Your Minimalist Guide
Mose Hayward
Semi-Organized Constant Traveller
There are a lot of packing cube options from well-known brands like Eagle Creek and Osprey. And their packing cubes are of similar high quality to their luggage—they’re great.
But they’re expensive. So we set out to discover if a much-cheaper option with the same features was actually worthwhile and we got Gonex to send us their set for review.
I’d call these packing cubes, but for Gonex, they’re “mesh organizers”, and it’s true that with their quality construction and breathability, you might also want to use them for long-term storage of clothing and not just as travel organizers. But here, we’re considering them for minimalist travel.
Review in a Nutshell: Gonex Extensible Storage Mesh Organizers
The Gonex Packing Cubes are a set of extensible and compressible mesh bags for organizing clothes and more while travelling.
Pros
- The hang loops on the bags allow you to hang stuff anywhere; this very useful feature is missing from even many higher-end packing cubes.
- The zippers open in a logical way so that you can open the bags part-way while hanging (unlike certain other brands we’ve tried).
- A second set of zippers around the side of the bags open to expand the storage space quite a bit.
- The bags are breathable with full mesh front panels.
- The same high-quality materials and construction of better-known brands are used but offered here at a lower price; Gonex uses lightweight rip-stop nylon rather than the polyester employed by Amazon Basics and other cheap packing cubes. The Gonex zippers seem quite solid and durable too.
- Low price for a complete set.
Cons
- I find the hang loops bigger than necessary.
- As a minimalist traveller, I would prefer a set with more small packing cubes and fewer large ones (though they are useful for storing large clothing); ideally they’d just be sold individually
The Gonex Mesh Organizers are available in a bunch of colors at those links.
Why Use Packing Cubes as a Minimalist?
I resisted packing cubes for quite some time; they seem like an unnecessary extra when in any case I’m usually travelling with just one very small bag or rolling carry-on backpack; I used to just throw all my stuff in the small bag and sort it out later.
And it’s true that for just packing and unpacking you don’t really need packing cubes. But when you’re hitting multiple destinations, having three small packing cubes in your single carry-on can make it much faster to pack and repack multiple times at each destination, and make it easier to find your stuff in your bag as well.
The Main Features of the Gonex Extensible Packing Cubes and Their Usefulness
I was pleasantly surprised when I received these packing cubes as, given the relatively low list price, I expected less in terms of both features and construction.
Durability and Materials
I was expecting something closer to the quality of cheaper packing cubes, which are often made of polyester and have an unpleasant texture and seemingly permanent creases from the first time they are shipped.
The Gonex packing cubes, on the other hand, are made from soft, durable, lightweight rip-stop nylon as well as some mesh material on the front panels that I can’t identify and Gonex-branded zippers. To my eye, the whole ensemble seems likely to hold up well. I would expect the first thing to give out would likely be the mesh panels, though I don’t see any problems or obvious failure points.
Expandability and “Compression”
The zippers going around the side of each bag can unzip, allowing the bags to transform from flat (but still holding quite a bit) to a depth of up to 3 inches / 7.6 cm.
My guess is that I will almost never use this feature as someone who travels very light, but you never know, and it’s nice to have the flexibility.
Once you’ve packed the bags, you could in theory put weight on them and then try to close the expansion zippers in order to compress down the bags with your clothes inside.
Hang Loops
Hanging stuff when you’re travelling is a very underrated essential: sometimes you don’t want to take up a host’s space, sometimes you’re staying in a hostel or hotel where there simply isn’t much space for your stuff, sometimes you’re staying places with suspiciously dusty surfaces…
I recommend only using toiletry bags with hooks and travelling (and going out at night) with a hook for your suitcase, pack, or purse.
For the same reason, I’m delighted that all of these Gonex packing cubes have loops so that you can hang them from stuff. They’re a bit larger than they need to be but they work great. You can pop the packs from your suitcase and hang them:
- From coat hangers
- From doorknobs
- From a small travel hook, for example especially the Gear Aid HeroClip Mini, that you can then hook to anything else or hang from a ledge
This might not seem like a big deal and maybe it’s not—but I regard this as a definite plus for packing cubes and it’s something that even many top brands lack.
Also contrasting with certain other packing cubes I’ve tried—the Gonex zippers are logically placed so that you can open the bag while it’s hanging and your stuff doesn’t all fall out.
Breathability
The front panels are all mesh, so the Gonex packing cubes are about as breathable as you can get. This has obvious advantages for keeping clothes fresh on the go, but the potential disadvantage is that if using for long-term storage, dust and bugs are more likely to be able to get in.
The mesh panels may also be less durable than the nylon ripstop material used for the rest of the bag; this is only a hunch but I’ll be interested to see how they hold up over time.
Pricing
As with other packing cubes, the Gonex are available as sets. I would much prefer if packing cubes were available individually and you could thus choose the quantity and sizes you actually need—but that problem is the same with all other brands. If I were ordering again, I’d probably grab the set of four medium and one small Gonex Packing Cubes.
In any case, the Gonex set is very competitively priced. As far as I am able to find, to get the same features and nylon ripstop material construction you’d have to pay about double or triple to end up with the same number and quality of bags.
Alternatives to Gonex Packing Cubes
I’ve used Eagle Creek Packing Cubes and recommended them here. They have all the same features and the material appears to be the same as Gonex. The zippers are smaller but also durable. They are much more expensive for a full set, though if you just need one or two packing cubes, they are available individually at that link and that could be a better buy.
I also recently tried out and reviewed Bagail Packing Cubes, which are extremely cheap for an eight-piece set and also look and feel extremely cheap. They’re fine if you don’t travel much and don’t need your packing cubes to hold up for many trips. I do not expect them to last for very long.
Are the Gonex Packing Cubes Right for You?
