Packing Cubes

Packing Cubes in plain terms

A packing cube set is bought once and then judged for years, so the only question worth asking up front is what is actually in the box. OlarHike sells two layouts. The eight-piece set is six cubes in three graduated sizes plus a drawstring laundry bag and a hanging toiletry bag. The ten-piece adds a shoe bag and a small accessory pouch, and switches the fabric to the anti-tear water-resistant grade.

Beyond that the four eight-piece sets are the same product in different colours, and the two ten-piece sets differ only in print and mesh area. That is worth saying plainly, because listings rarely do: a colourway is not a specification. Pick the eight-piece if trips are short and shoes travel on your feet. Pick the ten-piece if a fortnight abroad is normal and the case usually comes home damp.

The one genuine functional split inside the ten-piece layout is ventilation. The floral set carries the largest mesh area in the range, counted by the maker at more than a thousand holes, which is aimed squarely at humid climates. Everything else in this section is a matter of taste and of how easily a colour can be told apart from someone else's cubes in a shared case.

Common questions