Trail Large 45L Cool Box on Wheels

£79.99

With the weather finally starting to warm up here in the UK, many of us will be off camping or at the beach trying to soak up every second of this lovely weather. However, one of the main problems with beach days, camping, or even picnics is how to keep your food and drink cold all day even with the sun blazing down. This is where Trail’s cool boxes come in which are designed to keep your food and drinks cold for up to 72 hours. Therefore, with a beach barbeque coming up with friends, I knew the best way to put it to the test.

The Cool Box I got to try was one of the larger ones from Trail with a 45-litre capacity. The dark blue cool box looked great with a hard exterior made from PE and PP designed to be rugged enough to tackle whatever you throw at it from the camping field to the beach. However, to make it even easier to transport, the cool box has wheels and a tow handle. I loved the handle as it meant I could fill it up as much as possible without having to worry about having to lift it and I could instead pull it behind me.

The lid of the cool box is hinged and has locking catches to ensure that the insulated PU cell remains firmly shut when closed to keep all your things inside cold. The best way to keep your food cold is to use ice blocks or bags of ice surrounding your food to help keep everything cold. Once ice and your products are put into the cool box, it boasts to keep them cold for up to 72 hours – perfect for long beach days. I took the cool box with me for a beach BBQ and packed some drinks, a few burgers, sausages and various chilled snacks surrounded by ice blocks to help maintain the cold temperature. By the time we got around to cooking the food in the late afternoon, I opened the cool box, and everything was still super cold. My friends even commented on how cold the drinks I gave them were, as many of their drinks had got warm over the day from the sun – but mine were all kept super cold, perfect for a refreshing drink whenever I needed one.

After the beach day, I was super impressed with how easy it was to clean the interior. The interior is designed to be stain-resistant and even has a drainage plug to let out any water from melted ice making it super easy to drain and then wipe clean. In fact, the interior is BPA and HDPE-free, so it’s safe to have direct contact with your food. Also, should you want to keep cooked food warm, the cool box can actually be used to insulate hot food and keep it warmer for longer. Whilst I am yet to test out this function, I know it will be super useful to take hot food to an event or even to take leftovers home with you!

 One of my favourite aspects of the Cool Box is that the lid also doubles as a mini table with cup holders built in. I loved this as I could sit it between some beach chairs, and we could use it as a table throughout the day. However, all drinks will need to be moved before you can get something out of the cool box which can be a little annoying, especially if there are a lot of drinks on it. My only slight complaint about the cool box is that the wheels didn’t deal with the sand on the beach super well. The wheels were fine on more sturdy ground, but it was definitely a little more of a struggle on the sand. Thankfully with the rugged design of the exterior shell, I could still pull it along the soft sand using the handle without too much concern.

The Trail Cool Box on Wheels does exactly what it says on the tin – it delivers great cool box function, useful wheels and handle for easy transportation and even a useful cupholder design top for multi-functional use. The cool box is therefore essential for camping, beach days or even picnics to ensure that all of your food and drinks stay cold and safe throughout the day. Across Trail’s line of cool boxes, you are sure to find one that meets your needs from a smaller carrying box to this 45-litre Cool Box on Wheels for a large event. I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of the cool box this summer!

Pros:

• Large capacity size for lots of food and multiple drinks
• Rugged exterior fit to withstand most terrains – plus the handle makes pulling it super easy
• Sturdy top with cup holders for use as a mini table

Cons:

• Wheels can struggle on some soft surfaces such as sand where there is little traction