Well, the cooler accessory market is a weird place. You'll see a ~$40 basket sitting next to a ~$12 bag of ice cubes and somehow the basket is the one that feels overpriced. I've been running coolers on Lake Superior for 15 years, and I've bought and returned more organizers, nets, and LED lights than I care to admit.
My dog Ivy has knocked over at least three of these products just by existing, which is honestly a better structural test than anything I can do with my hands.
So after a summer of living with these things, here's what actually earns its space in my shed.
Healthy Packers Ice Packs for Lunch Boxes & Coolers - Freezer Packs - Original Cool Pack | Cooler Accessories for Beach, Camping & Fishing | Slim & Long-Lasting Reusable Ice Pack for Cooler
Outlasted every other freezer pack I own, no leaks after 8 months
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Cooler Net for Dry Storage and Organization - Compatible with YETI, RTIC, Ninja, Igloo, Coleman, Lifetime, Pelican Ice Chests - Works with Cooler Lights, Wheel Kits, RTIC Cooler Accessories, and More
Keeps sandwiches and fruit dry above the ice
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Adjustable Cooler Basket - Expands 11.75" to 18.5" - Non-Slip Rubber Handles, Universal Insert for Full Size Ice Chests, Dry Goods Tray Cooler Accessory - Fits Igloo, Coleman, Lifetime, Pelican, More
After getting laid off in 2020, I took off for a six week camping trip with my golden retriever, covering 7,000 miles and 11 national parks. I couldn't find a reliable way to keep my food from getting
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HEXNUB Cooler Box Light Waterproof Rechargeable LED for YETI RTIC and ORCA
Bright enough to find a dropped hook at midnight
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Cooler Cubes 5 lb Bag of Reusable Ice Cubes – Refreezable Ice Cubes for Coolers
After getting laid off in 2020, I took off for a six week camping trip with my golden retriever, covering 7,000 miles and 11 national parks. I couldn't find a reliable way to keep my food from getting
Visit on Amazon →How I test this stuff
I don't test accessories in a lab. I test them the way I guide: three-day trips, real sun, real food, and a cooler that's been opened forty times by clients who don't close the lid all the way. I start Thursday and I end Sunday.
If a product can't survive that, it doesn't get recommended. I've also got a 65-pound lab mix who thinks every cooler is a bed, so structural integrity gets tested whether I want it to or not.
The one thing I won't pretend to track is price history. I know what I paid for each of these, and I know if it felt fair. But I don't watch prices day to day, so I won't pretend to know next week's deal. Buy when you need it, not when the algorithm tells you to.
Healthy Packers Ice Packs
My biggest complaint with reusable ice packs is that they die after a season. The gel turns to sludge, the seams split, and suddenly your cooler is full of mystery goo. I've had the Healthy Packers set for eight months now, and they're still flat, still solid, and still cold. That's a longer lifespan than any freezer pack I've owned, and I've owned a lot.
They're not perfect. Each pack is roughly the size of a hardcover book, and if you're running a small freezer, three of these will eat your entire ice cream situation. But for the cooler itself, they're the best pack I've found.
I ran a test in my shop last month: two of these in a Coleman Chiller with a few cans of seltzer, and after ten hours in a 72-degree room, the cans were still cold enough to hurt my teeth.
The pack itself was still frozen solid.
I've also left them in the bottom of my boat cooler for a full weekend, and they held up fine. No leaks, no swelling, no weird chemical smell. For ~$18, that's a no-brainer.
Cooler Net for Dry Storage
The problem with dry storage in a cooler is that it's a lie. You put a sandwich in a ziplock bag, it slides down into the meltwater, and suddenly you're eating a wet ham sandwich at the boat ramp. The Cooler Net fixes that by hanging from the lid, keeping your food above the water line.
I've got the version that's roughly 13 by 9 inches, and it holds a surprising amount. A full sandwich container, two apples, and a bag of trail mix fit without touching the ice below. The mesh is fine enough that crumbs don't fall through, which is more than I can say for my own kitchen strainer. It attaches with a simple strap system that works on my Coleman Classic and my Titan by Arctic Zone.
The downside is that it doesn't fit every cooler perfectly. On my CORE, which is a bit taller inside, the net hangs a little loose and swings when I grab something underneath. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's a real annoyance when you're trying to grab a drink one-handed. If you've got a standard-size cooler, it's great. If you've got something deeper, measure first.
