Coolers

What makes a cooler a hard cooler

A hard cooler is an insulated box with a rigid shell, a lid that seals on a gasket, and nothing inside that makes cold. Ice or frozen packs do the cooling. The cooler's whole job is to slow down how fast heat gets in.

That puts it between two neighbors. A soft cooler is a cooler bag: lighter, foldable, shorter on ice. An electric cooler plugs into the truck and runs its own cooling, so it needs power instead of ice. If you hunt from a cabin with a grocery run every few days, or you need something that lives in the truck bed all November, the hard cooler is the default camping cooler.

The table on this page lists every hard-sided cooler we track, from lunch-box size to the big chests. It shows capacity, construction, the maker's ice retention claim, latches, drain plug and the other specs as each maker or the Amazon listing states them; values read from the listing are marked. A blank means neither says, not that we guessed.

How to pick a cooler, spec by spec

Here's the order I'd read the table in. Size first, because the wrong size ruins every other number on the row.

Pick capacity in quarts, then subtract the ice

Capacity is in quarts, and a quart is a quarter of a gallon. Igloo's size guide gives the example that a 24-quart cooler is roughly 6 gallons of space. It also warns that six 1-gallon jugs may not fit, because packaging and odd shapes eat room.

Igloo sorts its hard coolers into four bands:

• Small: up to 20 quarts, lunch and a few drinks
• Medium: 21 to 50 quarts, a weekend outdoors
• Large: 51 to 100 quarts, a long weekend with family
• X-large: 101 quarts and up, longer trips and big gatherings

Now the ice math. Engel's guidance is about two-thirds ice and one-third food and drinks. So a 60-quart cooler packed for a long weekend holds roughly 20 quarts of actual groceries. If that sounds small, it's because it is. (Ask me how I know.)

Can counts are the other size number you'll see, based on the 12-ounce can. Makers don't agree on whether that count includes ice, so compare quarts across brands and treat cans as a rough hint. The cooler size guide walks through sizing by people and days.

Know what the construction line is telling you

The table's construction column says how the shell was made, when the maker states it. There are four common answers:

• Rotomolded: one hollow piece. Grizzly describes the process as powdered resin in a mold that turns on two axes in an oven, which gives walls with no seams, even thickness with extra material in the corners.
• Injection-molded: shells formed under pressure and joined. One maker sells its injection-molded line as the lighter option next to its rotomolded one.
• Blow-molded: the common shell on everyday coolers, lighter than a rotomolded box.
• Steel or other hard shells: a metal skin over insulation, the classic look.

Rotomolded coolers usually claim the longest ice and weigh the most. They have their own page: rotomolded coolers. We only list a cooler as rotomolded when the maker says so, never because of the price or the look.

Read the ice retention claim as a lab number

My one opinion on this page: ice retention claims are measured in ideal conditions, and pre-chilling your cooler does more than the name on the lid. Here's the checkable reason.

Igloo publishes its method. The cooler is filled to 90% with ice chilled to 10°F, the lid stays closed the whole time, and it sits in an oven held at 90°F and 70% humidity. The clock stops when the inside reaches 40°F. Igloo also notes that some companies cycle the oven temperature up and down to imitate cooler nights, which stretches their numbers.

Your cooler at camp starts warm, gets opened twenty times, and sits on a tailgate. Engel's own retention table assumes a pre-chilled cooler, roughly 2:1 ice to stuff, shade and few openings. So the claimed days are a ceiling. Use the column to compare coolers, not to plan meals.

Insulation thickness and the gasket do the real work

The insulation column says what's between the walls, usually a foam. One maker credits its rotomolded line's retention to 2 inches of insulation in the lid, sides and bottom plus a silicone gasket. That gives you two things to look for in a listing: wall thickness and a real seal around the lid.

A gasket only works when it's compressed evenly. Engel warns against forcing the lid down on an overpacked cooler, because a bulging seal lets warm air in. If the lid won't close without a knee on it, take something out.

Latches keep the lid sealed, not just shut

The latches column comes in a few styles: rubber T-latches you stretch over a catch, push-button lids, and cam or lever latches. Rubber latches pull the lid down onto the gasket. A push-button lid is quicker with one hand and seals more lightly.

Some lids add a locking plate or padlock holes. That matters in bear country, which I'll get to below.

A drain plug is non-negotiable for a camp cooler

The table marks whether the maker or the listing lists a drain plug. Look for a threaded plug on a tether. Some plugs take a garden hose fitting, which makes cleanup a lot easier.

