The first five accessories to buy
Accessory kits are mostly padding. This is the short list, in the order the things actually matter.
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01
Quick picks
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | GoPro Floaty The one accessory that decides whether a dropped camera is a bad moment or a lost camera. Buy it with the camera, not after. | Every single person putting a camera near open water | 8.7/ 10 | |
| 02 |  SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I The card that appears on every manufacturer compatibility list, rated V30 and built to survive being wet, cold and dropped. | Anyone who does not want to think about cards again | 8.9/ 10 | |
| 03 |  GoPro Enduro Battery (HERO13 Black) 1900mAh, and GoPro publishes full camera functionality down to 14°F — the only battery claim on this page that names a temperature. | Cold-water days, and anyone who has watched a camera die at 40 minutes | 8.8/ 10 | |
| 04 |  RAM Tough-Claw Clamp Mount with Action Camera Adapter Clamps to anything between 0.625in and 1.14in and does not care whether it is round, square or odd — the mount that solves the boats with no track. | Rails, bars, seat frames and anything you cannot or will not drill | 8.4/ 10 | |
| 05 |  GoPro Anti-Fog Inserts (15-pack) Fifteen strips, reusable up to four times each, dried in an oven — the cheapest fix for the problem that ruins the most footage. | Anyone putting a camera in a housing in cold or humid air | 8.7/ 10 |
Scores are our editorial judgment from published specs and named independent reviews, weighted for lake and trail use — not measurements. We have not tested these units and do not own them.
02
How we picked
We do not lab-test, bench-test or dive-test cameras, and we do not own test units. What we do instead is read the manufacturer's published specifications, read the independent reviews that genuinely do test, read owner reports for the failure modes specs never mention — fogging, salt corrosion, cold battery collapse, mount slippage — and then weight all of it for floats and tethers used on lake and trail. Where a number is not published, the page says “not published” rather than filling the cell.
The full method, including what we refuse to do, is on the editorial policy page.
- 40%Buoyancy with the real rig
- Camera plus case plus mount — a float rated for the bare camera sinks.
- 30%Attachment security
- The float has to stay attached in the moment you need it.
- 18%Visibility
- Finding it in chop is the whole point of the color.
- 12%Bulk
- It has to not ruin the shot it is attached to.
Why this list is short
Search for action camera accessories and you will find twenty-piece bundles: a chest strap, a head strap, a wrist strap, a floating grip, six adhesive pads, a tripod, a bag, and a dozen adapters.
Almost none of it gets used twice. The parts are made to a price that shows on anything rough, and the variety exists so the box looks generous rather than because anyone needs seven mounting options.
What actually comes out of the bag every trip is five things, and three of them are not mounts at all.
Why a float comes first
Because it is the only item here that prevents losing the camera entirely, and because the failure it prevents is the most common one.
A camera that floods is rare. A camera that goes over the side of a boat, off a mount, out of a hand during a pass, or off a deck during a capsize is common — and a lake bottom is a lake bottom regardless of the waterproof rating.
If you are never near water, skip this and move everything up one. Floats and tethers has the detail, including the model-number trap.
Why a card comes second
Because it prevents the failure you do not notice until you get home.
A card that cannot sustain the write rate does not error — it stops recording mid-clip, or drops frames. You discover it when the interesting part of a trip is missing. V30 is the floor, and the card roundup explains why the big advertised number is the wrong one.
Take two cards rather than one large one. A failed card should never cost you a whole trip.
The mount: wait a month
This is the one piece of ordering advice on the page that saves the most money.
Most people buy a mount with the camera, use it twice, and buy a different one. You do not yet know whether you will film from your chest, from a bar, from a mast, or handheld — and those need completely different hardware.
Use the camera for a month with whatever came in the box. Then buy the one mount that suits the position you actually chose. The mounts hub sorts them by what you are attaching to.
The cheap things nobody lists
Three items under a few dollars each that improve a setup more than most accessories.
A metal thumb screw. The supplied plastic one is the single most annoying part of the two-prong standard. A metal replacement lets you genuinely tighten a mount, which is what stops the angle drifting.
