The Best Packing Cubes: Testing Away, Eagle Creek, and Nobl
The Ultimate Packing Cube Showdown: Protecting Your Luxury Garments in Transit
Let’s be brutally honest about modern travel: getting to your destination is an endurance sport. When you are staring down the barrel of a 20+ hour travel day to West Africa, every single square inch of your carry-on real estate matters.
As a Style Strategist and a garment constructor, my packing list isn’t just t-shirts and jeans. It is a highly curated mix of heavy survival denim, lightweight resort wear, and delicate, structured pieces. You do not spend weeks perfecting the drape and topstitching of a bespoke garment only to shove it into a glorified ziplock bag and hope for the best.
Packing cubes are no longer optional; they are the structural foundation of your travel wardrobe. But not all cubes are created equal. Some are built for the wilderness, some are built for organization, and some are built for pure aesthetic luxury.
To find out which system actually protects the garments, I put the three biggest names on the market head-to-head: Eagle Creek, Away, and the high-end challenger, Nobl.
Here is the definitive C-Suite breakdown of what works, what fails, and what is currently flying with me to Accra.
The Utility Player: Eagle Creek
Eagle Creek has been in the packing cube game longer than almost anyone, and there is a very specific reason why people love them: they are practically indestructible and they know exactly what their lane is in the market.
I originally purchased these for international medical mission trips and backpacking. When you are efficiently packing a trek-pack or living out of a duffel bag in rugged conditions, these are a godsend. But their true superpower? The wet/dirty compartment.
Absolutely no other packing cube holds a candle to Eagle Creek’s wet/dirty side. When I was traveling with my kids through Florida, or hopping between pools in Europe, this feature was my saving grace. It flawlessly isolates damp swimsuits and soiled gear from the rest of your wardrobe.
The Verdict: Hands down, these are the undisputed champions for backpacking, rugged durability, and wet trips. However, I don’t particularly love them for my hard-shell suitcase. They lack the architectural structure required to keep tailored garments from wrinkling. You can make them work in a pinch, but they truly belong on the trail or at the beach.
The Structural Integrator: Away
If you own an Away suitcase, buying the matching cubes feels like a natural progression. (By the way, if you are currently debating on the actual luggage to put these in, you can read my comprehensive breakdown of the Nobl vs. Away Carry-On here). Since I love their luggage, I assumed the cubes would be a structural powerhouse. Honestly, I was a little disappointed.
Compared to the Eagle Creek and the Nobl systems, the Away cubes feel paper-thin. They completely lack a protective lip or an additional compression zipper to give your garments any kind of boundary. Furthermore, the standard pack does not come with a large cube.
The Verdict: The Away set feels more like an add-on rather than an essential packing system. Because of the limited sizing and lack of compression, you will inevitably have loose items floating around in your bag. If you are looking for true garment protection, these fall short.
The Aesthetic Champion: Nobl Travel
This brings us to the new high-end challenger. I ordered the Nobl packing system because I wanted to see if the luxury price tag actually translated to luxury performance. The answer? I absolutely love these.
While they are not a true “vacuum-style” compression cube, they feature a brilliant lip/edge that makes packing a cinch. Once packed, an additional zipper gently compresses your garments to secure them flawlessly in place.
I tried packing them both ways—rolling and stacking—and these are definitely rolling cubes, not stacking cubes. The structure they provide when you tightly roll your pieces is unmatched, as you can see by how perfectly the denim compresses into the large cube above. They protect your garments from shifting during transit, which is the actual source of wrinkles.
The Verdict: Nobl is the undisputed champion. When you order the set, you receive six beautifully vibrant cubes—including a critical large cube that I used exclusively to secure my jeans and dresses. Best of all? The Nobl set fits into the carry-on suitcase mathematically perfectly.
It is incredibly rare to find a system that actually under-promises and over-delivers. Beyond the massive capacity, the vibrant colors ensure you never leave your favorite pieces behind in a dark hotel drawer.
Shop Nobl Cubes on AmazonThe Final Executive Decision
As I pack up my carry-on and my Tumi Ursula backpack for the flight to Accra, my strategy is clear. I am leaving the Eagle Creek and Away cubes at home for this trip. The Nobl cubes are handling the entire mission, securing my curated wardrobe and clinical gear for the journey ahead.
Travel should feel like a luxury, even when you are living out of a suitcase. Invest in the foundation, protect your garments, and I will see you in Ghana.
Best,
Shontae
Creative Director, The Private Archive
*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions are my own.*