Best Ice Packs For Coolers In 2022

If you’re the kind of person that takes their lunch to work every day, you need Fit & Fresh Cool Coolers. This set of four small ice packs are ideal for keeping your lunch fresh and cool. Due to their thinner size, they don’t have the cooling power for a large cooler full of beers, but they’ll keep a small lunchbox at the right temperature most of the day.

One of the big draws of these ice packs is that they’re super thin. With a depth of just a quarter of an inch, they take up very little space. The shell is BPA-free plastic, which means that it’s not going to spill any harmful chemicals into your lunch. It also makes them very durable, long-lasting, and reusable. Our only complaint is that they don’t advertise what liquid they’ve used as a coolant. All we know is that it’s non-toxic and will stay cold for around four hours. They’ll work great in standard coolers for camping, too.

These ice packs for coolers from Cooler Shock are some of the best-reviewed on the internet. From the 4.6 out of 5 Amazon rating (with over 3000 reviews) to the YouTube videos that hail these as the top ice packs around, it’s clear to see that they have a lot of happy customers. So, what makes them so good?

The Cooler Shock 3X Lg. Zero°F Cooler Freeze Pack look like it’s just a foil pack that you fill with water, but some serious chemical engineering has gone into these packs. Inside the packaging, there’s a dry formula that reacts with the water and creates a liquid that freezes at 18ºF (- 8ºC) and can last nearly 48 hours. The sub-freezing temperature ensures that the user will get more time out of the ice pack than a traditional gel or fluid-filled solution.

If your cooling needs don’t require a 48-hour chill and you don’t need sub-freezing temperatures, you can save yourself a lot of money. If what you want is a short-term chill to keep that lunch box cool, this is the solution for you. Bentgo Ice Lunch Chillers are just $10 (at the time of writing) and will do the trick for smaller coolers.

They are similar in design to the Fit & Fresh Cool Coolers in that they are ultra-thin, stay frozen for a couple of hours, and are made from BPA-free plastic. The main difference is that you fill these ice packs yourself, open up the lid and fill them with water, and after a few hours in the freezer, they are ready to go. You’ll have to remember to take them out and re-freeze them if you want to use them the next day.

Next up, we’ve got a set of four ice packs from Healthy Packers. These are similar to both the Fit & Fresh Cool Coolers and the Bentgo Ice Lunch Chillers in terms of design. These gel packs are just slightly larger. Healthy Packers Ice Packs are still slim enough for most small lunch box coolers. For these larger packs, it’s essential to measure the inside of your cooler or insulated food bag and choose an ice pack that fits comfortably.

Inside each pack is a gel formula that has been approved by the FDA. Unfortunately, like most of the cheaper ice pack manufacturers, they don’t advertise the freezing temperature or how long the packs will stay cold. However, we expect it to perform similarly to the other slim ice packs we’ve reviewed. Expect them to remain frozen for a couple of hours and remain cold for a few hours after that. These may be too small for a large cooler situation, but for your lunchbox, they’re a great fit.

This ice pack from YETI ICE is for larger coolers. It’s only slightly taller and broader than the lunchbox coolers we’ve featured, but it’s around three times as thick, allowing it to hold a lot more coolant.

The design of the YETI ICE Refreezable Reusable Cooler Ice Pack (rectangular with a hole in the middle) isn’t just to make it easier to hold. It allows it to freeze much quicker than a solid-block ice pack because there’s more surface area. The block should take approximately four hours to freeze solid but then holds its cool for up to six hours. Perfect for your soft-sided cooler.

If space is at a premium in your lunch box, these Ice Packs from Komax are the perfect solution. They’re similar in terms of size and cooling power to the other lunchbox ice packs in this list, but they have a soft shell, which makes them much more flexible. The flexibility comes at a cost, however. They’re not as durable as their hard plastic counterparts. The manufacturer does suggest that they are puncture-proof, so don’t be too concerned about them contaminating your food.

Inside each ice pack is a gel compound that is clean, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly. Multiple customers have reported that, at the end of an eight-hour shift, the packs are still half-frozen. It might not be as impressive as a 48-hour ice pack, but it’s fit for the purpose. If you’re looking for a versatile and durable ice pack for your lunch box, this is one of the best. Plus, you get six in a package, so they’re great for bigger families. If you are planning to stay outside for a while, it might be a safer choice to opt for one of the best portable freezers from our list.

Next up, we’ve got a different type of ice pack. Most manufacturers cover ice packs in either a hard or soft plastic shell. Nordic Ice NOR1038 No-Sweat Reusable Long-Lasting Gel Pack is entirely different, as the outer packaging is a smooth, nylon-like material that minimizes surface condensation. That means it doesn’t sweat (like soft plastic ice packs) and cause moisture damage to the contents of your cooler.

The Nordic Ice Gel Packs will stay cold for around four hours in a well-insulated cooler. They were initially designed by doctors to keep temperature-sensitive medication cold, so they should work just fine for your sandwiches or in any situation when an ice cube tray is not at hand.

One of the most significant design flaws in regular ice packs is that they don’t cool everything equally. For example, if you have an ice pack down the side of your cooler, whatever is directly next to that ice pack will be cooler than everything else. FlexiFreeze Ice Sheets solves that problem. Each ice sheet has 88 small cubes that act as their own individual ice pack. You can cut the sheets to size and fit them all around your cooler.

The benefit of this design is that even when they are completely frozen, the ice sheets are still flexible. Each cube’s filler is water, so even if one breaks, you can continue to use the whole remaining sheet. This listing is for a pack of three sheets. That’s a total of 264 cubes to customize in and around the interior of your cooler. Don’t forget to check out our reviews of the top floating coolers on the market.

The last ice pack on this list is one of the best-reviewed on Amazon. Arctic Ice Long Lasting Ice Pack for Coolers has a 4.4 out of 5 Amazon rating. The reason customers love them so much is that they freeze at a very low temperature -28.4º F (-2º C). This low freezing point ensures that your ice pack stays colder, longer.

The other reason it’s so popular is the size. Arctic Ice’s Packs are ideal for family-sized coolers that need some serious cooling power. The only downside is that they weigh 2.5lbs, which makes it the heaviest ice pack on this list as well. If you still prefer not to depend just on the ice packs, you might like some of these handy electric coolers.