Photo: Michael Murtaugh

A good cooler keeps your food and drinks cold all day long. But a great cooler does that while also being well designed and comfortable to carry. And it should be durable enough to survive regular use in all of summer’s most exciting places: at the beach, during a long road trip, or, if you’re really lucky, on a boat.

After our latest round of testing coolers, we have a brand-new top pick: a lightweight-but-sturdy hard cooler that keeps things ice cold for five (!) days straight.

The 6 best coolers→

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Photo: Rose Lorre

Chill your cooler and food before you pack: To give your cooler a head start, let the entire thing sit overnight filled with a few bags of ice. You should also pre-chill anything that you plan on packing.

Label and package your food ahead of time so everything’s easy to find: Opening your cooler as little as possible—both as you’re packing it and during your trip—will keep things colder for longer.

Put ice and frozen foods on the bottom: Line the bottom of the cooler with block ice. Hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, and other frozen foods that should stay as cold as possible can be placed right atop the block.

Put the most delicate foods on top: Easily bruised fruits and vegetables, leaky condiments, eggs, and the like should all be placed toward the top of your cooler.

Try to eliminate “dead air”: Pockets of empty space inside a cooler can cause it to warm up faster, so try to fill gaps as you’re packing. Beverages or cold packs can be useful to plug up nooks and crannies.

Our step-by-step cooler packing plan→

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Very cool.

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