2PCS Cooler Net for Dry Storage
This is the two-pack version of the same concept, and honestly, it's the one I'd buy if I was starting over. The single net works, but having two means you can run one for food and one for dry gear like a phone or a wallet.
I've been using both in my Titan, and the second net has become the designated wallet-and-keys spot. It keeps things dry and visible, which means I stop digging around in the bottom of the cooler for my sunglasses.
The build quality is identical to the single version, which is to say it's fine. The mesh is sturdy, the straps hold, and after three months of regular use, there's no fraying or loose stitching. The only real complaint I have is that two nets in one cooler takes up noticeable headroom. If you're packing tall cans, you'll feel it.
For the price of a single net elsewhere, getting two is the better deal. I'm a self-diagnosed over-thinker, so I measured the interior of my Titan before I bought these. They fit with room to spare, and the second one has become the designated wallet-and-keys spot.
Adjustable Cooler Basket
I'll admit, I was skeptical of this one. A wire basket that expands from 11.75 to 18.5 inches sounds like a solution looking for a problem. But then I spent a weekend with it in my Coleman Classic, and I get it now.
The basket sits on the floor of the cooler, and the non-slip rubber feet keep it from sliding around when you're driving over boat ramps.
It's got a handle that folds flat, so you can pull the whole basket out without dumping your drinks everywhere.
The expandable design is the real selling point. I've used it in my Coleman Classic, my Titan, and a borrowed CORE, and it fits all three. The basket holds a full row of tall seltzers standing up, or a mix of cans and a small jar of pickles. The wire is coated, so it won't scratch your cooler walls, and the whole thing lifts out for cleaning in about two seconds.
The price is the sticking point. At ~$35, it's more than some coolers I've recommended. But if you're tired of digging to the bottom of a deep cooler, it's worth it. I've used mine every weekend for two months, and it's held up without any rust or bending.
HEXNUB Cooler Box Light
Fishing on Lake Superior means early mornings and late evenings, and that means I'm reaching into a dark cooler more often than I'd like. The HEXNUB light is a small, waterproof LED that clips to the inside of your cooler lid. It's got three brightness settings and a motion sensor, so it lights up when you open the lid and shuts off when you close it.
The light is genuinely bright. I've used it to find a dropped hook in the bottom of my boat cooler at midnight, and it worked. The battery is rechargeable, and I've gotten about three weekends out of a single charge. The magnet is strong enough to hold it to the lid, and the clip works if your cooler doesn't have a metal surface.
The downside is the battery door. It's small and fiddly, and with cold hands, it's a struggle. I've nearly dropped the light into the water twice. It's not enough to make me stop using it, but it's enough to make me curse every time I need to charge it.
Cooler Cubes
Cooler Cubes are five pounds of reusable, refreezable plastic cubes that replace traditional ice. The pitch is that you get the cooling power of ice without the meltwater, which means no soggy sandwiches and no draining your cooler at the end of the trip.
I've used these in my Chiller for a few weeks, and here's the honest truth: they work, but they're not magic. They keep things cold, and the lack of meltwater is genuinely nice. No more pouring water out of the cooler into the boat bilge.
But they don't cool as fast as regular ice. If you're putting warm drinks in the cooler, it takes longer to get them cold.
And if you're using them in a big cooler, five pounds is not a lot. I'd need two or three bags for a weekend trip.
The other thing is the price. At ~$20 for five pounds, it's more expensive than a bag of ice at the gas station. But you can refreeze them and use them for years, so the cost per trip goes down. If you're tired of dealing with meltwater, these are worth a look. If you're on a budget, stick with regular ice.
What I actually keep in my cooler now
After a summer of testing, my go-to setup is this: a Cooler Net for dry storage, one Adjustable Cooler Basket for the bottom, and two Healthy Packers ice packs. The net keeps my sandwiches and phone dry, the basket keeps my cans organized, and the ice packs last longer than any traditional ice I've used.
The HEXNUB light stays in my boat cooler, where it's earned its spot. The Cooler Cubes are still in my shed, waiting for a trip where I need to keep something dry and cold without any meltwater.
The truth is, you don't need all of this. You need a cooler that holds ice for three days, and a few accessories that make it easier to use. The ~$300 rotomolded monsters aren't necessary, and neither are ~$40 baskets.
But the right accessories, the ones that solve a real problem, are worth every penny. I've been burned by coolers that couldn't keep ice, and I've been burned by accessories that couldn't survive a weekend.
These did.
Skip the gimmicks. Get a net, get a basket, get good ice packs. That's the whole secret.