Engel HD20 Waterproof Soft-Sided Cooler Bag

First off, this cooler exceeded my expectations for build quality and performance. I was out in 100 degree heat for a race and still had lots of ice in the cooler into the evening. There are multiple cooler tests out there that put this cooler near the top of the heap for performance. My experience aligns with those test results.I guess the more interesting aspect of whether this cooler is right for you is the size and usability. One tends to think of a "soft-sided cooler" as something light weight that you throw a six pack and some lunch into, then sling it over your shoulder to carry into the track, or out to the camp site. I would say the ONLY downside to this cooler's performance and quality is that it carries "big". With my 6-pack, a 5lb bag of ice (it would hold more!) and some food, it was a bit of a task to carry. It does come with a nice shoulder strap, but I have realized that it is best suited to carrying from car to picnic site rather than anything that requires a long carry.The vacuum seal feature is a little confusing for some, but worth using to boost the performance of teh cooler for an outing. When you hook up the vacuum, you aren't sucking air out of the main compartment where your food and drinks are at. You are sucking air out of the middle layer between the insulation and the exterior. Air in that layer conducts heat from the exterior to the insulation. Since this is a soft-sided cooler, it's hard to engineer materials that are totally impermeable, so instead they've engineered a way to reduce air pressure for a limited amount of time (like how your bicycle innertubes lose air over time.)

Large carry space. I have packed beer, full wine bottles and still had plenty of room for lot's of food. Ice lasts for over 48 hours with some melting but totally useable. Strong recommendation here after multiple uses. One note. This bag has so much space you pick it up occasionally as you pack it to ensure that you can carry it. I can get heavy. I recommend that the company offer this with a double padded strap.

Very light compared to hard chest. Does a very good job of keeping ice. No regrets.

I gave it a four rating because the opening to the cooler can be a challenge to put items into the cooler. It needs to be engineered to have a larger opening for easier access. The cooler works great except for its opening.

I needed to find a soft cooler that I could keep food frozen on a 15 hour airplane trip to the Bahamas. I did an ice retention test with this bag, vs Polar Bear, AO and Egear. The Egear and the Engel preformed the best (I did vacuum out excess air). In the end, I kept the Egear cooler because it was less expensive, and the shape made it easier to carry on my shoulder (although the Engel has nice side handles to carry like an ice chest). Unforunately the Egear bag's interior seams broke after 2 uses. So next time I would buy the Engel. It would have kept everything frozen for my 15 hour journey and would be awesome for our future boating activities; the materials are sturdy and waterproof and its a cool looking bag (unlike the Polar Bear and AO boring single color nylon exterior). The only negative is that it was difficult for me to pry open the top and reach into the bag because the insulation is so thick, there isn't alot of give. But I never unbuckled the sides either and that could make it easier to access the interior of the bag. This is a well constructed bag, with thick insulation that held ice for the 24 hour period and kept it at an internal temp of 48 degrees after 24 hours sitting on my kitchen at 69 degrees. My refrigerator is set to 42 degrees so 48 degrees is an amazing result for a soft cooler bag. The AO and Polar Bear bags were in the mid to high 50s after 24 hours. PS, I looked at the Yeti soft cooler tote and it was sooo heavy, 7 lbs empty, that I didn't bother testing it.

We are looking forward to using it soon. We were grateful for the reviews that mentioned the importance of using lubrication on the zippers.

Cooler is easy to carry. Space is tight for larger items due to insulation and interior space. I also did not find it to hold the ice over 3-4 days as described in product page. Not sure if it is worth the price.

Ive had many different types and of brands of coolers. Im somewhat new to the soft bags. The small blue Calcutta zipper broker after 2 weekends of use but this bag has held up very well especially after learning to keep the zipper lubed or wet. Plus the color matches my boat which is a plus. Ice retention is great. I have 0 complaints about this product. Love the bottle opener by the way. Great value but without breaking the bank. It has held up well in salt and fresh water fishing adventures.

A very well made product that kept ice for 3 days on my recent motorcycle trip in 85 degree temps.