Pack Like A Pro

Thanks, I will look for this issue.

Has anyone had success with bundling? Mine is always a disaster!

First mistake I see is they are using a rolling suitcase. Rollers have less volume, more weight, and are harder to stow. Try not to use them. Looks to me like the article should be entitled "How to pack when you take too much?" I didn't see anything in the article about bundling. Unless you are going directly to a place where you can completely unpack for a prolonged stay, bundling makes no sence. How do you get to an item at the middle of the bundle? Anyway, with only three changes of clothes, I really don't have enough to bundle.

It was an ok article (IMHO) but there are better on the net. If you are a good packer you can fit plenty into a rolling suitcase. I used to be one of the "old guard" using a suitcase with straps. Then I learned how to pack and what to take. Now I can comfortably roll, carry or sling my bag with plenty of room to spare.

Bundling is a disaster for the daily traveler. It fails the test of getting one item out without effecting the other packed items. The only way it works is to totally pack and unpack at each stop. Who has interest in doing that? We using the packing envelopes and plastic zip lock packs. Quick and easy.

I go to Europe every summer for a month and live comfortably out of a RS 21" roller bag. I use packing cubes to separate the different types of things inside the suitcase.
I got all of my cubes from the RS Travel Store which you can access elsewhere on this web site.

I did the bundling thing when I was going to one location (usually skiing) and when I overpacked. It is disastrous to find anything and your bag weighs a ton. I do use the RS packing cubes and for me they work great. Ziplocks are harder to use because you usually have to take all the stuff in and out. Packing cubes just open on the top and are more easily accessible.

To me packing cubes (which fold to nothing when empty and weight virtually nothing) help organize things. One for socks/underwear, one for electronics etc. They are not everyone's cup of tea. I take one with me and it helps organize by; a) being easy to pack and unpack into your bag and b) keeping a certain type of item together

M Eli - A number of companies make them and they are all the same. We happen to use Eagle Creek. Just to be clear - the packing envelopes have a semi rigid bottom with four velcro, triangular flaps attached to the bottom. There is a second semi rigid plastic rectangle that goes on top when finished stacking the clothes. The loose board aid in folding the clothes so that they fit the package. We fold just pants and shirts which is generally two pairs of pants and 3 to 5 shirts. When finished the top board is used to compress the package and the four flaps are folder over the hold everything together. The package will compress down to about two inches or so. The envelopes come in three sizes - small, medium and large. We use the medium for a carry on bags. The large will easily handle a suit and/or a couple of sport coats. We like them because they are easy to use. If you need a shirt from the middle of the pile, you use the plastic board like a knife and slide it into the pile are the proper spot, lift the pile, remove the shirt or pants, and gently to the pile back down and nothing is disturbed. The clothes do not wrinkle but will be creased on the folds but they easily fall out when worn. The shirts actually look like they have been pressed. After that we used zip lock bags to pack underwear, t-shirts, socks, etc. In fact there is nothing in our bag that is not in another bag. Exception is dirty clothes that get stuff anywhere and that way we know what is dirty. The zip locked bags are mark for their contents. Serves as a quick check know we have everything we pack.

The packing cubes are mesh lightweight 'cubes' with a solid fabric bottom and zipper opening... and weigh nothing. I use one for all top, one for all bottoms, one for night clothes and underclothes, and one for electronics. When I unpack or repack everything goes in the cubes and it is so easy to keep stuff organized. Ziplocks (which I have used) are just not easy to keep stuff folded nice without taking it all in and out each time.

I tried the packing envelope things. They were cumbersome to use and added weight to my pack. I pack by layering my (few) clothes folded, without enclosing them in separate bags. The only separation I practice is to keep the dirty clothes in a nylon bag. My sox are usually tucked inside my sandals or spare shoes. Most of my clothing is wrinkle-proof and not fussy. It is easy enough to hang a few things in the hotel room to smooth out a shirt or pair of pants.

I have also recycled and used the large plastic bags that some linens come in. Most even have zippers. They really come in handy and are clear plastic making it easy to see what is
packed in each bag.

Like Paula, I use the plastic bag that new linens come in as a dirty clothes bag. I pack my undies and socks in gallon size ziplocs (I roll and squeeze the air out to compress them). I fold my pants and tops. Other loose 'stuff" also goes into various ziplock bags. With only 2 or 3 pair of pants and a few more tops, I don't see a need for cubes or envelopes. Because I'm rather hot natured, and allergic to wool, all my pants and tops are a cotton blend that doesn't wrinkle too badly and fold down into almost nothing and weigh very little. I don't take spare shoes- just spare insole inserts. I don't 'fool with' dresses, skirts or dress shoes.

I use packing envelopes, too. I purchased mine at The Container Store. I believe they are Eagle Creek. I have used them for all my travel the last 10 years. I also have some packing cubes that I use for underclothes and socks. I have used zip locs, but not very successfully, they seem to leak. Instead, I use them for dirty clothes and washing said clothes.

