Cooler bags are great, allowing you to bring chilled drinks and food on the go without the cumbersome form factor of traditional ice boxes. We’re especially fond of smaller soft coolers, as they let you bring a small stash of cold drinks you can take to shows, sporting events, and anywhere else while having you carry nothing but a small bag. The Able Carry Cooler is one of the nicer ones we’ve seen in this category.
Billed as “part pouch, part sing, and part portable insulator,” it’s a handy bag that’s small enough to be carried by hand, big enough to attach to a cross-body strap, and spacious enough to hold six cans of your favorite beverages. It’s like an EDC pouch, but for refreshments, with a similar level of style that those types of bags typically deliver.
The Able Carry Cooler is a small bag measuring just 9.7 x 10 x 3.2 inches (height x width x depth), with a zippered opening along the top for squeezing in any drinks or food you want to bring along. It has a 2.5-liter capacity, which is just enough for a six-pack of drinks and an ice pack, although you can always take out an extra can if you need a few more ice packs to ensure colder drinks right when you need them. Yes, you’ll need to use ice packs, rather than straight ice, as the outfit’s foil lining isn’t completely waterproof. That means, while it should shrug off moisture, having ice that melts and pools inside the main compartment could have this thing dripping sooner than later. If you must use ice, make sure to place it in a sealed bag.
It uses foam for insulation, although they obviously kept it to a minimum to ensure a streamlined profile for the bag. As such, it’s only rated to keep drinks chilled for up to six hours, so while it’s great for taking drinks to a tailgate or a picnic, it’s not quite going to keep you satisfied with ice-cold drinks during all-day hikes. Oh yeah, it can keep items warm, too, so you can use it to hold hot food and beverages, which it will keep warm for up to four hours.
The Able Carry Cooler has an exterior cut in X-Pac material, a composite fabric that’s popular as an ultra-lightweight (the bag weighs just half a pound) and water-resistant option in outdoor items, making this excellent for those days you’re spending extra time in the field. At the size, it’s small enough to squeeze inside many bag, making this easy to integrate into whatever pack you’re carrying for the day, although the wide handle on top also makes it viable for either carrying by hand or hooking to a carabiner outside your bag. It also comes with a long strap, by the way, which you can easily attach to carry it across the torso like a traditional sling bag. Two colors are available: white and brown.
The Able Carry Cooler is available now, priced at $56.