For a weekend of camping with a family of four, a 45 qt cooler is the right size, and for three days or more, or a bigger group, step up to a 70 qt. At GATR, the cooler and drinkware brand from Thibodaux, Louisiana, that is the GATR 45 ($300, 42 cans plus ice) or the GATR 70 with Wheels ($450, 80 cans plus ice). For a week-long camp, the GATR 110 with Wheels ($500) holds 150 cans plus ice. Better still for most families: a hard cooler for food and a GATR Egg 25 soft cooler for drinks.

What size cooler do you need for weekend camping?

Size the cooler to the trip, then fill it. A half-empty big cooler loses ice faster than a full smaller one, so buying the largest cooler you can afford is not the answer. Here is how we size it for camping.

The full breakdown of each size, with inside and outside dimensions, is on our cooler size guide.

What is the best cooler for a family of four camping?

For a family of four on a weekend, the GATR 45. It is the size most people should buy. Inside it measures 20.2 × 10.6 × 11.6 in, enough for two days of meals plus drinks if you pack it tight. It weighs 29 lb empty, and a full one is a two-person carry with the heavy-duty handles.

If the trip runs longer than a weekend, or the campsite is a walk from the truck, the GATR 70 with Wheels is the better pick. It has solid rubber off-road wheels that can't go flat. It also stays put in the truck bed until you lift it from the far end, so it won't roll around on the drive in. More on that in coolers with wheels.

Every GATR hard cooler has a one-piece rotomolded polyethylene shell, roughly 2 to 3 inches of foam in the walls and lid, a freezer-style gasket and a cutting-board divider. The drain plug is sized for a standard garden hose, which makes rinsing out at the campground spigot easy.

The two-cooler system: food in one, drinks in the other

Every time you open a cooler, cold air goes out. At camp, the drinks cooler gets opened all day. The food cooler only needs opening at meal times. Splitting them keeps the food colder for longer.

• Food cooler (hard): GATR 45 or GATR 70. Pre-chill it, pack it tight, keep it in the shade and open it at meals. Use the cutting-board divider to keep raw meat apart from everything else.
• Drinks cooler (soft or hard): GATR Egg 25 with backpack straps for a walk to the lake or the trailhead, or a GATR 20 if the drinks stay at the campsite. Kids can open this one as often as they want.

The Egg 25 is built for a day, not for multi-day ice. Refill it each morning from the big cooler or the camp store and it does its job. Our guide to soft vs hard coolers covers the trade-offs.

How to keep beer cold while camping

Cold beer at camp comes down to the same five things that decide ice retention in any cooler. We do not publish a days-of-ice figure, because it depends on how you use the cooler. Most owners report several days from a full cooler, and up to a week in cooler months.

• Pre-chill. Put a sacrificial bag of ice in the cooler the night before. The foam holds whatever temperature it starts at.
• Chill the beer before it goes in. Warm cans melt ice. Cans straight from the fridge don't.
• Use block or solid ice. It outlasts hollow tube ice. Top up with cubes around the cans.
• Pack it full. About two parts ice to one part contents. Empty air warms up fast.
• Keep it in the shade. In our own 3-hour test, the surface temperature of a cooler in the sun versus shade differed by over 55°. Throw a towel over it if there is no shade.

Keep the cold meltwater while the cans sit in it, since it chills them quickly. Drain it when food would sit in water. The why behind all of this is in our ice retention article, and the step-by-step packing method is in how to stop ice melting in a day.

Water bottles and drinkware for a hot day at camp

A cooler handles the food. Drinkware handles the rest of the day. All GATR drinkware is double-walled, vacuum-insulated stainless steel that holds hot hot and cold cold and does not sweat.

One growler per person on a hot day saves a lot of trips to the spigot. Every lid is BPA-free.

Which GATR to pick for camping

• Weekend, family of four: GATR 45, plus an Egg 25 for drinks if you want the two-cooler setup.
• Three days or more, or five to eight people: GATR 70 with Wheels.
• Week-long camp or a big group: GATR 110 with Wheels, or a 70 for food and a 45 for drinks.
• Overnight for one or two: GATR 20.

Orders over $75 ship free in the USA, and in-stock items typically ship the same or next business day.

Frequently asked questions

What size cooler do I need for weekend camping?

For a family of four on a weekend, a 45 qt cooler is the right size. The GATR 45 ($300) holds 42 cans plus ice and is the size most people should buy.

What is the best cooler for a family of four camping?

The GATR 45 for a weekend, or the GATR 70 with Wheels ($450, 80 cans plus ice) for three days or more. Many families add a GATR Egg 25 soft cooler for drinks so the food cooler stays closed.

What size cooler for a week-long camping trip?

For a week with a group, the GATR 110 with Wheels ($500) holds 150 cans or 100 water bottles plus ice. A GATR 70 for food plus a GATR 45 for drinks also works well.

How do I keep beer cold while camping?

Pre-chill the cooler, put cold cans in, use block ice, pack it about two parts ice to one part contents and keep it in the shade. A separate drinks cooler, like the GATR Egg 25, keeps the food cooler closed.

How long will ice last in a GATR cooler when camping?

GATR does not publish a days-of-ice figure, because packing, shade and how often you open it matter most. Most owners report several days from a full cooler, and up to a week in cooler months.

What is the best water bottle for a camping trip?

For a hot day at camp, the GATR 84oz Growler ($60) holds about 2.5 L, enough water for most of a day. The GATR 32oz Bottle ($35) is the everyday pick for hikes and the truck.