Packing, rolling v folding debate,

[SbbquilterUT]

I use the lightweight rip stop fabric bags which take up no extra space - unders, socks, pajamas, swim suits, etc.  We travel pretty light and mix clothes in each bag even though we rarely check bags.  Zip lock for toiletries,  flat pack the slacks, shirts and dress at the bottom with ends hanging out.  Fill the center of the bag with those soft cubes, then fold the legs back over the top of those so there are few folds or wrinkles in dress clothes.

[MamaFej]

I use a combination of packing cubes and packing envelopes. They are super lightweight and thin. I guess some people must buy thick, heavy bulky cubes, but I don't have any like that. I'll use them as lingerie bags in a washing machine, too. No need to bring one. 

 

Depending on the trip, I will pack by types of clothes, by outfit, or (usually) by combination of both.  It's nice to have only one or two cubes to deal with for those pre- or post-cruise days. 

-----

Yes to cross-packing! The one time we didn't do it, my bag didn't show up in Minneapolis for 28 hours after landing, and I had been in the same clothes since leaving Venice 21 hours prior. It had taken longer to get from Philadelphia to Minneapolis than it had taken from Venice to Philly. Hubby and I had set our bags on the conveyor belt together, and, despite being checked in 3 hours before flight time and 4.5 hours of delays before taking off (the first time, before an in-air diversion) my bag did not make it onto the plane. I'm glad it wasn't Hubby's bag that didn't make it. We were there for a work conference for him.

[sydbarrett]

7 hours ago, dgoz said:

Jamielogical posted about this bundle method that looks interesting. I've watched youtube videos on it and it looks like a good way to avoid wrinkles.

I did this on my last euro cruise and it did work the best for wrinkles however I probably won't do it again as it wasn't the most practical way of packing.

[NutsAboutGolf]

I've always found cubes take far more time yet do see the value for compression cubes if you're trying to avoid airline baggage bee by taking a carry on.

 

Lay out your pants, place your underwear, undershirt and/or bra (if they're rollable) and socks on top of your pants and roll.

[Arizona Wildcat]

The military taught me to roll my clothes and pack light.  DW and I travel wit a suitcase, a carryon and a tote bag carried on.  Easy no matter how long our trip unless really cold weather (think Alaska in winter).  Then we wear the cold weather gear.

[miched]

3 hours ago, Julma said:

Packing cubes for me and I roll. I put shoes in disposable shower caps.   I bring hanging clothes on hangers from the dry cleaners and just leave them on the ship.  

We also put our shoes in the caps, or the produce  bags and plastic bags that we recycle from the grocery store.  We also "stuff the shoes with our socks 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Saturngrl]

I also use a mixture of packing cubes and just packing the suitcase.  Like many of you, the packing cubes are great for undies, bathing suits/covers, and other small items (magnets, towel bands, etc). Folding hangars are put into my Safego safe.  I stuff socks in my shoes and use the Marie Kondo method of folding clothes that optimizes suitcase space.  

 

300 days until my next cruise....can't wait! 

[phoenix_dream]

I've tried packing cubes for t-shirts, shorts, pants. Never again.  They always come out wrinkled. I do use them for underwear and pajamas and to gather misc. Items like medicines.  I don't see them as all that useful for cruises where you unpack everything anyway. 

[ymncruise]

I love packing cubes. Unpacking is a breeze. I roll most items.  I empty a large cube and use it as my laundry cube. It makes it so much easier to find items and they also serve as a drawer liner. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

On Instagram I always pause to watch the videos of people laying out a pair of pants, half folding them, adding a top, and underthings, and then folding it all neatly together so that the clothes for that day are all in one neatly folded section.  They make it look so easy.  Haven’t tried it yet.  Has anyone given it a shot and if so, how did it work for wrinkles?  
 

Joanie

[5waldos]

Zip lock bags are cheap and very easy to use. Especially if you are traveling with children- I would pack a complete outfit in a bag which made mornings with cranky kids much easier. I usually pack one outfit for me in my carryon- in case my checked luggage goes on a different trip than the one I am on. But the problem with compression (which is also easy with ziplock bags) is that things weigh the same whether compressed or not. So you can put more in a suitcase and surprise- it will weigh more. 

[cangelmd]

16 hours ago, SbbquilterUT said:

I use the lightweight rip stop fabric bags which take up no extra space - unders, socks, pajamas, swim suits, etc.  We travel pretty light and mix clothes in each bag even though we rarely check bags.  Zip lock for toiletries,  flat pack the slacks, shirts and dress at the bottom with ends hanging out.  Fill the center of the bag with those soft cubes, then fold the legs back over the top of those so there are few folds or wrinkles in dress clothes.

?Rip stop fabric bags? Not sure what you mean

[Blanq]

I am a half and half packer: half cubes (I will only use the compression version) and half rolled. I have tried all sorts of variations, but this works best for me. Mostly I use cubes for smaller items that I want to keep together, such as under garments, scarfs, swimming suit/coverup.

[aruzinski]

My favorite part of the packing cubes is being able to place them in the shelves above the the bed in my cabin.  That way, your clothes don’t fall out when you’re trying to grab something out.  Never have to unpack them, just get the cube you need and put it back after getting out what you want! Great for shorts, shirts, PJs, etc.!

[Denny01]

We use the see-through light packing cube bags and we roll. Not sure how they ‘take up more room’; you are able to put enough in the individual bags so they are good and tight. they stay that way as you put them in your suitcase and Stay that way getting them out.. In my opinion, if you use them correctly, they allow you to add more in a suitcase. And since we are talking about clothes, do not become an overload overload situation. 

