When planning your next hunting or camping trip, take a minute to consider your current cooler and cooler accessories. If you own a cooler, you may not give it a second thought.However, what if you found out there are better options out there for you?

There may be coolers available to you that are better, more convenient, and better suited for the trip you are planning. For example, if you are planning to do a lot of hiking either leading to your campsite or throughout your journey, you want a cooler that can go with you. You want to consider a backpack cooler or other portable style cooler. This will allow you to have what you need at all times instead of having to leave your cooler at your campsite at all times because it isn’t one you can transport easily.

You also want to take into consideration where you are planning to camp. Are you going to an area with bears? If so, you need a cooler that has been rated bear proof. You may be thinking you didn?t even know there was such a thing, which is okay. However, now you know.

For a cooler to be deemed “bear-proof,” it needs to be able to survive 60 straight minutes with a bear. This is actually how companies test their coolers. Bears have an incredibly strong sense of smell, and they will be attracted to your campsite if they smell food. Properly storing your food can help decrease the smell, but you still need a cooler that can fend off a bear intrusion.

While no cooler is going to be completely indestructible, if it can hold off the bears long enough, there is a good chance they will lose interest and move on to find food elsewhere. This can be the difference between a weekend camping trip and an afternoon spoiled by all your food getting eaten.

Another common activity that requires cooler usage is boating trips. There are almost 17 million boats in the United States. The vast majority of boating and fishing trips are planning last minute, and nearly all fishing trips include more than one person. Luckily for you, there is a range of cooler accessories that can make a fishing trip considerably more stress-free.

If you’re going on a fishing trip with friends, you’re going to need more than one cooler. You’ll need a cooler for the fish you catch as well as a cooler for your drinks and snacks. Don?t forget a live bait cooler, if you’re going to use live bait. The size of the cooler you will need will depend on the size of your group. Luckily, there is a broad range of cooler sizes available to suit all your needs. Don’t let the last minute trip catch you off guard and lead to impulsively buying a less than adequate cooler.

Purchase a high-quality cooler that will suit your needs now, so when you want to go on a last minute trip, you aren’t running to the nearest store to waste money on whatever is available. Buying what you want now will also give you time to shop cooler accessories and decide what you may or may not need on future trips. Having the needed supplies on hand will make last minute trips much less stressful and much more spontaneous.