BootsnAll's Travel Community

Can I have a life affirming moment here were someone tells me that those packing cubes Eagle Creek makes are a fantastic waste of space for backpackers?

My buddy just bought a couple of them (he's taking a 60L top loader bag, which I haven't seen yet)...30 bucks a pop no less. I'm telling him to send them back and that they're designed for more traditional luggage.

Am I wrong here?

Partially it depends on the size/shape of your pack. It doesn't work to put a large rectangle inside a medium sized cylinder. The small cubes, I hear, can be nice for toiletries, etc. To me it seems that they add to much weight for not a good enough payout. Learn to pack your bag better and I doubt you'll need them. They take up space and the lovely durable fabric they are made out of is heavy.

I think the major exceptions to this are if you are more concerned with arriving with clothes unwrinkled or will be frequently taking things out of your pack while keeping all contents divided into particular cubes.

They look pretty and are a good idea, I've just never been able to make them practical for me.

Maybe if you packed these flat inside, stacking one on the other and the shape of your backpack is close to that "D" shape.

Then you could be totally OCD and label each one with what's inside.

Or, you could just roll your clothes and after you're done stacking them inside, put your socks and undies in the little crevices that are left.

That ought to save your buddy about $200+ at least, depending how nuts he's going on this. But that might be a small price to pay for his uber-organizational mental sanity I guess.

Life affirming moment = fulfilled.

I've used the Eagle Creek "Pack-It Sacs". On my last vacation I used a small sack for my socks and underpants and a large sac for the rest of my clothes. Along with my toiletry kit and some stuff in the small pocket of my pack, that's all I had. It was nice because I didn't have to unpack and repack to get things out and I could find everything immediately.

I've used a large cube on a business trip for my clothes but it seemed like a waste of time and energy. It did come in handy when my wife and I visited our parents and shared a suitcase, since I could keep my clothes separate.

The drawback is that they have to fit your pack well. Mine is fairly rectangular and flat, so they worked well. If your pack is more rounded, they might not work as well. Also, if you have lots of oddly-shaped things in your pack, you can't pack around them as well with the cubes and sacs, since they become kind of rigid when they're filled with clothes.

I love these things for regular luggage, but it's like Calli said - fitting a square peg into a round hole? Probably not so fantastic. If your friend is that concerned about keeping things separated, there are plastic zip-top bags (larger ones now than just the gallon-size, too). Just a thought...

I got a bunch of stuff for x-mas, some of which were a packing folder (the smallest one 15 i think), packing cubes and a packing tube.

I've decided to keep the folder for shirts/pants to keep them neat and the tube for socks, undies, tank tops... but the cubes have gotta go. I've decided to go with a few zipper pouches for other random items.

I think they might be kinda bulky, but being able to reach in my bag in the dark and know i'll get to my socks or pj's without totally disrupting the order of my pack puts my mind at ease. Maybe for your friend, too?

I'm going against the trend here to say I love them - for my backpack or otherwise. They make it a lot easier to live out of a pack for an extended period, if you keep your things in their designated spots. And the only noise they make is from the zipper. Yes, kids, even ziploc bags make noise, I hate to tell you. I also find that although the cubes/sacs take up some space, the amount that I am able to fit in my pack or suitcase by using them actually increases dramatically - to the point where I always run into weight problems far before I run into space problems (not just from the weight of the cubes, I mean SERIOUS weight problems).

That being said, I bought a much cheaper version of the cubes from LLBean, as opposed to the Eagle Creek ones. I sprung for an Eagle Creek folder and tube when they were WAY on sale, and only b/c I was traveling for business a lot. And I've used a lot cheaper items to function like the cubes/sacs, rather than spending heaps of money on them. For example, a $4 Woolite laundry bag holds my underwear, a velvet sack that some body lotion came in holds jewlery, a mesh bag that came free in the mail at work holds my bath towel and beach gear, cheap ditty bags from walmart hold small miscellaneous things (silverware, locks, wine opener), the stuff sack that came with my sleeping bag holds shoes when the sleeping bag is being carried in the compression sack. If you're creative, you can get the same effect as the expensive products for very little money!

On the last trip I did I had a megahuge top loading hiking pack... it sucked, I must say. Before you ask - I borrowed it and had no previous experience with packs so I didn't realise how bad it'd be.

Anyway, I made myself 3 draw string bags to divide stuff up - two small ones for socks, underwear and other such small things and one larger one for keeping dirty clothes separate. That worked really nicely and cost me a total of about $5 and 15min work (most of which was taken reading the instructions for my mothers sewing machine!). They were also easy to squish into the necessary shape to fit well and the draw strings made them easy to find (dive hand in, find string, pull).

So yeah, I love the idea of dividing stuff up, but I just don't see the need to spend $30 on a bit of trendiness.

I have a toploading pack and the bulk of my clothes are wrapped in a neoprene back support. It compresses, keeps them all in one tight, tidy bundle and provides support when, erm, my back gives out

elv

another bit of shit for REI to sell to people to reaffirm their existence. worthless.

Tell him to send them back, then go to Wal-mart and buy a 3 pack combo of "Ultimate Dry Sacks" for $9.99 plus tax.

The set has one each 2 liter, 4 liter, and 8 liter bag. They are made of a tent like fabric. I'm not counting on them sealing waterproof BUT they compress absolutely wonderfully. I could actually pack for a month long summer trip in a standard school size backpack with the help of these things.

I even fit a travel size (half size) pillow into the 4 L bag. It packed down to 1/4 it's original size in this thing and fits easily into my luggage. The 8 liter holds ALL the clothes I'm taking for a month. The 2 L holds all the undergarments and handtowel and is only 1/2 full.

I should clarify - these are sold in the camping section NOT the travel section. Ignore all the compression sacks in the travel section. They are useless, even in a standard suitcase. The zip tops tear after two or three times opening and closing. The bags I mentioned above are a lightweight tent type of fabric, so they are fairly strong and super lightweight - no added weight to worry about except for ultra-light backpackers (who won't have enough to pack to need compression sacks anyway)