Best Soft Sided Cooler?

[Dis703]

We have to travel with a bit of food because of my kids allergies. The cooler bag we took last time really wasn't that great and sure enough I read a ratings article online that said this specific bag only kept food cold enough for 2-3 hours. In the hot Florida sun that isn't going to cut it for us.

I'm having a really hard time finding soft cooler bags/totes with any information about how long they keep food cold. The few articles I came across where they rated this and give actual timeframes (ie cold for 6 hours, 8 hours, etc.) are old and the coolers no longer available.

So what have you used that you really loved that seemed to work well keeping food cold for a good length of time? I don't want to buy another crappy bag that won't work any better than what I have.

Thanks!

 

[peg110]

Not sure what you are keeping in the cooler. I like to freeze bottles of water and put them in. It is dual purpose. It keeps food cold AND as it melts it gives you refreshing cold water to drink.

I don't think there is any real good soft side cooler that is going to give you more than a couple of hours in the Florida heat. It will be more about the quality of the ICE (or ice packs) that you put in there. I think the BEST solution is one that has a Styrofoam liner surrounded by a "Soft" shell. I would just make sure that the food you put IN the cooler is as cold as possible prior to putting it in the cooler. If possible, put the COOLER in the refrigerator (or freezer) as well to improve the initial performance.

There are so many factors that could impact your decision as well. Really to be an effective cooler, you need some dead air space between the inside contents and the outside contents, and that is just difficult to do in a "Soft" cooler.

 

[Dis703]

Thanks.

I ended up going with a Norchill soft cooler. That and the Polar Bear soft coolers supposedly kept ice solid for 24 hours in high heat weather. It's also leak proof and made to be filled with ice not just ice packs which is a huge help for the daily park runs as I don't have a place to keep enough ice packs frozen solid.

I'm mostly carrying almond milk, dehydrated cookies and yogurt but also some cold drinks and possibly ham, at least while on the plane. I have a hard time finding our kid's safe brands when we travel.