As the weather warms up, the prospect of picnics, hikes and beach days thrills me. What is less thrilling? The checklist of things I need to bring with me to make these excursions more successful. Whether you're packing up a backpack cooler or a large hard cooler, you'll want to ensure that its contents stay cold throughout the day. You could pick up a bag of ice, but then you'll have to deal with the melted mess it creates. Why not make your life easier with some of the best ice packs for coolers?

I wrote all of our cooler shopping guides, so I had a very good idea of what to look for in reusable ice packs. After browsing dozens of options, I chose 10 in every shape and size imaginable, evaluating them on their ease of use, temperature retention and design. Some of these cooler ice packs stayed surprisingly cold for many hours, making them the perfect companion for a road trip, traveling or a day outdoors.

Best ice packs for coolers of 2026

Factors to consider when choosing ice packs for coolers

You'll want to ask yourself a few questions when buying a reusable ice pack, including:

• What's it made out of?: Consider both material and type of ice pack. Big, hard-sided coolers can accommodate larger, rigid ice packs like the ones from Yeti, Hydro Flask and Igloo with ease. For smaller coolers, including backpack coolers, consider a flexible nylon pack like the Cooler Shock or a slim shape like the Tourit to maximize space.

• How long will it take to freeze and how long does it stay frozen?: Ice packs for coolers can take anywhere from six to 24 hours to freeze solid. Expect them to stay frozen in an insulated space (i.e. a cooler) for roughly six to 18 hours, depending on the model and the size and type of cooler. Always check the fine print on each option before you buy. You can pre-chill a cooler before using it for maximum results, but this requires a few bags of ice and advance planning.

• How will you use it?: If you're packing lunch for a day at the beach with dairy-based foods, you're going to need ample high-performance ice packs that stay cold for a long time, like our top pick from Arctic Ice. If you're bringing sandwiches and drinks for a picnic, you can get by with fewer ice packs and ones with average performance.

How we tested ice packs for coolers

I'm Yahoo's resident cookware expert and the writer behind our guide to the best hard coolers, best soft coolers and best backpack coolers. After unboxing the ice packs, I inspected their design, noting how to clean them, checking for any imperfections and assembling them when necessary. The best ice packs for coolers excelled in the following:

• "Out of the freezer" test: After leaving all the ice packs in the freezer for 36 hours, I took them out and measured their temperatures with an infrared thermometer.

• "End of the day" test: Once I completed the "out of the freezer" test, I left the ice packs on the counter without any insulation to see how much their temperatures dropped over the course of six hours. This gave me an accurate idea of temperature retention without a cooler's insulation coming into play. I then took each ice pack's temperature with the infrared thermometer.

• "Take that" test: Because life happens, I wanted to see how the ice packs responded to accidents and impact. I placed each one in the bottom of a hard cooler and dropped a full insulated stainless steel water bottle on top to see if it would damage the ice pack.

Other ice packs for coolers we tested

Everlasting Ice RX Large Reusable Ice Packs, 4 pack: This set of ice packs (each 8"W x 6.7"L x 1.2"D) held its own in our testing and is the runner-up to the Arctic Ice model as far as overall performance. A single pack registered 6.1˚F straight out of the freezer and warmed up to a respectable 35.9˚F after six hours on the counrer. The four-pack costs just $22; a two-pack costs $17.

Cool Coolers by Fit + Fresh Slim Ice Pack, 4 pack: These slim, rectangular ice packs are perfect for lunch bags, small hard coolers and backpack coolers. They freeze quickly, but also thaw faster than larger models, so they're best for shorter-term cooling needs.

Hydro Flask Ice Pack, Medium: Like Hydro Flask's wildly popular water bottles, this ice pack is cute and covetable, with a two-tone design and built-in handle. The medium-sized ice pack works well in a smaller cooler, but won't provide a ton of cooling power in a large one. It seems a bit chunky for a lunch bag, but might work in a backpack cooler. Straight out of the freezer, it registered 6.8˚F, but six hours later, it had crept up to 47.1˚F.

Igloo Performance Ice Block, Large, 3 lb.: This upgraded version of Igloo's classic Maxcold Ice Block is made of rigid plastic but with a rectangular opening in the center. It requires no filling and freezes in about eight hours, but once left on the countertop, its temperature rose to 35˚F after six hours. The Performance version is twice the price of the original Maxcold and likely doesn't offer twice the value.

Healthy Packers Miami Ice Packs, XL, 2 pack: These ice packs are big (8.5"W x 11.5"L) and heavy when filled (4 pounds each)! You have to use the included funnel to fill them with water, shake and then freeze for 18 hours before using. That said, if you have ample freezer space and a large cooler (45-plus quarts), these are nice to place on the bottom and/or sides for cold coverage.

Healthy Packers Ice Packs for Lunch Boxes & Coolers, 4 pack: Like the Cool Coolers ice packs mentioned above, these are ideal for an insulated lunch bag that goes to school or the office, but not very helpful for a large cooler (they each measure 7"W x 4.7"L x 0.5"D). These freeze fast, but thaw quickly.

Ice packs for coolers FAQs

Can I bring an ice pack for a cooler on a plane?

According to the TSA, frozen liquid items, including ice packs, are allowed through airport security checkpoints as long as their contents are frozen solid. This rule applies to carry-on bags. For checked bags, the ice packs do not need to be frozen.

How do I clean an ice pack?

We cleaned all of the ice packs we tested with dish soap and water.

What's inside a reusable ice pack?

Most reusable ice packs for coolers are filled with a non-toxic mixture of water, a substance that lowers the freezing temperature (such as sodium polyacrylate or cellulose), a thickening agent (such as propylene glycol) and a freezing point depressant. If someone accidentally ingests the contents of a reusable ice pack, contact your poison control center.

We received complimentary samples of some products and purchased others ourselves, but we reviewed all products using the same objective criteria.