Like the last 2 posters, I save all of the heavy duty, see-through plastic w/zipper containers that linens, pillow shams, sofa throws, sheets come in. They weigh nothing, are really durable, reusable, cost nothing extra, and compress nicely. We use them for all of our electronics and some clothing items that we want to keep grouped together. I also buy some mesh washing bags at the drug store or bed/bath store and pack underwear, etc into this type of tactile bag. It makes finding things easy because we have a visual and tactile way to reach in and pull out just what we are looking for without disturbing too much around it.

"The packing cubes ... weigh nothing." Oh, really. What are they made of? Air? Although I completely endorse package packing, I think packing cubes are oversize and not as practical as they could be. This website shows the weight of a three piece set to be 7 oz. Instead, I use a small mesh bag from Rick for underwear, a medium one for dirty clothes, if any, and a Tide zippered washing bag for my shirts. These weigh less than 4 oz. I do use a nylon stuff bag for my electronics; I don't want those heavier things, with sharp corners, in mesh. My slacks are in the bottom of my big bag, but when I take the small bags out and put them on shelves, the big bag is the container for my slacks. Most of what I put in the three mesh bags would only fill one large packing cube, so that wouldn't be organization, would it? And over the years, as I have become more efficient at packing, my ETBD bag has become too big. Packing cubes wouldn't fit in the smaller carry-on bag I use now.

I swear by the zippered mesh packing cubes. I use one large one for tops & bottoms, and a small one for underwear, night clothes, swimsuit, etc. Everything is visible, and I swear it saves space, since everything is rolled and then compressed by the cube. If we get tired of living out of suitcases, and are in one spot for a few nights, it's a simple matter to put the cubes in a dresser drawer, my toiletry bag in the bathroom, and I'm unpacked! Lee, I'll bring some packing cubes to our next meeting so you can see how lightweight they are.

Charlene, and I'll bring my mesh bags so you can see how lightweight they are.

I use the mesh packing cubes. They are great for organization, and I can put them directly in a drawer or whatever when I get to my lodging. My clothes always remain in the cube, and repacking is fast and easy.

Every once in a while I laugh out loud at the sometimes competitive nature of this website. Seriously, 4 oz versus 7 oz? Are you going to have a contest to see who can pack the lightest bag? I hope someone brings a scale along with a bag and some laundry so you can report the scientific findings. Perhaps you can make a video and post it on youtube :) p.s. Not that it matters, but I like the packing cubes better than mesh bags. I've got some mesh bags that I use in the laundry. Packing cubes work better at keeping my clothes folded and neat so the extra weight of the zipper is totally worth it to me.

Thanks for the article info. I have used the bundle method many times ( one bag.com). It works for me. I put my toiletries bag sans liquids in the for the middle and tuck the clothes around as the websites says. It is not good for short stays. In addition to the bundle I put my sandals in plastic grocery bags and shove my undies in them so the top part of precious Birkenstocks aren't squashed. The sandals are tucked somewhere alongside the bundle. I'm thinking of using packing cubes my next trip. Or using cheap mesh bags that I wash delicates in the washing machine with as an alternate to a cube???

My RS packing cubes came in a set of 3 - 1 large and 2 small. The 3 of them fit perfectly in my carry on bags, both my RS convertible and my TravelPro 22" wheeled bag. I use the large cube and one small cube for clothes. The 3rd is for misc. items. I also have a couple of Eagle Creek packing cubes which I use for some short trips in a tote bag, but I mostly use the RS cubes.

Andrea, what do you like best about the RS cubes?

They are lightweight, contrary to what Lee says, and they fit well in the suitcases I own. I have some older RS cubes, which are totally flexible. I also have some newer ones that have a rigid but bendable edge on the top and possibly on the bottom. I can't remember exactly and I have loaned them out. The way I place them in the suitcase is the large one goes in the bottom (as if your case was standing upright) and the two smaller ones fit side by side above the large one, again as if the case is standing. There is nothing wrong with my Eagle Creek cubes, they just don't fit as nicely in the particular bags I own. I think they are also pricier, but they come in many sizes.

I didn't say they aren't "lightweight", I said they don't "weigh nothing". (Sorry for the double negative!) And I do think that they are bigger, and therefore heavier - lightweight, but still heavier - than need be, at least for me. But then, I've taken "minimalist" packing, taking only what you need, not what you think you might need, to a fine art. So maybe this is my challenge. If you need packing cubes, you are taking too much.

I stand corrected Lee. I described them as lightweight, not weightless.

As for the weight of the packing cubes... I have the old ones, which are totally flexible and weigh even less than the new ones. I prefer them and wish I knew where to get more... I have the grandkids packing this way too. Otherwise, their stuff is a mess. Stand corrected... I should have said they weigh 'virtually nothing'.

BTW, Eagle Creek has a new line of packing cubes out of Ultra lightweight silnylon ripstop (whatever that is...). The big cube is 14x10x3 in and weighs 1 oz (27 g). That is quite a bit of difference compared to their same sized regular cube which weighs 4oz. I have not seen these in person yet, just online, so no comments about usefulness.