Have a look at The Nappy Lady, which will tell you a lot of the practicalities. If you click on "Free Nappy Advice Service" you get a little questionnaire about your lifestyle, baby's size/skinniness/etc, laundry facilities and stuff like that and a few days later they send you a message back to say which make/model of nappy would suit you. I absolutley love the ones they recommended me , and have bought 10! They do not seem to work for any manufacturer and do not seem biased, and their advisors are real mums who have actually used the nappies.
I have "All in One" reusables, and I take a couple of them out in my changing bag, with a carrier bag to wrap the dirty one in.
Of course you can use a barrier cream.
Reusuables work much like any disposables, by absorbing wee and containing poo. They can come a flat, shaped or prefolds and are usually made of cotton, fleece, bamboo. Bamboo is very absorbent, but a bit pricey, fleece dries very quickly but is less absorbent.
You then need a waterproof wrap to keep the outside of the nappy dry. These are like a modern version of rubber pants!
You can also use a booster inside, which can be made of the same types of fabric, and can be used to make the nappy more absorbent or make it fit better.
Most people also use a flushable liner - like a sturdy tissue - to catch poo and lift it away.
There are also "All in One" nappies (often called AIO), which are almost like a cloth disposable. They are the nappy and waterproof outer attached. They are what I have been using for the last 18 months and are very easy, although the cotton ones I had took ages to dry.
A variation on "All in Ones" is the pocket nappy. It's similar to a AIO , but you can tak rht maid absorbent bit (the soaker) out, to help it dry quicker.
Also, have a look at Here
and
Here
For an idea of what is available
And
Here Pocket nappies
Here All in One nappies (I have these, they are fab, dry quickly and work well on very active, tall 18 month old boy)
for some examples.
You might also want to "Google" soem of the manufacturers websites about their nappies Swaddlebees, Little Lamb, Imse Vimse, Kushies and Tots Bots are names I can think of off the top of my head.