Hey I'm Tom, the founder of Pack Hacker. And in this video we're going to be taking
a look at the MUJI Hanging Travel Case. And here at Pack Hacker we're a team of
frequent to full-time travelers, and we share our travel tips and tricks as well
as do gear reviews just like this one. So if you're new here consider subscribing.
So let's jump into this hanging travel case. It's very cleverly designed and
featured in a lot of museums' design stores around New York City. Let's check it out.
[upbeat music playing]
Wait. Do you call it a toiletry bag or a Dopp kit? Let me know in the comments and
maybe you can help us settle the ever growing debate here at Pack Hacker.
If you're not familiar with MUJI they are a Japanese company that specialize
in a lot of little minimalistic trinkets. I feel like everything they have is kind
of, you know, created and then like downsized to become a lot cleaner. And
although MUJI is a Japanese company, this travel case is actually made in Cambodia;
so just note that. MUJI is an abbreviated Japanese word that translates to
"no-brand quality goods" and that's definitely reflected in all their
designs. It's very clean and you won't really see any logos on anything, this
travel case included. And if you are familiar with MUJI as a brand, it's
likely that you've gotten lost in one of their stores exploring and looking at
everything that they've invented. Aesthetically this travel case has some
really clean and minimal design and it looks kind of small, but don't let that
fool you. The way that they've kind of designed the interior of this thing,
really helps you hold a lot of stuff. Overall we feel it's a slick looking case.
It's going to look good at any hotel, hostel or Airbnb that you end up staying at. And
the outside is going be some polyester; then on the inside we do have some nylon
lining. Now MUJI did used to make this in a nylon version, exclusively nylon on the
outside as well, but they've appeared to phase that out. We think the polyester
kind of provides a more polished look. And inside we've got some mesh of
different grades - some thinner and some thicker, and we'll get into the benefits
of that in a minute.
So on the outside we do have this massive zipper here that kind of goes
around the entirety of the case, and that's going to allow you to really open it
up. We have this handle at the top, kind of no frills - there's no padding on it.
I don't really think you need it because this thing isn't going to get that heavy,
but it's a convenient thing to have. Then you've also got this pocket in the back
here which is going to be good for holding you know, flatter items; so if you have
any prescription info, maybe you have your immunization forms as you're
traveling. I've got a sleeping mask in here and some earplugs, because you
should really just put ear plugs in every bag that you have - a little bit of
a 'pro tip' because then you'll never be without them and you can snooze wherever.
It doesn't matter how loud it is. Then again when you do take a look at this
thing as a whole it does appear to be a little bit small, but when you do open it
up it turns out to be a pretty impressive kit. Maybe it's the way MUJI
has placed these pockets, or maybe it's the way they've designed them and kind
of like created this really great use of space. But we found that you can actually
fit a ton inside of this thing and they'll really hold anything you need
from a personal care perspective while you're traveling.
Quick reminder: the TSA
and travel approved liquid size is three ounces, or 100 milliliters. So we do have
some Go Tubes here and they're right around that size, so as long as you have
these you're going to be fine going through security. And it's really great that
there's also the amount stamped right on there. So if there's any overzealous TSA
people you can just point to that three ounces and be like "I'm good to go. Look
at me!" Alright, so getting into a little bit more detail with a bag tour. At the
top of this thing you're going to see that there is this kind of hideable
hook going on, so you can pull that out at any time. This hook won't fit on
everything. It's not going to like kind of hang on a flat surface, but it will
fit around like a towel bar or some doorknobs and some hooks. But if you're
hoping to just kind of hang it on a counter it's definitely gonna slip off,
especially if you have heavier things at the bottom here. It does store away
really nicely inside though, and we found that it doesn't really jostle around so
it does stay in that pocket when you do want to keep it hidden. This top pocket
here is made of a looser weaved mesh, and inside you're going to have five different
elastic holsters. So three over here on your right - those are going to be smaller
for smaller items. Then we have two that are a little bit larger on the left. So
we have some travel toothpaste here, maybe a travel toothbrush, nail clipper,
tweezers and a little mini cute Japanese toothpaste. How cute is that? Love it!
Moving down here we have a more discreet pocket that's about two and a half
inches in height. You can store more discreet items in there - anything that
you don't necessarily want to be out in the open as you do have this thing
hanging up. We've also found that it's a good place for like some extra cash or
something like that if you do have that laying around, and you do just want to
kind of like stow it in somewhere. Keep it separate from the rest of your bag;
this is a great pocket for that. Also have these little mini razors.
