Igloo Products Corp: Sportsman Line

Released in 2017

The Sportsman Welded coolers from Igloo are a line of rolltop waterproof TPU welded coolers. One of our designers created this product from a sketch through to coordinating manufacturing across multiple trips to China, including sourcing factories. These items use an injection molded TPU base welded to the main body. It also includes a welded waterproof drain plug; something that had never been done before this product. This product won Best of Show at the 2017 Outdoor Retailer's Show, and was highly praised on many gear review websites.

A New use case

The Igloo Sportsman line presented the world with the first waterproof backpack cooler, the first welded injection-molded TPU base, and the first welded drain plug. Igloo had never created welded products before this, and our designer helped them from concept through sourcing.

Appealing to the market

Design started with the user. We identified key values, evaluated other products on the market, and incorporated features that required innovative engineering solutions.

An Engineering Challenge

The Sportsman Line incorporated the world's first injection-molded welded TPU base with welded drain plug. This provides a hard, impact-resistant base that remains 100% waterproof. We worked extensively with suppliers to perfect revolutionary manufacturing methods in order to achieve this. 

Design for Costing

Extensive testing was done in order to create a waterproof roll-top design. This popular closure method works well to keep water out, but it was challenging to engineer a successful solution to keep 60 lbs of water inside of the bag when turned upside-down. The roll-top function saved $30 of per-unit cost over comparable zipper options.