A microfiber cloth, somewhere you can reach it. Water on the lens ruins more clips than any setting. On a kayak that means a pocket you can reach from the seat, not a dry bag behind you.
A short leash. Any mount can fail. A leash to a deck loop or a bar turns every mount failure into an inconvenience.
03
Every pick, in detail
- ADFLT-001
- HERO13, 12, 11, 10, 9 Black
- Keeps the camera at the surface
- 8.5
- 9.0
- 9.5
- 7.5
GoPro Floaty
GoPro
The one accessory that decides whether a dropped camera is a bad moment or a lost camera. Buy it with the camera, not after.
Every single person putting a camera near open water
First, for anyone near water, because it is the only item here that prevents a total loss. Every camera sinks, and so does most of the housing range. Check the model number — the current ADFLT-001 fits HERO13, 12, 11, 10 and 9 Black, and the older AFLTY-004 does not.
- Attaches directly to the camera rather than to a mount you might swap off
- Bright orange, which is the difference between finding it and not
- Cheap next to the camera it saves
- Works with the standard door, so nothing else changes about your setup
- Model numbers matter — the older AFLTY-004 does not fit HERO13, 12, 11, 10 or 9
- Adds bulk that changes how the camera sits in a tight mount
- It floats the camera, not the camera plus a heavy housing and mount — check the whole rig
Specs from GoPro Floaty (ADFLT-001) product page.
- U3 · V30 · A2 · Class 10
- Up to 190MB/s read, 130MB/s write
- Shock, temperature, water and X-ray proof
- 8.5
- 9.5
- 9.0
- 9.0
- 8.0
SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I
SanDisk
The card that appears on every manufacturer compatibility list, rated V30 and built to survive being wet, cold and dropped.
Anyone who does not want to think about cards again
Second, because a slow card is the failure that costs you footage you thought you had. V30 guarantees a 30MB/s sustained write floor; the big number on the front of the packet is read speed and is not the one that matters.
- V30 guarantees a 30MB/s minimum sustained write, which is what high-bitrate video actually needs
- SanDisk publishes shockproof, temperature-proof, waterproof and X-ray-proof ratings
- Appears on GoPro, DJI and Insta360 tested-card lists more often than any other card
- Capacities up to 1TB, so a long trip does not need a card swap
- Write speeds vary by capacity — the 64GB tops out at 80MB/s write, the 128GB at 90MB/s
- Counterfeits are common; buy from a seller you trust
- V30 is the floor, not the ceiling — 8K on some cameras wants more headroom
Specs from SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I product page.
- 1900mAh
- Full functionality down to 14°F (-10°C)
- 1.5h at 5.3K30 / 2.5h at 1080p30
- 8.5
- 9.5
- 8.0
- 9.5
- 9.0
GoPro Enduro Battery (HERO13 Black)
GoPro
1900mAh, and GoPro publishes full camera functionality down to 14°F — the only battery claim on this page that names a temperature.
Cold-water days, and anyone who has watched a camera die at 40 minutes
Third. Published runtimes are measured at 1080p with the screens off, and cold makes them worse. The Enduro is the one battery here with a published cold figure — full camera functionality down to 14°F (-10°C).
- The published cold figure is the reason to buy this instead of a third-party cell
- Same runtime figures GoPro quotes for the camera itself
- Swappable in seconds, which a built-in battery never is
- Two spares is still cheaper than any power bank setup
- Only fits HERO13 Black and the MISSION 1 series — check before you buy
- Costs several times what an unbranded cell does
- Cold still shortens it; the rating is about functioning, not about full capacity
Specs from GoPro Enduro Battery (HERO13 Black) product page.
- 0.625" to 1.14" outer diameter
- High-strength composite, stainless hardware
- Ball adapter, double socket arm, clamp base
- 8.5
- 7.5
- 8.5
- 9.5
- 7.0
RAM Tough-Claw Clamp Mount with Action Camera Adapter
RAM Mounts
Clamps to anything between 0.625in and 1.14in and does not care whether it is round, square or odd — the mount that solves the boats with no track.