'Pro tip' - these are the Schick ST2's, and I went ahead and just kind of busted
the head off of this razor. Then you can kind of travel with them a lot smaller
and just kind of like use it on your face like that; just hold by this little
tab here. So saving you some space, saving you some ounces. That's what it's all about when
you're trying to travel light. And then moving on to this bottom compartment
here - this is kind of what it's all about. Again we've got about four elastic
holsters here. We've got two smaller ones on the sides and then two larger ones in
the middle. And then inside here we do have some room for some other
free-floating items. So again we've got these Go Tubes going on here. This is
actually a travel toothbrush up here that's actually pretty horrible.
Definitely don't get it. Not everything we put on this channel we test and
review, but I wanted to put it in there to kind of talk about this size. So this
is six and a half inches long and you can see here that it fits in there
seemingly nicely; it's about maxed out right. So it's maxed out. And you
could like kind of stick this in sideways if you wanted to, but that sort
of defeats the purpose of the organization. So just note that if you do
have kind of longer items that you're trying to travel with, it may be a little
bit harder to do that with this case. And again, six and a half inches long
vertical - it's about maxed when you do zip it down. And then lastly we do have this
thinner grade mesh pocket here. Again it's great because it's kind of clear
and you can see through it, but it's going to work well for smaller items right?
So got some pills in here, and I've just shoved like a little microfiber towel in
here. The difference between these two mesh pockets, right, if you're traveling
with say like some earrings or some small studs - those are going to fall out of
this top pocket. But in this kind of smaller mesh pocket below you can fit a
lot of smaller items in there and feel, you know, better about the security.
Better that they're not gonna fall through that kind of more loose weave of mesh.
[upbeat music playing]
One of our contributors, Tynan, took this for a three week spin across
Southeast Asia. He used it every day, kind of collected
his notes and he wrote the full review over at packhacker.com. So if you want to
like get more detail on this, be sure to go check that out. A couple notes on the
materials. You won't see any YKK water-resistant materials going on, and
you definitely won't see any 1000D Cordura on this thing, any
super-strong nylon. But we feel that it holds up for most travelers. And in the
event that something does go wrong and you're on kind of more of an extended
trip, it's not going to be as punishing as if say a zipper breaks on your
backpack; which is a lot bigger of a deal, especially on that main clamshell. But
you know if something were to go wrong with this thing, it would be a little bit
more minor and kind of easy to manage. Not to say that anything will, but we've
just noticed that it's not made with kind of durable materials like some
other stuff is made out of. But overall the design, and the consideration, and the
amount of stuff that you're able to fit in there -
we definitely recommend this. Oh and MUJI even mentions on their site
"don't put perfume, nail polish remover or anything that contains alcohol in this
product". We're not exactly sure why, but we assume that some of the materials
that are used would likely degrade a little bit quicker over time if those
products are used inside. If you are going to use them, just don't spill them. If
you are looking for a more durable solution to your toiletry bag or Dopp
kit, be sure to take a look at our Goruck Field Pocket reviews. We also have a
couple more of these from different brands coming out soon, both on the
channel and at packhacker.com. So to wrap up, hopping into the pros of this thing.
Between the pocket for the hanging hook when not in use, to all the pocket
consideration and all the design going on,
it's very smartly laid out and it's very slick to use. And again this thing
is small and compact, but it actually holds a lot due to that organization. So
you're going to be able to easily, quickly grab whatever you need out of this thing
because of that high level of organization. And also the hanging
function of this travel case works really well in space-constrained
bathrooms. So if you don't have a lot of counter space just hang it up on a towel
rack or somewhere else, and it's going to be super easy to get to and get to what you
need. So for some of the cons of this thing - larger items and longer items
won't necessarily fit into this thing that easily. And again you can kind of
put it in there sideways and gain a couple more inches, but that sort of
defeats the purpose of the nylon holster design. If we are looking for some other
cons - again that durability we feel like, you know, isn't quite there. We're not
exactly sure how long this will last; worked flawlessly on a three-week trip.
You know if you're traveling perpetually for a year, that might be a little bit of
a different use case for you. Thanks for taking a look at the MUJI Hanging
Travel Case review. We hope this review was helpful for you and making your
decision. And if you're still here I'm guessing that you're into travel
gear. So be sure to head over to packhacker.com/newsletter and sign up for
our kind of infrequent newsletter that we send once in awhile, and never miss an
update as to what we're up to. Thanks for taking a look; we'll see you in
the next video.
Components and features, components and features.
My girlfriend's sleeping right now over there in the corner. Shhhh
Tynan took, Tynan took this, Tynan one of our contributors, Tynan.
Having trouble, having trouble with that one.
[upbeat music playing]