Packing Cubes

[AngryBird6122]

1. do I need them? (aibu to think they will make travelling easier?
2. please recommend some (from amazon if poss)

If you use compression packing cubes, don't your clothes end up horribly creased?

I've only ever used the bag type 'cubes' to keep different types of clothes organised - invaluable for underwear. But, I'm due to go on a multi city break abroad for 8 nights and will be using public transport so will have a bit of suitcase lugging to do. I'm hoping to go with a medium suitcase rather than large (no way I'll do 8 nights with a 10kg cabin bag!). So I was wondering if compression packing cubes would help me - but I don't want to look like I've slept in my clothes, nor do I want to spend my holiday ironing.

Yes! I do the same! I use the IKEA freezer bags to pack. I use all sizes from small for to xl which fit entire outfits.

They aren't any better than this.
And in days where every time you shopped, you got a plastic bag it worked just perfectly.
But those days are gone. So you need a version that replaces all the carrier bags. And packing cubes are one such replacement for the old tesco carrier bag.

Love mine, and have converted neat freak DH to them too

it did take me a couple of goes to work out

• you don’t have to put every single thing in a cube
• you don’t have to use every cube on every trip

To prevent creases I roll everything rather than fold, but don’t travel with much stuff that would need serious ironing unless absolutely necessary.

Love them for city breaks.
I pack each day's outfits into a different cube.
Chuck in a folded hand held steamer and I'm good to go and don't need to unpack for such a short trip

I love my packing cubes. I'm a dab hand at packing a case and utilising every inch of space but packing cubes make it easy to organise everything.I put tops in one,underwear in another etc. They are certainly very useful if you're on a multi centre trip and living out of a suitcase.The last big trip we did we stayed in 15 different locations over the course of 4 weeks.

I've not used compression cubes but I have done lots multi city public transport. I would be concerned about the weight of that many clothes, as compression can't do anything about the weight.

Pack as light as you can. Wash things halfway round. Or sometimes we plan to buy a few new clothes then post the old stuff home. (Never time for clothes shopping in daily life but quite fun in limited doses on holiday)

I use a few cubes to keep things like underwear and swimwear together just to save me rummaging through my case (I don't unpack everything when I get to the hotel because I'm lazy). I haven't used the compression cubes because I fear I might end up with an overweight case and have to repack before I leave.

Absolutely they are brilliant. I've been using them for about 8 years. My teens actually find them handy as they don't unpack, just use the cubes. Any will do, I got mine on Amazon.

I used to use freezer bags but have found the clothes get less creased in the packing cubes. I am a convert and they make packing so much more organised.

Amazon Basics packing cubes are brilliant 🌟

I started a thread on these last year. They were brilliant!

Fab, thanks all! I am going to try them

Packing cubes saved us when our suitcases were inspected by customs/airport security.

Also a family member's suitcase split (the zip broke) and thanks to the cubes, it was easily sorted.

Also I use them for work trips - to keep my clothes separate and tidy in my work bag.

I love them. Its not about efficient packing, I was taught how to do that my military father who took it far too seriously (think stopwatch). For me it's organisational. We often travel with one suitcase for all 4 of us and everything being colour coded/labelled and separate makes a huge difference.

Game changer for me when I started - a good few years ago.
Like others, it's not about fitting more in, it's about packing like with like, or at least being able to grab what you need quickly instead of unpacking everything.
I have loads of different brands (I use larger ones to store my summer clothes in the winter) and I recommend having a few shapes and sizes.
I pop my in flight essentials in a small one, and I have a larger one for dirty clothes for the way home. All washed at the end of a trip.

I love them. We have some compression ones and some non-compression, but I never use the non-compression ones as for me it's more about organising things than making space, and our compression ones are thicker and heavier than the others. I take a rucksack and carry it quite a bit, so weight is important for this, plus of course for airport baggage rules. I don't know if the weight issue is true of all compression cubes.

Packing cubes have been around for decades. It's about 20 years since I was a backpacker, and the enthusiastic shop assistants were trying to convince me to spend more than the value of my entire luggage on cubes to organise it in.

If you are packing once, travelling to one destination and unpacking into a cupboard, then they don't add much.

If you are going on a multi stop holiday, and will be rummaging around in your luggage daily, or living out of your backpack, then they really help to keep things organised.

I like the ones with clean/dirty sides. Otherwise I find that you can't stay organised because your clothes don't fit back in the same way they came out.

A cheaper option is to pack into big ziplock freezer bags.

I don't like to shop in Amazon, but can't afford the John Lewis/ Thule ones linked. Does anyone have any other suggestions please?

How do you organise them though?

That's what I'm thinking. Only two of us travelling on holiday now and would definitely only be me who would organise my packing. I'm tempted by the big freezer bags option now though.

If you are packing once, travelling to one destination and unpacking into a cupboard, then they don't add much

Thank you! I'm often on the brink of buying something I've convinced myself I need based on a MN thread (heated clothes dryer, penis beaker ...) but I'll skip these!

@ToriTheStoryteller packing cubes are better cos the manufacturers don't make money if you use plastic bags instead

See also diet books. No money to be made from "eat less, exercise more"

Emperor's new clothes

If you are going on a multi stop holiday, and will be rummaging around in your luggage daily, or living out of your backpack, then they really help to keep things organised.

Yes to this.

For us:
One third of each person's clothes (sorted into outfits) for the holiday into one or 2 packing cubes each. All those cubes into a case, along with a selection of other bits like books, swimming stuff, extension cable etc.
Repeat for other 2 cases we are taking with us.
Get to destination. Dish out packing cube with clothes to each person (4 of us).
Bonus of when a case goes missing (unless it's the whole lot) everyone has something to wear.