The FRIO cooling wallets are great and the reason for why I decided to create this page of useful products. I have had mine for about two years now, and they are still in perfect condition and ready for a third trip abroad in a few days time (as I write this!). I own a large wallet for carrying both pens and spare insulin cartridges and also a smaller wallet for holding just one insulin pen when I go out for the evening on holiday. When you are travelling to and staying in a hot country on holiday they are ideal for keeping insulin pens cool. Before I discovered the FRIO wallets I would either take a plastic bag filled with ice or just not bother to try keeping them cool, which meant my insulin would be ruined. You soak the FRIO wallets in water for about ten minutes and the crystals inside them absorb the water, which I found lasts for several days and keeps the insulin pens nice and cool. If you don't have an air conditioned room then your pens are sitting there in high temperatures for the entire holiday!

The Accu-Chek Compact plus blood glucose meter is a combined meter and finger pricker (at the side), with the test strips contained within the meter. I don't actually use the finger pricker, as I just jab the lancets straight into my finger but it would probably be useful to many diabetics. The first reason I chose to buy this meter is because I like not having to manually load the test strip every time I test my blood. The second reason is because it takes only 5 seconds to get a result, so even before I have got the cap back on my lancet the meter bleeps and my blood glucose level is displayed. The test strips are contained within a drum, which drops into the meter and holds 17 test strips. Other plus points are the large display and the very small amount of blood that's needed for each test, which saves you having to squeeze the life out of your finger!