Engel HD30 High-Performance Soft Sided Tote Cooler - Durable, Leak-Proof, Portable Ice Chest for Camping, Fishing, Tailgating & Outdoor Activities - Long-Lasting Cold Retention

Engel's coolers quality is right there with Yeti and others. This has ton's of room and it's easy to transport. I was nervous it didn't have backpack straps, but it's too big to be carried that way. We use it for our weekend lacrosse tournaments and beach trips. If you haven't tried Engel products you should. It keeps the ice frozen and has waterproof zippers. The opening and closing of the zipper is a little tight, but expected since the zippers are waterproof.

Ok this cooler is very nice. I did some research before choosing between this and a yeti. The price difference wasn’t great however I’m glad I picked this one. It holds a lot of beverages and ice and does a great job of keeping drinks cool. I also read reviews that said ice didn’t last long however I did not find that to be true. We went to Panama City Beach Florida for the weekend, 2 weeks ago, August 10, with our first use and it was extremely HOT. We loaded the cooler up with drinks and ice for a day on the beach and it was on the beach ALL day long from 10 a.m. until we came up to the room around 7 p.m. and the next morning I was cleaning it out to go home and it still had ice floating in it and the water was still so cold that it was hard for me to reach my hand in it to pull out the left over drinks so I could drain it and clean it before coming home. Great cooler, great value , still a lot of money but all in all worth it.

Keeps items cold for quite awhile. Though the top is NOT insulated but I tuck a towel in there to help retain the cold. Opening is tight but unbuckling the side clips helps open it up a bit more. Has held up with no rips or tears for about a year now.

Great cooler but zipper breaks after a year

we have a hard sided yeti and got this because we wanted something less heavy. while very durable, this cooler is very hard to get into. even using the zipper lube, the zipper is tough to open, especially in our canoe and on our small boat, when the angle we are reaching from is not straight on. once you get it open, it is very hard to reach into - the top will not open wide enough - and we have to scrape our arm on the zipper to get our drinks - unless you have three hands - two to hold it open, one to get the drink. which also makes it difficult to dry out after use - we have to prop it open with a shoe or something, and even then, it just isn't designed for easy draining/drying. very disappointed. for this amount of money they should have been able to avoid these issues. otherwise, its a very handsome and tough cooler - we have had it for a couple months, and we haul it everywhere, using it at least twice a week. unfortunately for us, it is too late to return. we would if we could! as for cooling - it does no better or worse than any of of our cheap coolers. we live in the south and the summers are HOT, and we keep it in the sun as we fish - so we really needed a super duper cooler, and were hoping this was it. nope. will use it because we bought it, but otherwise, the yeti (hardside) is our go to when not in the canoe. sigh. maybe there is no perfect cooler. - one nice thing is the outside zipper pocket - it stays just cool enough to keep my suntan lotion, lip balm, and phone from melting, and not cold at the same time. they got that right at least.

I'll be honest, I got this for ice cream transport. I spent days watching reviews, videos, and doing research months ahead of when I knew I'd be swinging by my favorite Ice Creamery for my biannual load-up on magically jersey-cow made ice cream. The fact that I needed a cooler to make grocery hauls in the summer, and for beach vacations and picnics and camping trips all came second. I wanted something BIG! I was planning on getting 12-14 quarts of ice cream plus at least 4 large cooler shock ice packs. I don't care how heavy it is and I don't particularly care if I can sit on it. I am 110% satisfied with this thing. It is rugged, attractive, reliable, and, if packed appropriately, can sit out in the beating sun for days. This sucker is THICK, the top opening does take some wrangling to get bulky objects in/out, but not a deal breaker for me. The zipper is so satisfying I know I could dive with this thing. The handles and straps and doohickeys are fine, I use the shoulder strap almost exclusively since I'm usually alone until I'm actually at a destination. I have narrow slightly sloping shoulders so it does slide a bit but it's comfortable. You can make this thing ridiculously heavy and there are no signs of straining of straps or stitching, only of your arm muscles. So I first got to test it out going up to our cabin for 4th of July. I put frozen and fridge goods in it with only 3 of the large cooler shock ice packs. For 4.5 days it was like an extension of our small fridge/freezer, I did have to refreeze and add in the 4th after day 2 though because it wasn't very full. Bonus: it was also puppy proof on my puppy Jordi's first vacation! Next step, the beach for a week. It worked phenomenally. I didn't use it as much on the beach because we lived so close to the beach and it was so hot it was pretty much only me most of the day down on the sand, but I was really impressed when it was trapped in the sun in my hot car for 16 hours on the first day and when I unzipped it smoke like frozen vapor came up and out. I would highly recommend this product

I've had this cooler a few weeks and am not at all happy with its usability. It was really very poorly designed by people who don't understand how coolers are used. My main complaint is that Engel claims that this is easy loading through a wide open top (see picture of product tag). That is a simple not true. This cooler's opening does not stay open (see picture), making it very hard to load, unload, or find anything inside. After using it, I have to cram something in the opening to let it air out and dry so it won't get moldy and smelly. My picture shows a Tupperware container keeping the lid open, which is what I'm forced to do after each use. And speaking of smelly, when the cooler arrived, it stunk like a chemical plant. After reading the warnings about the cancer causing materials inside per the state of California, I nearly returned it immediately. Instead, I crammed a Tupperware in the opening and let it air out for a week in my garage so those chemicals wouldn't get in my house. I don't understand the purpose of the clips on each side of the mouth. They don't really have a purpose because the zipper doesn't extend all the way to the end of the mouth of the cooler (which it should to make the insides accessible). I'm guessing the rubber at the zipper ends are going to tear within a year from opening and closing the bag. This cooler also comes with no operating manual (including online). I found a video that shows how to use the vacuum seal, which also doesn't make any sense to me. Why didn't they just vacuum seal the cooler insulation when they made it? Bottom line, this cooler is way too expensive to not be ready for everyday use. It does keep things cold, but all $200 coolers can do that. And it does look cool, they get an extra star for that. I'll update this review as I continue to use the cooler. Going camping for two weeks this summer which should be a good test.

I did a lot of research on the best soft-sided coolers and this one kept popping up - does not disappoint. Bought it as a gift and they use it all the time - great cooler! It keeps food and beverages cold for more than 24 hours.