Peak Design Ultralight Packing Cubes Review

Peak Design’s foray into making packing cubes designed with lightness in mind didn’t make sense to us at first. If anything, we expected a brand like this to go for premium build quality (read: thick and heavy materials) with clever latches and metal hardware. That said, if you think of them as the photographer-centric brand that they are, then lightweight packing cubes start to make sense. These professionals already carry a ton of camera gear, so the last thing they need is packing cubes that weigh them down.

The Peak Design Ultralight Packing Cubes are just that. They use a lightweight ripstop-like fabric that doesn’t compromise durability, and there are three sizes to choose from for flexibility. That said, the stripped-down simplicity of the design also impacts how efficiently we can pack it. To further explain, let’s head on to the review!

External Components

The main material for all these packing cubes is Peak Design’s Terra Shell fabric, which is 100% recycled nylon and PFAS-free. The closest comparison would be ripstop nylon; this fabric feels as light as that material. This is due to the grid pattern acting as reinforcement in lieu of making the fabric uniformly thick and, therefore, heavier. That said, the Terra Shell fabric feels more structured than much of the ripstop nylon fabric we’ve encountered. It’s closer to a lightweight rain shell than ripstop nylon, which can feel baggy in a lot of cases.

The reverse-coil zippers are, unfortunately, unbranded. In the past, Peak Design has used YKK, Zoom, or a mix of both brands in their other gear. When you consider that reliable zippers on a packing cube may be the most crucial aspect—since bad ones might snag or jam on the clothing packed inside—we had our fair share of justified apprehension with these zippers at first. Fortunately, they have functioned smoothly and reliably thus far, and not a single piece of clothing has been torn up because of them.

Additionally, Peak Design seems to be leaning on outdoor use since the ends of the zipper tracks have hoods for added weather protection. Combined with the Terra Shell’s relatively slick finish, accidental splashes shouldn’t automatically mean a drenched wardrobe. This approach makes sense since Peak Design is a photographer-centric brand, and it’s not a stretch to say professionals in that field work in all sorts of environments.

Loops are noticeably abundant on these packing cubes. The Small one has one on each corner and at the ends of the zipper track for a total of six. The X-Small one has a loop each at the ends of its zipper track, plus two more for a total of four. Lastly, the XX-Small packing cube simply has two. All of these give us a fair amount of flexibility in case we want to secure these cubes to mounting points inside a travel backpack or external loops on a duffle.

In fact, you can even attach one of Peak Design’s camera straps to carry any of these cubes as a makeshift sling. It’s a bit overkill, and we wouldn’t do it ourselves since clutching the cubes is more than enough for us, but it is an option.

Inside The Packing Cube

All three sizes open with a single zipper track running their respective lengths. This is arguably the simplest way to approach a zippered opening for a packing cube, though accessibility isn’t as good as other methods. Yes, you can pull a zipper in a straight line, and it’s easy when you use the built-in loops for leverage. However, it doesn’t provide as wide an opening as a clamshell design, as seen with the Aer Packing Cubes (V2). This means you have to maneuver your rolls of clothing past the zipper track to pack them neatly inside.

Three size options offer a variety of capacities, though some nuances impacted our experience. For example, the X-Small cube can accommodate four rolls of socks as long as you pack them exactly right. The cube’s narrow shape leaves little room for spillovers. Moreover, the straight zipper opening makes it hard to stuff more socks since much of the available space isn’t directly accessible.

If the XX-Small cube is ideal for small clothing like socks and underwear, then X-Small seems ideal for shirts, right? That was what we were thinking, but it didn’t pan out as well as we’d hoped. Three rolls of shirts fit just fine, but we found four to be too much (depending on the material), so we can’t close the zipper. We technically could, but we are uncomfortable putting that much stress on the zippers. Obviously, your mileage may vary depending on how large or thick your shirts are, but we just wished it was just a tiny bit roomier.

As for theSmall cube (the biggest one here), it has a decent amount of room for really bulky clothing like denim pants and shorts. The Terra Shell’s relative bagginess, combined with the straight zipper opening, makes packing that sort of clothing tricky because of all the maneuvering and propping up required. We find it easiest to pack the largest piece of clothing first, giving you a foundation to stack the rest. So, for example, if you’re packing a folded pair of jeans, put that inside first, then stack your rolls of shorts on top.

Overall, the sizing options feel just a bit off for our specific packing needs, exacerbated by the straight zipper opening hampering ingress and the Terra Shell fabric lacking any stretch. It’s also worth noting that these cubes lack any compression features, which isn’t optimal for packing efficiency. Still, the lightweight but durable construction feels reassuring, especially if you need packing cubes you can take when doing fieldwork.