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Eagle Creek Pack-It Essentials Set: first impressions
It is a truth universally acknowledged that every avid adventurer is in want of a delightfully organised, color-coordinated packing cube setup, whether it’s for use in a suitcase or their best hiking backpack. Whether you’re traveling on multi-day adventures or heading off for a weekend getaway, the Eagle Creek Pack-It Essentials Set is a must-have packing cube solution thanks to the logical separation of clean and mucky layers.
• List price: $55 / £49.99
• Weight: Clean/Dirty cube 68g; Compression cube 54g; Shoe sack: 28g
• Colors: Black / Aizome Blue/Grey / Mossy Green / Sahara Yellow
• External dimensions: Clean/Dirty cube 25.5 x 36 x 11cm / 10 x 14 x 4.25 in; Compression cube 18.5 x 26 x 2.5cm / 7.25 x 10.25 x 1in; Shoe sack 28 x 41cm / 11 x 16.25in
• Internal capacity: Clean/Dirty cube 15 L/915 cu. in; Compression cube 8 L 490 cu. in; Shoe sack: UK Size 11 / US Men's 13 shoe
• Materials: Clean/Dirty cube 100% recycled 300D polyester, 100% recycled double diamond polyester mesh; Compression cube & Shoe sack: 100% polyester ripstop
Testing three Sahara yellow packing cubes over the course of a year, the set accompanied me through a skiing trip to Andorra, coast to coast hiking tours across England, and a camping trip to Ireland. Sure, I could have used rubble bags or tote bags, but what made my life much, much easier was having my life sorted neatly into size order, with Eagle Creek’s packing cube setup.
The Essentials Set comes with cubes in three different sizes: an antimicrobial shoe organizer for dirty shoes (small hiking boots rather than massive B2 boots); a medium-sized cube to separate clean from dirty items; and a small compressor packing cube for underwear to maximize on packing space and packing stress. All three packing cubes are made from post-consumer recycled polyester and are bluesign certified.
Eagle Creek Pack-It Reveal Clean/Dirty Cube M
The Clean/Dirty cube is ideal for packing clothes that will be slowly compartmentalized throughout a trip. One side has a breathable net to keep clothes smelling fresh (the side I chose to put clean clothes in), while the concealed side can hold in the odors of used/worn layers. This is great for when you want to separate out base layers that have been worn but are not completely in need of laundering, keeping them separate from the fresher garments. It can also be useful to isolate layers that have got muddy or absorbed some moisture, e.g. cycling jerseys or wool base layers.
The pros of using the two compartments is that they allow you to see both clean and dirty items and allows you to determine which side to pack into. Another benefit was having the climbing cord-inspired pullers, which were low in bulk but helped zip the cubes up. I also thought the top handle was great for helping maneuver and arrange the cube in the holdall.
My only suggestion for a slightly improved design would be color coding which side is ‘dirty, for example, a color tab or a ribbon icon to help with visual sorting would make it clearer which side was which.
Eagle Creek Pack-It Isolate Compression Cube S
A nifty piece of kit, the Eagle Creek compression cube is impressively simple. Pack the items in the cube and using the compression zipper, the cube squashes the soft items into a smaller space. The cube is made out of a translucent and durable ultra-lightweight ripstop poly fabric so it’s ideal for packing underwear and bulky hiking socks, ensuring they don’t tumble embarrassingly out of your holdall.
Weighing less than a slice of bread, the compression cube can also be used to store t-shirts, PJs and underwear, and it’s also water resistant.
Eagle Creek Pack-It Isolate Shoe Sack
The simplest design of the cubes, the Eagle Creek Pack-It Isolate Shoe Sack is a great way to store dusty approach shoes to stop them getting the rest of your kit covered in mud and dust. Due to the slim profile of the sack, it’s more suited to a set of approach shoes and a pair of flip flops or one pair of slimline hiking boots rather than chunky hiking boots. Functionality wise, it's a case of simply opening and closing with a central zip. I would love to see a slightly bigger version of the shoe sack for bigger boots and even an XL version for ski boots to extend the shoe sack collection further.
The shoe sack could use a bit of card or stiffness in the fabric to give it a bit more rigidity to protect the shoes, but that’s not a deal breaker.
