A few weeks ago we got a Combat Cooler from Groovy Groomsmen Gifts. We’ve spent a little time with this cooler and wanted to give our impressions. We know a lot of you are looking for gift ideas like this portable cooler for your bridesmaids and groomsmen. So we thought this might be beneficial. Especially since Groovy Groomsmen Gifts is specifically set up to help people find gifts for the guys in their weddings.

What We Wanted out of a Portable Cooler

We had been looking for a portable cooler for a while. We wanted one for when we go to the park, go camping, or go tailgating. What we wanted was something light with a strap. We did not want a hard case cooler though. Also, we figured it would be nice if it had a bottle opener for tailgating and camping.

The reason we opted for a fabric cooler is for comfort. If we’re wearing the cooler with the strap and walking around, a hard cooler will rub uncomfortably on the body. That doesn’t seem like a big deal, until you’re hiking with the kids at a state park for a few miles. Something slightly uncomfortable at the beginning of a hike can become painful by the end. The Combat Cooler fit all our requirements.

How It Looks

So we’ve been testing the cooler out for the past few weeks and it’s very nice. Let’s start by talking aesthetics. The cooler has a rough looking aesthetic. It’s a bit rugged looking and meant to be used. I’d say it has a certain amount of functional charm. It’s the sort of look I like. I can just envision myself walking into a craft brewery, buying a six pack, and throwing it straight into the cooler before I go tailgating at a USMNT game with my brothers.

Does it Stay Cool or Leak Though?

Jenn and I have filled the Combat Cooler with ice and a few drinks and let it sit over night (in the sink) a few times to see how cool it would stay and to make sure it didn’t leak. My only real experience with cloth coolers before this was my elementary school lunch box, which leaked a lot and also didn’t keep things that cool. The Combat Cooler on the other hand retained ice for over 12 hours and the drinks were icy cold to the touch when we removed them from the cooler. So, it performs much better than the cloth lunch box I remember from my childhood. This thing won’t leave you trying to blow dry your homework when you get home from school. So, this portable cooler makes for a better gift than a 90s cloth lunchbox.

How’s the Strap Feel?

The strap isn’t padded, but it is thick enough that it doesn’t cut uncomfortably into the shoulder. Even with six bottles of water and ice it still didn’t feel uncomfortable. We haven’t gone on any hikes, so we’ve just been wearing it while walking around the house and the yard. We just throw some ice and drinks in and go about our day. We’re a few weeks in with this casual (but really weird use… we have a refrigerator after all). We haven’t noticed any fraying on the strap or on the fabric on the back of the cooler.

That Bottle Opener Though

The Bottle Opener on the cooler doesn’t look like much. It’s a thin piece of metal. It honestly looks like it’s more likely to break in half than to open a beer. So, I decided I had to test it out. It’s tough, but I had to do the hard job of opening a bunch of beers with it and drinking them. I tested it on beers from Three Floyds and Scarlet Lane (Great Indiana Beers for great Indiana men). I also opened those same beers with a novelty beer bottle opener I bought Jenn in Alabama. Jenn hates that novelty beer bootle opener, and that fills me with joy. I also compared it with our OXO bottle opener that we got as a wedding gift.

The novelty beer bottle opener is terrible. You often have to try several times to open a bottle of beer. The OXO bottle opener worked on the first time every time. It also feels super sturdy. The bottle opener on the Combat Cooler didn’t break or bend once, but it doesn’t feel sturdy. I was afraid I would break it the whole time, even though I didn’t come close. It opened beers on the first try almost every time. So, I was pleasantly surprised.

9/10 Would Recommend This Portable Cooler Gift

This cooler is great. It’s better than a Coolest Cooler! I would like it more if the bottle opener felt a little bit sturdier though. I definitely would recommend this to anyone looking to pick up a gift for their bridal party. Love this cooler and want to pick one up for yourself or as a gift? Then you can find it at Groovy Groomsmen Gifts.

I didn’t mention this before, but you can personalize the cooler with up to three letters. So you can add the initials of the person to whom you’re gifting the cooler. It’s a nice little touch that makes it feel like you bought this specifically for them.

The best part about this gift though, is people will actually use it. It isn’t like a knife with a quote on it. After the wedding it won’t disappear into a junk drawer after the wedding to rust. If you give your bridal party a bunch of combat coolers, then expect to see those people using them. You’ll see them out and about when you tailgate, go camping, go for a picnic or go to the beach.

Love this blog post about a portable cloth cooler gift?

Then check out this other blog post we did about bridesmaid gifts! Both that post about the traveling wine glass and this one about the portable cooler are sponsored posts. We’d like to give a big thanks to Groovy Groomsmen Gifts for sponsoring these posts.

Also, we shot all these photos on the new iPhone 11 Pro. We just wanted to test the camera’s limitations. So, if you let us know what you think about these photos, we would appreciate that!