Away Large Toiletry Bag Review

Toiletry bags come in so many shapes and sizes, for travelers who are minimalist packers or need to bring everything but the sink. However, materials and organization are where some of them set themselves apart from the crowd.

With water-resistant pockets and a leather handle, how does the Away Large Toiletry Bag stack up? We took it away for the weekend to find out.

External Components

The Large Toiletry Bag from Away has a water-resistant nylon exterior. It’s soft to touch and easy to wipe off water, which is what you want in something that will sit so close to the sink.

There’s not much branding to speak of, just a rubbery tab on the bottom right corner and “Away” stamped on the YKK zippers, which falls in line with many of Away’s products. It’s not a brand known for screaming its name out to the world, and many travelers dig the minimalist designs. If you’re one of them, rest assured that the Away Large Toiletry Bag aligns with your sensibilities.

Speaking of the YKK zippers, one runs around the top and sides of the back, opening the main compartment. It has two pulls, so you can open and close it anywhere along the track. We appreciate that because you might just need to grab a hairbrush or toothbrush and don’t want to unzip the entire bag to get to the opposite side. There’s another zipper hidden behind the carry handle that opens to a rear pocket protected by a fabric welt for water-resistance.

The carry handle is made of leather and lies flat against the bag when you’re not using it. It runs through a loop, with the end extending past it by an inch or so. That end is folded, however, and has a tab facing the loop, so it catches when you grab the handle, allowing you more space for your hands. It’s a subtle design feature that isn’t necessary but nice.

Inside The Toiletry Bag

We’ll start with that pocket on the back as we head inside. It’s good for something flatter, like a pack of tissues or sanitizing wipes, but not much else. It’s fairly shallow, and our tester found it hard to squeeze her hand too far inside, so users with larger hands will likely have more difficulty getting inside. The good news is that if you don’t want to use it, you’re not really losing any space, as it lies flat against the back panel and doesn’t seem to have much of its own capacity. You’ll simply gain a few millimeters in the interior pockets you might not have had otherwise.

Getting into the main compartment, we’ll point out that the sides include gussets to keep your gear from falling out. That’s good when a bag opens in an accordion style like this one, with a zipper extending nearly to the bottom of each side. We love having wide access to see what’s inside, but don’t like chancing our lip balm or razor sliding out without our knowledge, so the gussets are helpful features.

Against the back panel (underneath the carry handle side of the bag when it’s opened) is an elastic loop with “Away” printed on it. It’s a good spot for a toothbrush or something similarly skinny, though our tester preferred putting hers elsewhere so the bristles didn’t bump up against everything else. Unfortunately, a razor handle was too thick to fit inside, so you could use it for a travel toothbrush that covers the top, a tube of mascara, or leave it empty.

Below that are two mesh slip pockets topped with elastic. They’re pretty wide and work well for bars of soap, deodorant, and other non-liquid toiletries or tools. We were going to toss a travel hairbrush inside, but then the bristles started to catch on the mesh, so that wasn’t the best fit for that spot.

However, if you don’t have something the proper size, you can just push them up against the back panel and use the space in front to hold gear. Doing so will mean your gear won’t be locked down and will jostle about willy-nilly, although there are plenty of other places to pack gear, so try some other pockets before resorting to that.

Our tester instead used a center divider for her toothbrush and paste. It’s made with a thick, easy-to-wipe material and includes a zipper on top. It creates an envelope-style space for locking down thinner gear like a comb, makeup palettes or brushes, or a toothbrush, paste, and floss.

Finally, against the front panel is a water-resistant transparent pocket for your liquid toiletries. It has a good capacity since the front panel and transparent material are both flexible. That allows this pocket to expand into the space between it and the divider, so we had no issue packing it with travel-size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion for a trip.

Away’s Large Toiletry Bag works well for many trips, provided you carry enough to make it worth it. Ultra-minimalist travelers will find it overkill, while those packing a lot of makeup and tools might not find it quite enough. We have no issue filling it with travel-size shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothbrush and paste, hair brush and accessories, minimal makeup, and a razor. So, if you’re somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, you’ll probably find it the right fit.