Rails, bars, seat frames and anything you cannot or will not drill
Fourth: one mount that fits the thing you actually own. The Tough-Claw takes round, square and odd-shaped tubing from 0.625in to 1.14in, which covers rails, seat frames, rod holders and bike bars. Measure before ordering — the range is narrow.
- Fits round, square and odd-shaped rails in the same jaw
- Stainless hardware is the right call for anything that gets rinsed
- The RAM ball-and-socket arm holds an angle far better than a friction hinge
- No drilling, so it moves between boats, bikes and rails
- 0.625in to 1.14in is a narrow band — measure before you buy
- The composite version is not the stiffest option in the RAM range
- Three separate pieces means three things to lose
Specs from RAM Mounts Tough-Claw with Action Camera Adapter specifications.
- 15 inserts
- Reusable up to four times
- 300°F for five minutes, then an airtight bag
- 8.5
- 8.0
- 9.5
- 9.0
GoPro Anti-Fog Inserts (15-pack)
GoPro
Fifteen strips, reusable up to four times each, dried in an oven — the cheapest fix for the problem that ruins the most footage.
Anyone putting a camera in a housing in cold or humid air
Fifth, and only if you use a housing. If you do, they are not optional: sealed warm air plus cold water equals condensation on the inside of the glass, and a 15-pack at four uses each lasts a season.
- GoPro publishes the reuse count and the exact drying procedure
- 15 inserts at four uses each is around 60 sessions from one pack
- Works with both the waterproof and dive housings
- Solves a problem no camera setting can touch
- They are consumables — once saturated they do nothing
- The oven step is easy to forget, and a damp insert is a useless insert
- Only help inside a housing; a bare camera fogs for different reasons
Specs from GoPro Anti-Fog Inserts product page.
04
What decides this category
Buy in this order, not all at once
Float and card with the camera. Battery before the first long or cold day. Mount after a month, once you know where you film from.
Check model compatibility on anything that touches the camera
Batteries, doors, floats, housings and filters are model-specific. Mounts are near-universal. That distinction saves most of the wrong orders in this category.
Two of the cheap things, one of the expensive things
Two cards, two batteries, one good mount. Redundancy where failure costs you a trip; quality where it decides the footage.
Measure before ordering a clamp
Jaw ranges are narrow: 0.625in to 1.14in for the Tough-Claw, 9 to 35mm for the GoPro tube mount.
What we would skip
Everything in the twenty-piece bundle except possibly the chest strap. And skip any accessory bought because a video looked good — work out what problem it solves for you first.
05
Questions people actually ask
01What accessories do I actually need for an action camera?
A V30 memory card, a spare battery or a power bank, a float if there is any water, one mount that suits what you do, and anti-fog inserts if you use a housing. That is the whole list.
02Are action camera accessory kits worth it?
Rarely. They are padded with mounts for activities you do not do, made to a price that shows on anything rough. Two good mounts beat twenty poor ones.
03What should I buy first?
A float if you go near water, because it is the only item that prevents a total loss. Then a proper memory card, because a slow one costs you footage you thought you had.
04Should I buy a mount at the same time as the camera?
Wait a month. Most people buy one, use it twice and buy a different one — you do not yet know whether you film from your chest, a bar or a mast, and those need different hardware.
05Do I need a waterproof case?
Only if you go deeper than the camera's bare rating. Every current flagship is rated to at least 10m as it comes, and a housing costs you audio quality and adds a fogging risk.
06
Read this next
Best SD cards for action cameras
Why V30 matters and the advertised number does not.
Floats and tethers
The first purchase for anyone near water.
Mounts and rigging
The mount to buy after a month, chosen by what you attach to.
Batteries and power banks
Spares or a brick, and the published cold figures.
Action camera gifts under $50
Almost the same list, framed for somebody else.
07
Sources
- GoPro Floaty (ADFLT-001) product page
- SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I product page
- GoPro Enduro Battery (HERO13 Black) product page
- RAM Mounts Tough-Claw with Action Camera Adapter specifications
- GoPro Anti-Fog Inserts product page
Specifications are quoted from the manufacturer pages above as they read on the dates shown. Where a figure is not published, this site says so rather than estimating one. We have not tested these products.