 

We don’t worry about over weight anyway since we use medium size suitcase (one for the two of us) and two roll ones plus a small over shoulder. And that’s for pretty much any length of trip…….laundry when needed! No books (all ipad/readers); much fewer shoes than earlier travels; we layer and no heavy coats so weight isn’t an issue……unless of course going very cold places and we wear the big ‘fluffy stuff’, and if you are flying a Euro airline within Europe then you have to watch for differing weight issues, especially carryon limits! 

 

We add clothes for each of us in the check-in plus the heavier items such as shoes and so on, and have our own in our roll ons. 

 

we teach a class on travel and the favorite class is when my wife demonstrates packing. And yes, the attendees aren’t ‘new kids’ to travel and many who travel a lot learn a lot….including us when others share. 

 

But won’t beat the point to death, but ziplock bags, cubes, whatever, work great, allow more to be added and when properly rolled or folded in, few wrinkles and very well organized. 

 

Nothing worse than me rooting through a full non-cubed suitcase messing it all up looking for ‘stuff’. 

 

Den

[5waldos]

But it is amazing how much even a smallish bag can weigh when you fill it with well compressed clothes. 

[Missymo]

For packing toiletries I recommend  the e-bag Classic Pack it Flat Toiletry Kit (Amazon) the be the best  packing cube for toiletries .  Able to pack toothbrush items,  hair brushes , makeup, all toiletries and it fit in bottom of suitcase taking up no room. When unpacking just hang .

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by Missymo

[SbbquilterUT]

5 hours ago, cangelmd said:

?Rip stop fabric bags? Not sure what you mean

The packing bags are made of rip stop fabric - no firm structure so they fit the area of my bag that I need.  Also wash up very nicely if soiled.  Mine are Eagle Creek.

[tinaincc]

LOVE packing cubes for all the reasons mentioned here.  I can get two weeks of clothes in one big suitcase.  One tip: take the medium packing cube and put a bathing suit, undies, a shorts out fit and casual outfit for two people(likely will have to roll the items and squeeze them in tight).  put that in your carryon with a small set of toiletries, plus your electronic chargers etc.  We do this so that we have a backup plan should our luggage be delayed or lost.  

[larry_s_taco]

On 4/10/2022 at 5:23 PM, GottaKnowWhen said:

I tried Cubes one time. The Cube material in itself was adding too much bulk to the suitcase. Now I use 1 gallon or 2 gallon zip-loc plastic bags. Slide 3-4 shirts in one, compress the air out as you close it. Do the same for underwear, another for socks. Also bag up any loose toiletries, etc. I hang some things in the cabin, but many items stayed bagged up, sorted, easy to find and get to in a drawer.

The plastic bags are great if TSA or whoever opens your checked bag for inspection. The bags come out, can be easily inspected without opening, can be thrown back into the suitcase. Loosely packed folded clothing, on the other hand, can get totally messed up by any inspection. Not sure how well Cubes far in this scenario.

 

Stan

I use the one gallon or two gallon bags as well. I find this is a great way to pack. It is amazing how they compact when the air is pressed out. It is a great space saver and keeps everything well organized. 

[cangelmd]

On 4/10/2022 at 5:11 PM, mhoffrob said:

Be aware - there are two kinds of packing cubes.  One is just cubes, which are useful.  The other is COMPRESSION cubes, which I find REALLY useful, especially for small-medium items.  You fill the cube, close it, and then zip the compression zipper which compacts it.  I love these for underwear, socks, tshirts.  Saves more space than I thought it would.  

 

these are just cubes:

 

 

and these have the second, compression zipper:  

 

I’m bringing this thread back up because after reading it, I decided I needed one more packing cube.

I use them often, but not always, find them more useful as the trip gets longer and especially if there’s more than one unpacking to happen. Cubes for me are much about organization, trying to cram more stuff into the suitcase. Nothing too different than the previous posters.

Went to my fav local Wally World, and then, in shock, went on to Target - a set of cubes at either place is in the $35-45 range, and no one cube, even in the $45 set is large enough to really hold anything. The largest cube was about the size of my smaller ones! No new cubes for me, I’ll use a bigger Ziplock for the few things that won’t fit. These in the links above are HUGE bargains.

The ones I use are like these, one medium, one large

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014VBHYRA?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_FBAEQRG9RE1A3GKZXSQ3
I also bring one of these folding duffles. I only use about every other time I bring it, but when I need it I really need it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071RC2ZML?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_9FWWFTX6EA1NTAQFC20G

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by cangelmd

[MamaFej]

I've got that Gonex duffel in the 60L size. It's so convenient! We end up using it on about 50-60% of trips. 

 

I've never been able to get it folded as neatly and flatly as it was for shipping, but I come close. 

 

Gonex has a very lightweight backpack that folds up into a small pouch as well. We use it as a day bag. 

[Denny01]

Cost is an obvious difference when we are comparing a zip lock bags and cubes-types, but I go wit the cube thingees because they unzip fully and are handier getting something out instead of pulling it all out to get to one…..and of course what I want is the one that is at the ‘bottom’ of the ziplock. Not a big deal, but ‘the’ reason I like them.

 

Den

 

 

[floralscent]

On 4/10/2022 at 11:22 AM, Purplsmurf said:

I have packing cubes and don’t understand the hype. I have used them, but they take up more space in the suitcase. I’m probably in the minority, but I just can’t understand why people rave about them 🤷🏻‍♀️

I roll our clothes and can pack so much into a suitcase that I can easily over pack due to having so much room. This also causes the suitcases to weigh over the 50 lb limit. I have packing and they are not an efficient use of space. Roll and be mindful of weight.