Soft cooler hack takes bike next level

With the recent rash of EPE Foam soft coolers earning prominent spots on boat docks, job sites and pickup truck beds, I guessed that it would still be some time before pannier bags for bikes made the leap to cooler coolers. As my recreation and transportation in Summer months often involve my touring/commuting bike, and the idea of carrying 20 cans of my favorite beverage and 15 lbs of ice seemed excessive, fun and perhaps would up my friend count, I began to look for a way to mount a soft bag cooler on my bike.
Cooler of Choice
Yeah, I do aaahright, but a cooler north of two or three C-notes? “This is for my wife. Whatcha got in the $50 range?”
While wandering around the Automotive department at Walmart looking for an air freshener for my teenager’s sports equipment-filled car, I spied Sam Walton’s foray into the me-too world of hi-tech coolers initiated by Yeti and their budget-busting plastic molded insta-Americana classic coolers. I picked up a soft-sided backpack and found it to be well assembled, passably cool (for a 51 year-old) and at $45 bucks…mine.

Perhaps this hack will get some clicks and I’ll kick off a gofundme campaign to purchase a Yeti, Orca, IceMule or similar beast-of-burden inspired brand for the design of my next cooler hack. Until then, I’ll crack a cold bev from this bike cooler while investing the difference into an overdue tandem refurb. A later post.
The Mount
The trick, I quickly learned, was that I wasn’t ready to unstitch the backpack straps and make this a pannier-only device by screwing through the cooler back wall onto a plastic, plywood or melamine plate so that it could be mounted onto the bike rack. That option might compromise it’s ability to stay cool. My solution was to create a plywood plate (below) with bike rack-mounting hardware attached that would allow me to use the straps to affix the pack to the plate, and the plate to the bike rack.

This setup uses about $7 in parts commonly found at a hardware store:
- 1/4" thick ~20" x 24" plywood
- 2 x 1/2" vinyl coated hooks
- 2 x 3/8" long stainless steel (for weather) screws, washers and nylon insert nuts
- 2' bungee cord
- ‘S’ hook, crimped at one end to stay on the bungee
With cutaways on the top of the plate for the shoulder straps and on the bottom for the strap webbing I was able to tension the straps to lock the plate onto cooler with little to no wiggle. Believe me, it surprised me too.


Tools needed are few:
- jigsaw or band saw for cutting plywood
- drill for plate holes
- screwdriver and wrench
- sander or sand paper (optional) for edges on plywood to keep from splintering
You may want to apply some finish to the wood to keep water from penetrating and rotting it. While she won’t win any beauty contests, painting the plate could be a consideration.
With webbing loops aplenty on this cooler I could go an extra bungee around the pack for stability while mounted, but I haven’t found that to be necessary. I have found that the loops allow me to add another rear light (or three) for extra visibility.

