Thule Subterra 2 Toiletry Bag Review

If you’re looking for an overbuilt, tough Dopp kit, the Thule Subterra 2 Toiletry Bag delivers in spades. Based on looks alone, it definitely has those Thule genes of a solid exterior shell, a monolithic design, and a dark colorway to show it means business.

When you open it, this toiletry bag still has the hallmarks of what we think a functional one should include. It has a bright and easy-to-wash liner, pockets to organize all your makeup and travel-sized liquids, and a loop to hang it from a convenient location.

External Components

Like most Thule gear, the Subterra 2 Toiletry Bag is a chunker of a unit, built thick and tough, in case you want to take it outdoors. That last part is important to keep in mind since all this thickness and structure feel overkill if you’re not planning to do anything rough with it. We can appreciate good build quality, and we don’t take it for granted. However, from a packing efficiency standpoint, the heft of the 800-denier nylon/polyester (we’re assuming Thule means the shell uses a blend of both materials) will feel like overkill for most users whose toiletry bags will only ever see the inside of a hotel room.

But let’s focus on the positives. This level of beefiness is perfectly suitable if you plan to take this camping or hiking. The 800-denier fabric is very abrasion-resistant, and the YKK zippers open and close reliably, meaning you won’t have much trouble reaching for your wet wipes when you need them. Arguably, the most important thing is the amount of structure that all these materials provide. If you’ve ever arrived at your hotel with one or two lotion bottles spilled because they got crushed, then a robust toiletry bag should give them a better chance of surviving. Mind you, that’s not a guarantee; it just stacks the odds in your toiletries’ favor.

Other than that, there’s not much that’s remarkable about this toiletry bag’s exterior. The fabric’s texture and colorway do produce the trippy effect you get looking through a screen door, but it’s something we got used to after a while. There is also a curious lack of a top handle, considering how much of a unit this toiletry bag is. Unfortunately, there are only low-profile side handles to carry it around, which isn’t ideal since the internal organization is oriented horizontally. In other words, you’re basically tipping all of your toiletries to the side each time you pick this up.

Inside The Toiletry Bag

There are no secondary pockets, so we’re heading straight to the main compartment. To get inside, we have to undo the YKK zippers holding the top lid in place. As you can already tell, this is a top-loading cubby layout where you put all your toiletries in the middle. While there is plenty of space to put small, travel-sized bottles here, vertical clearance is something we had to be mindful of. For example, some of the GoToob bottles we use are just a bit taller than the side walls. And while the lid provides some overhead that accommodates that, a pocket beneath it can interfere if you’ve occupied the space.

The main compartment houses several pockets to organize toiletries sensibly. The one likely to immediately catch your attention is the 3-1-1 pouch on the backside. It’s attached via snap fasteners at the back, so it should be easy to detach if and when the TSA agents ask you to show it. Interestingly, the pouch itself is quite shallow, reflecting the slight lack of depth mentioned above. Consequently, we have some trouble trying to fit even the smallest travel bottles we have, and we have to angle them to do so.

On the front side are three liner pockets. The two flanking ones are only big enough for stuff like sticks of lip balm, lipstick, and a bunch of bobby pins, while the center pocket is wide enough for compacts and mirrors. Brushes and other makeup tools are well accommodated within the zippered mesh pocket located on the lid.

All in all, the type of organization and amount of space the Subterra 2 Toiletry Bag offers is mostly suited for users who need to bring a lot of small toiletries and makeup, like if you’re going to a wedding or a photoshoot and are the designated “make everyone look good” person. By contrast, large items such as full-size shampoo and hand sanitizer bottles might struggle to fit, even if there’s a ton of usable space.

This toiletry bag still has one last party trick: you can hang it. This is a feature we’ve seen on other toiletry bags, such as the Peak Design Wash Pouch and Eagle Creek Pack-It Reveal Hanging Toiletry Kit, and we like it for two reasons. Firstly, it saves counter space in case your hotel bathroom has none or barely any. Secondly, it puts all your toiletries on a more presentable and convenient level. In the Subterra 2 Toiletry Bag’s case, the main cubby sits at an angle, so you can easily slip bottles in and out while you shower, for example.

Since the entire toiletry bag is essentially hanging off its lid, there are gussets to help stabilize the cubby and prevent it from swinging around and spilling your gear everywhere. Our only nitpick is that the gussets can sometimes get in the zippers’ way, though it doesn’t happen so often that we’d call it a deal-breaking annoyance. As an aside, we like Thule’s choice of a snap-fastened loop instead of the hook we usually see with other hanging toiletry bags. This feels more secure and versatile since a hook is solid, while a loop can wrap around most fixtures.