Packing Cubes

Away The Insider Packing Cubes Review

A close look at Away's Insider Packing Cubes set of 4: real dimensions, materials, and who this set fits best for a Europe trip.

A gray packing cube shown in close-up.
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The Away Insider Packing Cubes are a four-piece set built to fit inside Away's own luggage, though they work in any bag. They suit a traveler who wants tidy, sized-to-nest organization more than heavy compression.

What it does well

This set earns its place on a Europe trip less through raw capacity and more through how fast it lets you find things during a rushed morning turnaround between cities.

  • Four sizes that nest together. The set has a Small Wide cube (10 x 4.1 x 8.25 inches), a Medium Slim (10 x 4.1 x 4.3 inches), a Medium Wide (13 x 4.1 x 10 inches), and a Large Slim (13 x 4.1 x 6.9 inches). That range covers folded shirts, rolled pants, and small odds and ends without wasted space.
  • Water-repellent nylon shell. The fabric sheds light rain and spills, which matters if you set your bag down on a wet platform between trains.
  • Mesh top panel. Each cube has a see-through mesh lid, so you can spot a shirt or charger without unzipping and digging.
  • Light overall weight. The full set of four weighs about 0.7 pounds (roughly 11 ounces), which barely dents a strict cabin-bag weight allowance on a budget European carrier.
  • Stores flat. The cubes fold down flat when empty, which matters for the trip home once souvenirs have eaten into your spare space.
  • Built for Away's own carry-on sizes. Away states this set of four is sized to fit inside its Carry-On and Bigger Carry-On models and work with their built-in compression straps. It isn't marketed as a checked-bag set, so don't expect the same fit if you're packing a larger suitcase.

Who this set suits

This set fits a traveler who wants their case to look and function like a matched system, especially if you already own Away luggage. It also suits someone whose main problem is disorganization, not overstuffing. If you fold rather than stuff, the nesting sizes here do the sorting work for you.

It's a weaker match for someone trying to squeeze a two-week trip into one 20-liter cabin bag under a strict budget-airline limit. The next section explains why.

It's also a weaker match if durability across many trips is your priority over any single trip's organization. If you're the kind of traveler who checks a bag hard onto a train luggage rack or drags it over cobblestones more than you'd like to admit, the non-ripstop body and mesh lids (see the durability question further down) are worth weighing against a heavier-duty alternative before you buy a set built to last years rather than one or two Europe trips.

The trade-off

There's no dedicated compression zipper on this set. The cubes hold your clothes snugly through tight containment, not a mechanical squeeze. If your main goal is shrinking a stuffed sweater down to half its size to meet a Ryanair or easyJet cabin-bag limit, a set built around a compression zipper, like the Eagle Creek Pack-It Reveal cubes covered in our best compression packing cubes guide, will save more space.

How it fits a Europe trip

A four-city Europe trip usually means packing and unpacking in a rush more than once. The mesh lids on this set let you find a clean shirt in a hotel room in under a minute, which counts for more than raw space savings when you're catching an early train. The water-repellent shell also holds up fine against damp luggage racks and rainy walks between platforms and hotels.

If you're flying budget carriers city to city, weigh your full bag before you leave home. One set of these cubes fits a standard carry-on according to Away's own sizing guidance, but soft, bulky items like sweaters will still take up real space since there's no compression to shrink them further.

How to pack the four cubes for a multi-city trip

The set's four sizes map naturally onto categories rather than days, which is what makes it work for a rotating multi-city itinerary:

  • Large Slim (13 x 4.1 x 6.9 in.): tops — t-shirts and light layers rolled, not folded, so the mesh lid still closes flat.
  • Medium Wide (13 x 4.1 x 10 in.): bottoms — two or three pairs of pants or a skirt plus leggings.
  • Small Wide (10 x 4.1 x 8.25 in.): underwear, socks, and a swimsuit, kept separate from outerwear.
  • Medium Slim (10 x 4.1 x 4.3 in.): the flex cube — a packable rain layer or warm mid-layer you'll add or remove as you move between cities and climates.

That split keeps you from unpacking the whole bag to find one item, which matters most on the days you're checking into a new place at 9 p.m. after a train delay and just need pajamas.

How it compares to a compression set

Because there's no second zipper to press air out, this set won't shrink a bulky sweater the way Eagle Creek's Pack-It Reveal or a similar compression cube will. In practice that means: if your itinerary is warm-weather and light-layer, the Insider set's nesting sizes are enough on their own. If you're packing for shoulder-season Europe with a packable puffer or rain shell taking up real volume, pair this set with one dedicated compression cube for just that bulky item, rather than replacing the whole set.

Care between cities

The water-repellent nylon wipes clean with a damp cloth, which is the realistic option mid-trip — you're unlikely to find a washing machine every few days. Save an actual wash (cold water, mild detergent, air dry flat) for when you're home, since the mesh panel can snag if it's tumbled dry.

Questions people also ask

Do I need to own Away luggage for this set to work? No. The cubes are sized to fit Away's Carry-On models well, but they're standard rectangular packing cubes that work in any soft-sided or hard-shell bag with roughly the same interior dimensions. You'll get the closest fit inside an Away bag, but that's a nice-to-have, not a requirement.

Is the mesh top panel durable for weeks of daily use? This is the set's real weak point. Independent long-term testing from Pack Hacker found loose threads appearing after about two weeks of use, and flagged that the mesh top can snag and tear — which also means the cube isn't fully water-resistant once the mesh is compromised, even though the nylon body is. The nylon body itself isn't ripstop, so a small tear can spread rather than stay contained. None of this makes the set unusable, but don't expect it to survive years of rough handling the way a heavier-duty compression cube might — treat it gently around zippers, luggage carts, and overhead racks.

What's the realistic downside of skipping compression on a Europe trip? The main risk is a cabin bag that's technically within your airline's linear dimensions but won't zip closed once it's full, or one that's over a strict weight limit because bulky items like a puffer jacket or jeans haven't been compressed down. If your trip is warm-weather with light layers, that risk is low. If you're packing for a shoulder-season, multi-climate itinerary, budget one extra compression cube alongside this set rather than skipping compression altogether.

The bottom line

The Away Insider Packing Cubes (Set of 4) are a nesting four-piece set in water-repellent nylon, best suited to travelers who value tidy organization and a matched luggage system over maximum compression or heavy long-term durability. Independent testing has flagged the mesh tops and non-ripstop body as the set's weak point over repeated use, so if you're after a set that will survive years of multi-city trips without babying, weigh that against the organization and fit benefits here. If cabin-bag weight is tight, pair this set with a lighter clothing load or look at a compression-first set instead.

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At a glance

  • Set: 4 cubes (Small Wide, Medium Slim, Medium Wide, Large Slim)
  • Material: water-repellent nylon body, mesh top panel
  • Weight: about 0.7 lb / 11 oz for the full set
  • Compression: none — nesting sizes only
  • Best fit: Away Carry-On and Bigger Carry-On, and similarly sized bags from other brands
  • Care: wipe clean on the road; cold-water wash and flat dry at home, avoid the tumble dryer
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