Five Cooler Accessories to Upgrade Camping
Whether you have a heavy-duty, roto-molded cooler, or a stainless-steel, outdoor cooler, it’s hard to imagine improving this vital piece of equipment used for camping. While coolers are a standard requirement to take care of all your food and drink storage needs, there are several ways to take your cooler to the next level.
Ice packs make a great addition to your Yeti or RTIC, but here are five accessories that will truly make your cooler work for you. These by no means are fancy items, but they each pack a big punch for a relatively small price when it comes to improving your cooler and camping experience.
Wire Basket
This basket sits on top of your iced-down items and is great to store food items or other dry goods. You want to be sure it is corrosion-resistant with an outer coating that can stand up to ice exposure. The rack grid allows cool air to circulate into the rack contents. Amazon has several brands of these baskets available to fit Yeti coolers, RTIC coolers, Igloo coolers, and more.
Consider using these for smaller food items you want to keep from being crushed by ice and other heavier items. Fruits, veggies, and other smaller, softer items can find safe transport and storage with this basket.
Plastic Storage Basket
Unlike the wire basket, this plastic tray is a solid barrier for products that should stay dry. The wired tray has gaps where small items can fall through. This solid tray, on the other hand, can hold both large and small items.
It may not get as much circulation and therefore not stay as cool as the wire basket, so it may not be a place to put your popsicles. However, this tray’s ability to keep certain items dry makes it great for those items you don’t want to be soggy.
Cooler Drain by TXUS
Let’s face it. No one likes lugging your giant cooler full of food on and off your boat or RV. With this handy accessory, you won’t have to. This unique cooler drain plug allows you to fill or drain your cooler without any heavy lifting.
The Cooler Drain features a 2-in-1 open and close valve connector that works to drain your cooler with or without a water hose. It is leak-proof and durable, and it allows coolers to drain in any situation. This accessory is compatible with Yeti, RTIC, Magellan Coolers, and several other cooler brands.
Don’t forget to pack your hose for the trip to get full use of the Cooler Drain. When the ice starts to melt after a few days, leave your cooler where it is. Connect the hose, and drain the water out and away from your campsite. Close the drain, add a fresh bag of ice, and you get another few days of chilled food without ever moving your cooler.
Cooler Lid Light
Nothing is trickier than trying to dig through your cooler in the dark. Brighten things up a bit with a light that illuminates the inside of your ice chest. Quickly install it with the included adhesive tape. The light turns on when the lid is open, turns off when it’s closed.
What’s more, is it automatically shuts off after 20 seconds. It’s battery-powered, so no need to find an outlet. This affordable cooler upgrade makes camping, hunting, fishing, backpacking, and motor homes a lot easier.
Cutting Board and Divider
This two-in-one accessory separates your food from your drinks. Easily remove this board for food prep without worrying about where to put it when it’s not in use.
Like any food prep surface, you’ll want to be sure this board is cleaned thoroughly before and after each use. If you’re only chopping fruits or vegetables on the board, a Clorox Wipes should suffice. However, chicken and other meats will require a deeper cleaning. Be sure you can properly clean the board before contaminating it with these types of foods.
Not Necessary, But Nice!
While a cooler alone is enough to get you through your camping trip, it never hurts to add a few items to make the trip even better. Accessories for your cooler will help with storage, food prep, and filling and draining. These items aren’t necessary, but they sure are nice.
Go to CoolerGear.com for more camping ideas.