Abstract. Fused silica capillary columns of 0.250-mm i.d., packed with 5-pm particles of nonpolar (octadecyl, octyl, and butyl) and polar (silica, diol, cyano, and amino) materials, have been prepared using a dry-packing technique. The performance of the columns has been evaluated using the reduced plate heightlreduced velocity equation and the separation impedance values. A comparison with similar slurry-packed columns shows that the dry-packing method may yield, in most cases, columns of analogous or better efficiency and requires a simpler apparatus and a shorter time for column preparation.