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It’s safe to say that most people love a good vacation. Whether that entails a weekend roadtrip to see the sights of a local town or a two week excursion to a destination with new languages, foods, and cultures, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t count down the days until they can get away for some rest and relaxation. The only thing that isn’t so relaxing? The cost that comes with taking a trip.
Airfare can cost you quite a pretty penny, and even when you opt to travel by train, bus, or car, you’re still dealing with travel expenses far before you reach your destination. Most of the time we prepare for these kinds of costs — transportation, lodging, and activities are things you can expect to pay for — but other expenses easily creep up in areas you didn’t think about or in ways you didn’t expect, especially when it comes to packing. That trusty suitcase that has served you well for years now comes with a pretty big price tag attached to it when it actually comes time to travel. Most folks are opting for carry-on bags more and more because of the high cost of checked bags, with the very last major carrier, Southwest, transitioning to charging for checked bags as recently as last month. The rest have been attaching a $45 to $55 fee to each bag you check when you fly, and when you’re flying with a group, that quickly adds up to hundreds of dollars wasted on getting your clothes where you’re going. It simply doesn’t seem worth it. Although carry-on bags are all over the market, they can still feel limiting when you’re trying to neatly pack your apparel, accessories, and shoes in a backpack, rolling bag, or duffel that needs to fit under your seat or in the overhead compartment — and that’s where the magic of packing cubes come into play.
The lightweight and often rectangular-shaped pouches might be well known for their organizational help when it comes time to pack a bag, but they are also a major space saver, helping you get more into your bags while keeping your clothing easy to locate and organized. When a carry-on bag seems absolutely impossible for a week-long trip to the tropics or a long weekend to the mountains, packing cubes can help compress your clothing, fitting more into the travel-friendly bags, ensuring that you don’t have to check a bag and pay a few hundred dollars before you even arrive at your vacation destination. They’re great for helping preplan outfits ahead of time, saving you time when you’re getting dressed, and they can turn a messy, haphazard suitcase into a neatly organized clothing compartment.
You can also use packing cubes for more than just clothing. Corral loose charging cords and electronic devices, package toiletries and beauty products, and keep wet items like bathing suits separate from dry clothing with ease. Many come with extra features, like hooks, so you can hang them and pull products from the cube without completely taking everything out, along with heavy-duty zippers that won’t bust or break simply because they are packed to the gills.
With a variety of sizes to choose from, ranging from two to five liter cubes up to ones that can hold over 15 liters, and a handful of different types, it’s easy to find the right ones for you. Here’s what to know about regular, compression, and vacuum packing cubes.
Standard packing cubes
In a way, the basic packing cubes act as an organizer and a space-saver. Not only can you fit more clothing in a bag by rolling up the items and packing them into the cubes, but the cubes provide organization and make it easier to locate exactly what you’re looking for. Many folks will use certain ones to store and hold dirty clothing items once they’ve worn them, making it easier to do laundry once you return home, and plan outfits ahead of time so that getting dressed doesn’t take up a bunch of time.
Bagail 8 Set Packing Cubes
Cshidworld Packing Cubes (9-Count)
Compression packing cubes
Compression packing cubes look exactly like a regular packing cube, but they have a special “compression” zipper that sucks out any extra air. These typically have two zippers, one that functions as a regular zipper and simply keeps the cube securely closed, and then the second “compression” zipper forces the cube to fold in on itself, squeezing out excess air, and reducing the amount of space your clothing takes up by about 30% to 60%. The key to using these is to make sure you don’t overpack the cube or the compression feature won’t work. These cubes allow you to break down your luggage more, and they are awesome for use when you’re traveling back from a vacation with extra goodies. Use the cubes with just the regular zipper on your way over, and use the cubes with the compression zipper enacted on the way back so you can fit any fun souvenirs and extras from your trip.
Veken Compression Packing Cubes Set
Gonex 4 Set Compression Packing Cubes
Vacuum packing cubes
Vacuum packing cubes and compression cubes both deliver the same final results but the journey to getting there is a bit different. They both compress and suck air out of the cube to save space, but compression cubes use the mechanical force of a secondary zipper whereas vacuum cubes use airtight, sealable plastic bags that require a pump in most cases to get the excess air out. The good news is that these cubes come with the pumps more often than not, so you don’t have to worry about an extra expense. Vacuum cubes save far more space because the vacuum compresses far more than the secondary zipper does. The downside is that because it seals the bags so intensely, it’s not as easy to access your clothes and requires some extra to allow the bags to fully unseal. There are also models that use a hand pump or manual rolling to seal the cubes, which can be a bit labor intensive, and the extreme pressure can wrinkle and squash fabrics occasionally. But again, they eliminate bulk and free up far more space than either of the other models.
Cozy Essential Travel Vacuum Storage Bags with Rechargeable Pump
Tooloton 12-Pack Travel Vacuum Storage Bags with Electric Pump
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