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Well, we think that their price point is just a little too high, but you get what you pay for, and these are very good. If you value premium products of great design that are built to last and you are willing to pay extra for that investment, then we 100% recommend these. However, if you need something cheaper, then there are a lot of other options. Contrastingly, these pull tabs do mean the zip doesn’t close completely.
The Six-Piece Set
However, we tested the medium with a heavier pair of ski pants, and it compressed them very well. Still going strong, although the mesh has taken a slight beating due to the compression zipper. Opposite of that big clamshell opening is a separate compartment to hold your dirty clothes, which works just as intended. When your clothes get dirty, just stuff ’em in the backside and you’re good to go. One potential drawback is that this system could be fairly brutal on your zippers.
Peak Design Packing Cubes Review
You don’t really need excessively strong or thick materials for a packing cube, and 70D is still pretty solid while remaining lightweight. The Medium Design packing cube (left) and Small Peak Design packing cube (right), both inside Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L backpack (center). A lot of it depends on the clothing material and how you pack them. Using a cube will -to some degree – help with not wrinkling as your items are now secured in a cube and not moving in transit. Just like with most forms of packing, nothing comes out looking freshly ironed. For example, if you are packing light summery clothing, the medium could be too big.
The Best Packing Cubes Are the Travel Must-Have That You Didn’t Know You Needed - GQ
The Best Packing Cubes Are the Travel Must-Have That You Didn’t Know You Needed.
Posted: Tue, 29 Oct 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Peak Design packing cubes review

Something a little different from some of the other packing cubes on the market is the opening and closing mechanism Peak Design has chosen. The opening of the bag is designed so that the two zips meet in the middle by a set of pull tabs opposite the handle. “I often do not unpack my cubes during travel; they become my mobile drawers so everything stays organized during travel, which makes packing and unpacking super-easy,” he says. “When deciding between packing cubes and compression cubes, consider your packing style and the types of items you plan to bring,” says Auricchio. If you’re a Virgo who likes neatly folded clothes and preplanned outfits, try packing cubes. If you’re a serial overpacker who has a ten-step skin-care routine (hi, same!), try compression cubes.

The way that Peak Design explains this is that the Small packing cube is the equivalent of “one unit,” and the Medium is “two units.” These “units” are a system they use continuously in their Travel collection. So if you do have their 30L Travel Backpack, which is equivalent to 3 “units,” then three Small cubes or one small and one medium will fit perfectly. The main exterior fabric of these cubes is a 70D nylon and polyester blend. Most of the Peak Design gear uses Zoom zippers, so we’re not really sure why they opted for YKK here—but regardless, these are some high quality zippers. In general, there are a lot of things going on with these packing cubes that we haven’t seen in many other cubes on the market—which, at this point, isn’t a huge surprise.
From their compressionability, durable nylon material, unique pull tabs, external pocket, and lifetime guarantee, there’s no argument that Peak Design’s packing cubes are a premium product. Yet other well-established brands, like Eagle Creek or Osprey, are selling packing cubes at around half the price. Branching into travel gear, the 45L Travel Backpack leads the collection. We rated this as our top backpack and so we knew we had to check out their packing cubes. The Small and Medium Peak Design Packing Cubes are 9L and 18L, compressible to half the size.
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Although we didn’t find this an issue, customers’ reviews have noted that zips will open on their own if the packing cubes are quite full. The compression mesh does mean that the packing cubes do not fold away as minimally as some of their competitors. But since they’re made from flexible nylon, you could easily squeeze a spare one in the bottom of your backpack. Between the quick zipper access, compressibility and rock-solid materials, the Peak Design Packing Cubes are easily some of the best on the market.
This is something quite common with these kinds of compression designs. Protective, easy-access photo/video gear organizers for travel. Brilliant easy-access organizer for tech items and travel essentials. FlexFold dividers enable customizable organization and protection. Floating pocket stores lens caps, filters, and other small items. Get access to brief summaries of our reviews so you can browse and make decisions more efficiently.
From a sizing perspective, we think these cubes can totally work—especially if you’ve got the Peak Design Travel Backpack—however, we do have a couple other packing cube lines that we truly love. We’ve been using the Eagle Creek Specter Cubes for some time now, which are very similar to these but a bit lighter. They also offer a bunch of different sizes, so you can kind of play around with them and figure out what works best for you. We should note that these units are really only applicable if you have the cube(s) totally filled. If you don’t have these things filled to the brim, you can easily fit a couple on top of each other, allowing you to fit more than just 3 units of cubes into the Peak Design pack. For example, we’ve been able to easily fit 2 loosely-packed medium cubes (which would technically be 4 packing units) in the main compartment.
Medium and Large cubes feature dual side zips, letting you access gear from the side access points of your 45L Travel Backpack (sold separately). Smedium, Medium, and Large cubes include a 'floating pocket' for filters, lens caps, and small stuff. Our V2 Camera Cubes are more protective than ever, featuring weatherproof #8 Ultra Zips™, weatherproof taping on external seams, and a recycled, Bluesign-approved 160D nylon canvas shell. “I love the coordinating packing cubes, which help me to stay organized and prepared for multiple destinations where the weather may not be the same,” Brannan told the Cut earlier this year.
Add a little pizzazz to your packing with these colorful and brightly patterned packing cubes from Calpak. This set features four cubes, ranging in different sizes, and includes one water-resistant envelope pouch — a great addition for those items that need extra protection. Like the Béis set above, these durable cubes also come with paper organization labels. This is where Peak Design separates itself from the rest of the pack(ing cubes).
That has been a common trend in most of the Peak Design stuff we’ve tested. Peak Design’s packing cubes are some of the best on the market, offering both functionality and sustainability. Here’s our review of Peak Design’s front-and-centre packing solution. When compared with other companies that produce various sizes and shapes, you might think Peak Design’s two options are a bit limiting.
Another nice touch is the small piece of nylon webbing you can grab onto as you’re zipping the compression portion of the cube and the small grab handles on the outside. Another concern was the amount of clothing that could fit in the cubes. Again, we were left impressed with the results with 10+ XL t-shirts easily packed in the medium cube and 10 pairs of underwear and 8 pairs of socks in the small cube. The compression, as we’d hoped, was really the star of the show and let us cram so much more in each cube than we’d been able to with a budget set. The cubes are available in three colourways – Charcoal Grey, Sage Green, and a black and white checkered option called ‘Raw’. We’re fans of the Charcoal for its ability to hide wear and tear!