My first year in charge of camp food, back in '09, I put the ice on top of Walt's venison chili containers. The lids weren't tight. Saturday breakfast was what Walt still calls chili-ice soup. The drain plug is how we got it out of the cooler, and the logbook entry is how I'll never live it down.

The lesson isn't really about the plug. It's packing order and sealed containers. Penn State Extension and Mississippi State both say raw meat goes at the bottom in sealed containers or zip-top bags, so nothing drips onto other food.

Wheels, weight and the truck bed

Weight is the column people skip and regret. The table shows the weight each maker lists, empty, before ice. One maker's 60-quart injection-molded cooler is listed at 21.5 lb before a single can goes in.

The wheels column tells you which ones roll. If you'll pull it across a parking lot or a beach, wheels earn their spot; the cooler with wheels page covers handles and wheel sizes. Exterior size is the other half of fit. Measure the truck bed, the back seat or the spot by the cabin door before you fall for a big number.

Interior dimensions decide what stands up

Interior length, width and height tell you what fits upright. Quarts don't tell you if a wine bottle, a 2-liter or a stack of venison packages stands up under the lid. The interior numbers do. If neither the maker nor the listing states them, you get a dash in the table.

Hard coolers by size and job

Every sub-type below is a hard cooler with one spec pushed to the front. Each has its own page.

• Small cooler: 30 quarts or less. Lunch in the blind, the drink cooler, the truck cab.
• 50-quart cooler: the middle of the range, where most weekend camp coolers land.
• Large cooler: 70 quarts and up, as the maker states it. Group trips and the meat cooler.
• Cooler with wheels: for long pulls on flat ground.
• Rotomolded cooler: the one-piece shell, for long trips and rough handling.
• Marine cooler: built for boats and sun.
• Floating cooler: when the maker says it floats.

At Hemlock Run the setup is two coolers: a big one for food that stays shut, and a small one for drinks that everybody opens. The FDA suggests exactly that split, so warm air from the drink cooler never reaches the perishables. Walt thinks two coolers is overpacking. Walt also drinks from the food cooler.

Packing a cooler for deer camp

A packed cooler should run at 40°F or below. That's the FDA's line for cold food, and Mississippi State suggests an appliance thermometer to check it. UMaine says put it in the warmest spot, usually near the top under the lid.

The packing steps the makers and the extension services agree on:

1. Pre-chill the cooler. CORE suggests a sacrificial bag of ice about 30 minutes before you pack, then dump the melt.
2. Block ice on the bottom. Grizzly says block melts slower than cubes; cubes chill fast and fill gaps.
3. Pack meat frozen, sealed and low. The FDA notes frozen meat stays colder longer.
4. Fill the empty space. Air warms fast, so UMaine and Mississippi State say fill gaps with ice or packs.
5. Keep it in the shade with the lid shut. Grizzly says ice melts twice as fast in direct sun.

The how to pack a cooler guide goes step by step.

Bringing venison home in a cooler

Penn State Extension's advice is plain. Cool the carcass to 35 to 40°F as fast as you can. When it's above 41°F outside, bring coolers packed with bags or blocks of ice, and keep the carcass out of the sun with air moving around it.

For a cooler, that means quarters or boned meat in bags, ice around them, and the cooler in the shade. Penn State warns that wrapping a whole carcass in plastic or a tarp traps heat. Deer seasons and carcass transport rules vary by state, so check your state wildlife agency before you haul.

Cooler care and bear country

Clean it after every trip. UMaine Extension says wash with soap and warm water, sanitize with a bleach solution, and store it dry, clean and out of direct sun. The cleaning guide has the details.

In grizzly country, a cooler without a lock is a lunch counter that's open for business. The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee certifies coolers through live bear tests or a technical review, and it says a cooler that isn't locked is not considered bear resistant. Check the certification number against the IGBC list rather than trusting a sticker, and ask the land agency what storage it requires.

Who should skip a hard cooler

If you only need lunch and two drinks for a sit, a soft cooler bag weighs less and folds flat in the truck. If you're out a week with no ice run, an electric cooler on truck power may beat hauling ice. And if you walk a mile into your stand, no hard cooler should make that trip.

For everyone else, start with the right quarts, check the drain plug and the latches, and pre-chill the night before. Then put the lid on tight. Trust me on the lid.