Polar Bear Coolers Review: Keeping Your Snacks At Hand On The Trail

You’re reading a Polar Bear coolers review. Is that because there’s some upcoming fun activity, and you need to bring the drinks, or is it for something mundane and practical?

When it comes to the practical, there’s no denying that having some extra coolers on hand is a good idea. Weather can cause havoc with power, and so can distracted drivers. Having some coolers on hand could save a refrigerator full of perishables when the lights go out.

But it’s much more fun thinking about getting some coolers to hold beverages and food for that upcoming camping or boating trip. But coolers for fun take more thought than coolers for practicality, so make sure you pick the right kind of cooler for those fun times.

And reading this Polar Bear coolers review is a good idea even if you’re only shoring up your emergency plans.

​According to the physics brainiacs, for a cooler to do a good job, it’s not what keeps the cold in, it’s what keeps the heat out. And what determines that effectiveness is insulation, air, and ice.

Those same brainiacs say that just like darkness is the absence of light, cold is the absence of heat. And that we should think about this from a thermodynamics perspective. Sure.

The bottom line from the brainiacs is that hard-sided coolers are better at insulating than soft-sided. But when portability is a concern, and when isn’t it, the soft-sided cooler wins.

But the thermodynamic brainiacs have one last comment to make, don’t open the cooler any more than necessary. Duh.

While soft-sided coolers aren’t as insulating as the hard-sided, soft-sided coolers take advantage of new and improved synthetic materials that help keep the heat out.

So when shopping for the best soft-sided, easy to carry, and store cooler, look for one that most closely matches your activities and cooler needs.

If you’re a hiker, then a backpack style cooler is what you want. Whereas, an ergonomic shoulder strap might be best for a day at the beach. And when you’re out on the water, make sure your cooler floats.

Check for quality zippers and hardware, solid straps, durable fabrics, and food safe interiors. The shape of the cooler is also something to consider, make sure you can square the bottom for its most efficient use.

And storage can’t be overlooked when shopping for the best cooler. The soft-sided cooler racks up significant points when it comes to storing. If for no other reason than you can store a lot of soft-sided coolers in the same space of one hard-sided cooler. And you don’t need a physics degree to know that.

​In 2001, Strud Nash, owner and CEO of Polar Bear coolers located in Georgia, introduced the original 24-hour chill cooler. Strud says that this cooler introduced American consumers to the performance soft cooler category.

And in the years since, Polar Bear has continued to expand and improve upon their coolers. They currently have a complete line of soft-sided coolers, including:

You can customize almost all of the Polar Bear coolers with corporate logos or monograms. And Polar Bear says their coolers make great gifts, especially groomsmen gifts.

And Polar Bear proudly continues to make all of their coolers at their Georgia location.

​Polar Bear’s Original 24 Pack Soft Cooler has a rugged 1000 Denier luggage grade nylon outer shell. Plus, all the seams are double hemmed and anchor stitched for extra durability.

The interior liner is FDA food-grade approved, anti-microbial, and TPU double-coated nylon. And the 1-inch thick, 10 gauge high-density foam insulation will hold ice for 24 hours in over 100-degree temperatures.

All hardware on this cooler is heavy-duty, including the side release buckles and tie-downs. And the D-ring tie-down attachment points can be used to secure the cooler to any vehicle.

Plus, the heavy-duty YKK #10 rust-proof zipper is part of their patent-pending zipper design that keeps the zipper from ripping out of the cooler.

The padded shoulder strap makes carrying a fully loaded (at approximately 30-pounds) cooler a breeze. And the bottom saddle gives excellent support and uniform sturdiness for packed coolers.

Plus, the zipper pocket area can be embroidered with your company logo or monogrammed for personalization. And for convenience, a metal bottle opener is attached to the zipper pull.

This cooler is available in 5 colors and measures 10 inches by 18 inches by 12 inches, and has a 24 12-ounce can capacity. Polar Bear backs this cooler with a limited lifetime warranty.

​Our Polar Bear coolers review is an independent analysis of this and three comparable coolers available to today’s consumer.

To narrow our choices of competitors in this Polar Bear coolers review, we researched and reviewed the most popular comparable sized coolers. Then we compared their features along with consumer reports and comments.

Our goal in this Polar Bear coolers review is to give you sufficient factual, unbiased information. With this, you can make a confident, informed, and easier decision when purchasing your next cooler.

​For this Polar Bear coolers review, we’ve picked the following three comparable coolers. And they’re not in any order of preference, quality, or price.

​Featured Image Via Flickr