Kong’s family of American-made coolers has been a big hit with backyard barbecuers for over 20 years now, but they’ve really outdone themselves with the Cruiser Cooler. It’s the first ever wheeled cooler from the company, and they attended to every detail. Fully packed it can hold a frost 40 beverages (with 30 pounds of ice to keep them chilled).
We can assure you that this large cooler with wheels is going to give you everything that you will ever need when it comes to cold drinks and food out in the wilderness. This cooler is also well-priced, another reason why Igloo coolers are so popular. Considering some coolers can cost three or four times what this one cost and that they are not that far ahead in terms of performance means that these represent a good deal.
Their wheeled rolling cooler offering is a thirty-quart ice chest built with more insulation than other coolers in its range. The bungee net up top helps you haul extra stuff on game day and Canyon also offers a no-hassle, lifetime warranty. Over half of the coolers on our list cost $200 or more, which goes to show how pricey these units can be. Hard-sided coolers from YETI, RTIC, ORCA, and others are able to keep ice frozen for significantly longer than budget options from companies like Coleman or Igloo.
Style-wise, the exterior (which is water-resistant and stain-resistant) comes in fun colors like a turquoise-esque Pine variation, a summer-appropriate Blue Lagoon version, and a very neon Citrus model. The Moss variation is a quieter, but still snazzy, outdoorsy igloo electric cooler hue for you understated gents out there. A first-of-its-kind cooler, the EcoCool Latitude 90 Roller Cooler is primarily constructed from recycled plastic, i.e., yogurt cups, milk jugs, and more “post-consumer resin” that typically ends up in landfills.
Regarding the latter, some will be able to double up as seats or tables, will have extendable handles, cup holders and built-in bottle openers, and even some LED lights on the inside. That’s about as fantastic of a result as I could have hoped for from the MaxCold, and easily the best cooler performance I was able to find for under $100. The next step up would be the Lifetime High Performance Cooler, which I found on sale at Walmart igloo ice chest for $97. It finished my performance tests in a virtual tie with the MaxCold, and it offers a bigger, better design that features a pair of heavy-duty lid latches and roped handles, plus a built-in bottle opener. Features can include drain plugs, removable butler trays, built-in bottle openers, or storage pockets. Think about what will be the most useful for your needs and prioritize choosing a cooler that offers them.
The Original can do exactly what you need it to do, which is to keep things cold for the day while you focus on the fun at hand. As with all soft coolers, you shouldn’t leave the RTIC Soft Pack Cooler out in the sun or resting on very hot surfaces like the back of a pickup truck or on top of a picnic table for a long time. Although the exterior of the cooler is made of a durable, thickly coated nylon—waterproof and tough—the sun and heat will degrade the material and slowly wear it out.
There are also a couple of wheeled versions of the Igloo MaxCold that I haven’t tested yet. Given how well the non-wheeled version performed, I have to imagine that they’d be better picks than the other wheeled coolers I tested in this price range, the Igloo Latitude and Coleman Xtreme. Both of those felt cheap and flimsy to me, and neither one performed well enough to merit any extra consideration.