: that roll-top model has no drain plug, per its own Q&A, and most backpack coolers don't. You drain them by opening the top and pouring. Plan the trip around that. Meltwater that stays in a backpack cooler is still sloshing around against your back on the walk out.

Ice retention claims tell you the best case

When a maker lists an ice claim, the table shows it in hours. Use it to compare coolers, not to plan a weekend.

Engel's ice tips are clear about the conditions behind its soft-cooler rating of 3 to 4 days: a pre-chilled cooler, roughly 2 parts ice to 1 part contents, shade and few openings. Bison rates its soft coolers at up to 24 hours in heat up to 120°F. Those are two different tests from two different makers, and they don't line up. That's the point. The number on the box is a lab day, and your day has a truck cab in it.

Can count is a convenience number

Soft coolers are often sold by cans, and Bison's guide says that's how they're usually measured. Can counts help you picture the size. They don't tell you how much ice goes in with the cans. One maker's 22-quart soft cooler lists 40 12-oz cans on its product page without saying anything about ice. The quarts are the honest number; the can count is a sales picture.

Shell fabric tells you how rough it can be handled

Backpack coolers ride on rocks, boat decks and truck beds. Makers list the shell by denier (a measure of fiber thickness; higher is heavier fabric) and coating. One roll-top model lists an 840-denier shell laminated with a TPU film for abrasion and puncture resistance. If the maker lists the shell, it's worth reading. If it doesn't, you get to wonder.

Backpack cooler styles and when each fits

Roll-top backpack coolers for boats and wet days

Roll-tops suit trips where the cooler might get rained on, splashed or set down in a wet boat. The trade is speed: you'll unbuckle and unroll it every time. Good for a day where lunch comes out once.

Zippered backpack coolers for quick grabs

A zippered top opens with one pull. That suits a day at the beach or a picnic where drinks come out every hour. A waterproof zipper keeps the seal but is stiff; a standard zipper is easy but needs ice packs, not loose ice.

Small day packs versus large backpack coolers

A small one holds lunch and drinks for one person. A large one starts acting like a cooler that happens to have straps, and the weight goes up with every quart you fill. If you'd be packing it for a group, look at a cooler with wheels instead. Wheels don't care how heavy it is. Your back does.

How to pack a backpack cooler for the walk

Packing a backpack cooler is half cooler rules and half backpack rules.

1. Pre-chill it. Engel suggests a sacrificial bag of ice the night before, or storing it somewhere cold.
2. Chill or freeze the contents first, so they don't melt your ice on contact. The FDA says meat and poultry can go in still frozen and stay colder longer.
3. Put the heaviest cold stuff low and against the back panel. Frozen packs and block ice go there. That's the backpack rule from the surgeons' advice: heavy, low, centered.
4. Wrap raw meat securely, as the FDA advises, so its juices don't reach anything else.
5. Fill empty space with ice or a towel. Engel's tips say gaps cost you cold, and a full pack rides steadier.
6. Close it and lift it with your knees bent, one strap at a time.

Keep cold food at 40°F or below, per the FDA. Perishables shouldn't sit out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it's above 90°F. A backpack cooler is great at a day. It's not a fridge. More on loading any cooler is in the cooler packing guide.

Who should skip a backpack cooler

Skip it if your cooler goes from the truck to the tailgate and no further. A small hard cooler or a soft tote will do the job, and you won't pay for a harness you never wear.

Skip it too for multi-day deer camp food. Bison's own guide puts hunting and long trips in hard-cooler territory, and the ice claims above are measured in hours and a few days. At Hemlock Run the meat and the weekend's food stay in the hard coolers. A backpack cooler is what goes out to the stand or the creek with lunch in it. Walt calls it "the kid's lunch pail". He has never once packed his own lunch in it, and he has never once gone without.

And if your back already complains about a daypack, a loaded cooler on both shoulders won't help. A wheeled cooler or two trips is the kinder plan.

Care that keeps a backpack cooler working

Empty it after every trip, wipe out the liner and leave it open to dry. Soft coolers fold and stuff into storage, which Engel's article lists as one of their advantages, but fold one up damp and you'll meet whatever grew in there next spring.

If it has a waterproof zipper, follow the maker's lubrication instructions; one maker says its welded zipper needs lubrication to work as designed. If it has a roll-top, check the buckle and the fold edge for wear. Rinse salt water off straps and buckles after the beach.

Don't put dry ice in it unless the maker says you can. One soft-cooler maker's Q&A answers that question with a plain no.

Pack it right, carry it close, and drain it before the walk out. Your back will notice before the ice does.