The competition for the Trailmate consists of rotomolded coolers with superior ice retention. They also come from superior brands and cost significantly igloo trailmate more. However, if you would love a cooler with the kind of features that you get on the Trailmate, then it is definitely worth buying.
As you probably would expect, the tests using more ice did better.
As always the ambient temperature and how often you open the cooler will dictate how long the ice will stay. While you will pay more for the Igloo Trailmate than most other Igloo products, we still feel that it is a bargain for what you are getting. The sheer number of great accessories justifies a lot of this higher asking price and even as a simple cooler, it does a decent enough job to not make us gasp too much at the asking price.
Up against some pretty intense competition, the Igloo Trailmate didn’t turn any heads in our torturous insulation testing. The USDA recommends maintaining raw food temperatures below 40º F to avoid the growth of pathogenic bacteria. While the coolers we tested averaged 4.5 days maintaining these cooler temperatures, the Trailmate managed just 3.2 days of wavering right at or just below 40º. Bestcooler.reviews, established in 2015, is a leading blog-style magazine dedicated to reviewing and blogging about coolers.
To help with body toughness and ice life, Igloo has installed a thick layer of Ultratherm insulation in addition to its patented Cool Riser Technology. While we sort of wish that they would have gone with Rotomolded construction, this process would have likely greatly increased the size, weight, and cost of the cooler. With no latches to mess with, the Trailmate is fairly easy to open when you want some of its contents. It does require a good push down to close it all the way, but that requires less effort than many other coolers, rather a conscious thought to remember to do so before all the ice melts. The telescoping trolley handle is easy to slide in and out when you need it. It also doubles as a front handle for those few occasions you may actually need to pick your cooler up.
Igloo, the brand, has quite a reputation for being a great coolers manufacturer that goes above and beyond the expectations of the customer. When traversing grassy fields to beach dunes or dirt roads to wooded trails-wherever your heart desires, the igloo soft cooler will get there with ease and be the life of the part day or night. Overall, this cooler crushed the trails and kept ice for days. If you need a go anywhere cooler that looks cooler than most may be suggest the Trailmate Cooler from Igloo. This is great, so everyone has easy access to their cold beverage of choice. It also had two attachments for either fishing poles or an umbrella.