Bellroy Lite Packing Caddy Review

The best packing cubes keep you organized and your gear more neatly folded and easy to find on a trip. We’ve tested many different options, from compression cubes to ultralight sacks and more. Some work well, while others are either hard to pack, weigh too much, or don’t have enough space for what we need. It’s usually pretty easy to tell right off the bat where a new packing cube is going to fall in the spectrum. Sometimes, however, a new piece of gear surprises us and turns out to be more useful than it looked at first glance. That was the case for the Bellroy Lite Packing Caddy.

External Components

The Bellroy Lite Packing Caddy comes in two sizes, and they’re both pretty large. We’ve been testing both the 8L and 10L versions of the caddy, and while they sound similar, each has its purpose.

They share the same materials and basic design. Bellroy uses Dura Lite Nylon, a blend of mostly recycled nylon with some polyester and virgin nylon. It has a relaxed texture that we like. It almost looks and feels broken in, but it also feels sturdy and durable, like it will last for years of trips. This isn’t ultralight ripstop nylon, but we think the few additional ounces are worth it.

There’s a bit of Bellroy branding with the name printed on the bottom of each, and you’ll find the cute Bellroy owl peaking out at you when you start to unzip them. Otherwise, it’s a clean design in whichever color you opt for. We’ve got Black, but at the time of this review, a few other earthy colors are available: Ash, Spruce, and Clay. If you’ve got the Bellroy Lite Pocket Trio organizing your travel daypack, you’ll be familiar with the options and material. We liked it for those pouches, and we also like it for these caddies.

We also like that Bellroy uses reliable YKK zippers with cords wrapped in heat-shrink for the pulls. They’re easy to open and close, especially with the looped cord at the bottom and the carry handle at the top to give you something to hold if you’re straining to use the zipper with a stuffed packing cube.

The handle is the same Dura Lite Nylon material, so it’s very comfortable to hold and easy to grab. This isn’t a small thin handle, it’s a flexible but beefier one that doesn’t dig into your hands. On the other hand, it can compress enough to carry both caddies in one hand if you need to (spoiler alert: we did!).

Inside The Packing Cube

The interior of each Bellroy Lite Packing Caddy is pretty simple. It’s just the back side of the main material, which feels a little more water-resistant than the softer exterior. There is a tag inside with washing instructions, but what you see is what you get.

And what you get is a lot of space. You could use these for shoe pouches, as the 8L fits up to U.S. men’s size 10 and the 10L fits up to U.S. men’s size 13 shoes, or you can use them for clothing. We did the latter.

As the primary tester, I took both the 8L and 10L Bellroy Lite Packing Caddy with me on a recent camping trip. The larger size was good for jeans, shorts, a flannel shirt, and a hoodie, while I fit my other tops, socks, underwear, and pajamas in the smaller one. I am a smaller tester, but each of these cubes has a lot of space to fill, and the material’s structure makes it easy to do so.

The bottom of the 10L is so broad that I just folded my pants and hoodie instead of awkwardly trying to roll them. While you don’t get the same level of organization with larger packing cubes that you do with smaller ones, it didn’t bother me to pack all my undergarments with my tops.

I have a travel trailer, so I unpack into the cabinets above my bed when I load the camper, but the packing cubes really came in handy when the weather took a turn for the worse. We decided to leave early and drop off the camper at storage on the way home to avoid construction. While we had to find ways to keep my husband’s gear together, mine was all packed up nicely in two large cubes, and they were simple to carry to the truck with the large handles. It didn’t matter where I stuck them in the truck for the drive home; I knew that everything would stay together and clean, and I wouldn’t have to worry about dropping a sock or my favorite T-shirt as we loaded and unloaded.

Sure, that could be said of many packing cubes, but the generous space and thick handles really made the task easier, so if you’re looking for packing cubes you can use in a travel backpack, carry-on luggage, or take to a tent, cabin, or camper, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend either size of the Bellroy Lite Packing Caddy.