Best Packing Cubes 2025 | The Strategist

Sizes: Medium (14” x 10” x 3 “), Small (10” x 7” x 3 “), Extra Small (7.5” x 4.5” x 2.5”) | Non-compression | Water resistant: Yes

Eagle Creek is the brand most often credited with helping popularize the concept of packing cubes, and if you’re new to it yourself, this Pack It set is the best way to start getting organized on the road. It comes with three cubes that are designed to separate your tops, bottoms, and underwear, with a clear mesh window so you can see what’s inside at a glance. Whereas some packing cubes feel flimsy and plasticky, these are somehow both lightweight and durable, with strong zippers that can withstand overstuffing. If not, they come with a lifetime warranty.

We’ve been recommending Pack Its since 2016, when militantly light packer Foster Kamer declared that they were an “absurdly cheap, high-yield investment” that has helped him dial in his luggage and plan outfits in advance. Eagle Creek has recently redesigned the cubes, making them slightly larger and moving the handles from the top to the sides of each, but the quality remains the same. (You can still snag the old versions for cheaper on Amazon, linked below.) Overpackers should still opt for compression cubes over these ones, but minimalists need look no further.

Sizes: Shoe bag: (21.5 x 12 x 5”); Small (13 x 5 x 5”); Medium (13 x 9 x 5”); Large (15 x 10.5 x 6”) (all bags have a width of 1.75” when compressed) | Compression | Water resistant: Yes

This set of six compression cubes from Bagsmart offers much better value than Thule’s above, although the cubes do feel a little flimsier in their construction. Still, travel blogger Isabelle Lieblein says they helped her save space as she backpacked across Europe, and the zippers never failed over the course of her trip. Mine have held up too, and I like that you can slip a label into each cube for easy identification of what’s inside. The set includes a mixture of five compression packing cubes and a shoe bag to keep dirty shoes away from the rest of your luggage. Their generously sized handles are easy to grab from inside a stuffed suitcase or backpack, and there are plenty of color and style options, too.

Sizes: Envelope (13 x 10 x 1.5”); Small (12 x 8.8 x 3”); Medium (15 x 11 x 3”); Large (17 x 12 x 3”) | Non-compression | Water resistant: Yes

Even as a packing cube advocate, I’ll admit that most of them are deeply ugly. Not so with this Calpak set that Griffiths says has gotten her loads of compliments and comes in numerous colors and patterns. (She went with the polka-dot.)

These pretty cubes are also practical. They have mesh panels and label cards, so you know immediately what’s inside without unzipping. Griffiths has found them to be incredibly durable; during a year of constant use she’s never had zipper trouble, despite overstuffing them several times. Summer Hull, director of travel content at the Points Guy, has also really tested the cubes’ durability: She launders her bags every time she travels after a bad experience with bedbugs on a vacation. “I’ve been through some that can’t take the (literal) heat and also that have zippers that quickly failed,” she says. “But they’ve survived the wear and tear of travel and several whirls around the tumble dryer.”

Size: Small: 14 x 20”, Medium: 16 x 24”, Large: 20 x28 “ | Compression | Water resistant: Waterproof

Hear me out: If you’re an overpacker it might be worth investing in some packing cubes for your packing cubes. These clear plastic compression bags are like “Ziplocs for clothes,” explains Travel Fly Sexy podcast co-host Natasha Wilson. “Several of them can fit inside packing cubes — so you can organize your outfits but keep them all in one cube.” This is a particularly useful solution if you’re traveling personal-item-only and don’t have room for a full set of Calpaks set inside your backpack, but still want to stay organized.