As for soft coolers, going by criteria that guided our previous testing, along with owner comments on Amazon and in forums, we narrowed the search by looking for a short list of essential features. We considered the external hardware, the shoulder straps, the buckles, the zippers, and the fabric, all of which had to make the cooler comfortable to carry and sturdy enough to survive regular use in a boat, on an ATV, or sliding around in the trunk of a car. For backpack coolers, we also specifically looked for reports of how comfortable (or uncomfortable) they were to wear. And naturally, we focused closely on every model’s level of insulation during testing.
