ALPAKA Travel Packing Cube Review

The ALPAKA Travel Packing Cube is crafted from durable materials and is compressible; plus, it features Japanese odor-absorbing mesh. All of this makes the packing cube fall onto the heavier end of the spectrum. We can’t help but wonder how it all comes together and whether we notice the extra weight. Let’s find out!

External Components

The primary material used on this cube is ripstop nylon. It only comes in black, so if you’re looking for something brighter, you’re out of luck, at least at the time of writing. The design looks sleek, and we dig its subtleness; however, we understand if you want something a bit more cheery.

The ALPAKA logo is on a small Hypalon-like tab on the front face of the cube. Many packing cubes will have a brand large and in your face on the front or side, but that isn’t the case here. Minimalism is the name of the game!

We’ve got YKK zippers throughout the pack, which work as we’d expect them to. They’re smooth, easy to use, and hold their ground, even when compressing heavy loads. The zipper pull feels like Hypalon and has a small button on it, which helps add texture. The tabs stay out of your way when you aren’t using them but come in handy when opening and closing the cube.

The materials are heavier than we’re used to seeing from other packing cubes but not enough to bog you down when using them. This adds more structure to them, making loading and unloading them easier, which we’ll get into.

For comparison, this cube weighs 5.64 oz, or just under 160 grams. The Osprey Ultralight Packing Cube Set, which includes three cubes, comes in at 2.2 oz, or 62.3 grams. That’s a shocking difference! However, when comparing such tiny values, most folks won’t notice a difference in weight in their pack. That said, every ounce counts when it comes to one bag travel, so this may not be the cube for everyone.

There’s a top handle, which helps you pull the cube out of your travel backpack or daypack when it’s time to use it. If you need to change when you arrive at your destination airport or have a shared bathroom at your accommodations, you can use it to carry the cube. It has no padding or aeration but is comfortable enough for short trips.

Inside The Packing Cube

Unlike most packing cubes we’ve tested here at Pack Hacker, this one has an external zippered pocket. It’s one of many reasons this feels more like a multipurpose cube than a packing cube, but we’ll get there.

This pocket takes up the entire front face of the pack, so there’s a good amount of space to work with. You can stow small items here, like socks, underwear, a hat, gloves, or even a passport, so you know exactly where it is inside your pack. There’s no organization inside, and it can be difficult to pack when the main compartment is bursting at the seams with clothing, so it’s best to stow things here first.

The main compartment is where the real party is. The zipper goes around three of four sides, so you get good access to the packable area. Plus, this thing is compressible so that you can make room for extra goodies. The cube is fairly easy to cinch down, and the zipper shows no signs of wearing out, which is ideal.

Although we didn’t expect any, there’s no organization inside the main compartment. However, the base material is something unique. It’s Japanese odor-absorbing mesh, which is supposed to prevent odors from your clothing from spreading into the rest of your pack. We haven’t noticed a massive difference between the smell of these packing cubes and others we’ve tested, but maybe we aren’t smelly enough for the smelly mesh’s smelly technology.

Although we haven’t noticed it working yet, we worry that, over time, the mesh may start to harbor odors, and this packing cube might start to smell. It hasn’t happened yet, but while we don’t frequently have to wash other packing cubes, we worry that we might have to because of the mesh here.

As we mentioned earlier, there’s no segmentation inside this packing cube. We didn’t expect there to be, so loading it up with clothing is nothing new. The liner is gray, so it’s easy to see most colors against it. If you’re into groutfits, you might struggle to discern your clothing from the liner!

Another aspect that’s worth mentioning is the price of this cube. At the time of writing, it retails for $39. The Osprey Ultralight Packing Cube Set, which comes with three sizes, retails for under $45. The materials on the ALPAKA are more durable and feel premium, but we’ve never had an issue with the Osprey Packing Cubes, so what are you paying for?

Because of its durable materials and secondary compartment, the ALPAKA Travel Packing Cube works for more than just clothing. If you have a large backpack you want to organize more intuitively, use this cube to stow various items. That would be tough to use in thinner cubes like those from Osprey that we’ve spoken about already.

Overall, we’re amped with the sleek style of the ALPAKA Travel Packing Cubes and how they handle clothing. We’re not sure how useful the secondary pocket and odor mesh will be to an average traveler, but they’re a breath of fresh air in a sea of semi-stinky packing cubes that all look the same.