Magma Padded Grill & Storage Case for 9" x 12" Grills

If you keep a Magma grill aboard, you already know the problem. A rectangular grill, a serving shelf, a regulator, a stack of little parts, and a couple of fuel canisters all rattling around a locker or sliding across the cockpit sole. This padded case from Magma pulls all of it into one place. It's built for their rectangular grills with a 9 by 12 inch grilling surface, and it turns a pile of loose gear into something you can grab with one hand and carry off the boat.

The main compartment swallows the grill body itself. It's sized for Magma's 9 by 12 rectangular grills and fits most other rectangular grills in that footprint. Inside that main space there's a separate pocket that holds a serving shelf or your grilling utensils, so the tools that always go missing stay with the grill instead of wandering into the galley drawer. Everything's wrapped in thick internal padding, which is the part that actually matters when you're stowing stainless in a hard-cornered lazarette or bouncing it across the dock in a cart.

On the outside there's a large external compartment that carries up to three disposable one-pound propane canisters. That's a real convenience on a weekend run when you don't want to babysit fuel loose in a cockpit locker. Tucked inside that outer pocket is a mesh compartment for the small stuff: the control valve and regulator, an LED grill light, a lighter, whatever tends to disappear. It's mesh so you can see what's in there and so anything damp can breathe a little.

Build quality is what you'd expect from Magma. The shell is 100 percent heavy-duty polyester nylon, closer to luggage than to a cheap gear bag. The stitching is reinforced at the stress points, the zippers are heavy-duty, and it carries with both grab handles and a shoulder strap. So whether you're walking it down a finger pier or hauling it from the truck to the boat, you've got a hand free for the cooler.

Who's this for? Anyone who moves their grill. Center-console owners stash these under the gunwale between trips. Cruisers store the grill below and bring it up on the rail mount when it's time to cook. It's also the case you want if you take the grill ashore, to the beach, a raft-up, or a tailgate, or if you shuttle it in the dinghy where a bare grill takes a beating. It protects the grill in transit and keeps the salt and grime off the finish between cookouts.

A couple of honest notes from the water. The case is padded and water-resistant, but it isn't a dry bag, so don't count on it to keep heavy spray out on a wet dinghy ride. And like anything with a zipper that lives in salt air, the zipper lasts a lot longer if you rinse it with fresh water now and then and hit it with a corrosion spray every so often. Most important, never stow the grill away wet. Trapped moisture against stainless will find a way to leave surface rust, so let the grill dry before it goes in the bag, and store the case somewhere ventilated, never below deck with fuel canisters still inside. Do that and the fabric and padding will outlast several seasons.

One fit note so there are no surprises. This case is built specifically around the 9 by 12 inch grilling surface. If you run a larger Magma grill, a 12 by 18 or a 12 by 24, you want the case sized for that model instead. Match the case to your grill's grilling surface and it'll close clean and carry right.