An Anxious Packer's In-Depth Look at Peak Design’s New Travel Packing Tools

Packing cubes and camera inserts are pretty straightforward in terms of their purpose. But as an anxious packer who obsesses over making sure that everything is in place, using these packing tools revealed a hidden benefit.

At first, packing cubes and camera cubes seem to have only the benefits that they physically offer, which would be having dedicated compartments for different kinds of things. Camera cubes are there for objects that need a lot of padding and internal dividers, while packing cubes are there for personal items like clothes and other travel essentials. But as I packed for this particular trip, it occurred to me how such straightforward tools had an evident benefit that allowed me to travel more comfortably and enjoy the photography adventure better.

Packing for a Weekend Photography Trip

Last month, Peak Design launched an expansion of their travel bag and packing tools line-up, and they came in just in time for a quick weekend photography trip. While I’ve been using the V2 camera cubes (specifically the large and small/medium ones) for almost a year now, this was my first time going on a trip having packing cubes and dedicated pouches for every single thing that I brought with me. I had all my camera gear in the same bag as clothes more than enough for 3 days, other travel essentials, and even an extra pocket camera for my personal content and a tripod review that I planned to shoot. All of that fit into the Travel Duffel 50L yet somehow it had more room to spare and more importantly it didn’t feel as if I just threw all my stuff into a large bag.

The Travel Duffels come in two new sizes, a 50 L that sits in the middle of the existing sizes yet can still fit within most airline carry-on size restrictions, and a larger 80 L duffel that can fit probably over a week's worth of clothing and personal travel items. They come with the same weather resistant fabric as the older duffel bag sizes. The new ultralight packing cubes now offer two variants and additional sizes. For the same price, you have a choice between the regular weatherproof fabric that maintains a certain form or the expandable mesh fabric that can expand a bit more if you need to fit in a few extra pieces of clothes.

The small packing cubes were big enough for about eight shirts and could have taken in a few more for longer trips. The XS packing cubes are ideal for socks, underwear, and even light footwear, while the XXS packing cubes are great for toiletries and other essentials. While I have to admit that they are not all pleasant-looking because of the shapes when not fully packed, the more satisfying aspect of them is that when not in use, they can all be stored within one of the packing cubes and safely kept inside any travel bag after washing, if necessary.

Both of the variants come with a single durable zip and loops on both sides should you want to mount them externally onto other bags or carry them individually with a strap. In the middle of the trip, I realized that the mesh variant is good to turn into a laundry bag as it allows moisture to escape from wet pieces of clothing, which I had a lot of after three days of shooting seascapes.

Along with the new ultralight packing cubes came a new smaller size of the Peak Design Tech Pouch that has half the capacity of the first one and comes with a simple, more minimalist design.

Personally, I’ve been using the original tech pouch as my filter bag since the compartments inside had a much better fit for my H&Y K-series filters and Revoring Swift holders than other dedicated filter bags. The smaller tech pouch became a good option to hold my DJI Osmo Pocket 3, the battery attachment, and a set of the DJI mic 2 with the charging case.

The Unexpected Benefit

I personally bring a lot of, often way too much, stuff whenever I travel for photography. Recently, I’ve made the decision to downsize my gear so that I could travel more comfortably, especially when getting there involves a lot of walking or trekking. But even with just a camera body and 2-3 lenses, all the other necessities turn me into an anxious packer who ends up with little to no sleep from the compulsion to check and recheck if I have everything I need.

Using dedicated containers for different things can apparently be a great way to give yourself the assurance that whatever that container was dedicated for, you’re set if you’ve already zipped it up. Closing up the camera cube meant that the gear, including the batteries and cards, were there; closing up the tech pouches meant the other accessories were ready; and closing up the packing cubes meant all the clothes I need were ready for the trip. This led to significantly more sleep before a trip, which I’d like to believe also translated to becoming more centered during the photography adventure and, in general, more aware of the entire experience.

What I Liked

• Large capacity of the travel duffels
• Two fabric options and modular functions of packing cubes
• All sizes have attachment points for mounting or carrying straps
• All recycled materials and carbon-neutral

What Can Be Improved

• Travel bags don't come with dedicated rain covers (though the fabrics used are fairly rain and dust resistant)