Packing Cubes: Don’t Pack Without Them
These luggage accessories have been very popular with travellers and are definitely one of the best bits of travel kit you can buy.
Trying to jam-pack luggage with clothes, shoes and other travel bits and pieces in an orderly fashion and trying to save space at the same time is something we all try to do. Particularly in roller cases, whether large or cabin-sized, soft or hard. The solution is simple, separate everything into the self-contained zippable cube-shaped compartments and slip them snuggly into your luggage. Everything organised and space saved.
Sounds great? You bet. You not only separate clothes from shoes and other accessories like toilettries, charging cables, jewellry, etc., but you can sort them into categories, like: by what matches, by destination, by weather, by activities, etc. Saving time identifying what to wear and keeping stuff well organised for when it is time for unpacking and re-packing.
Are packing cubes indispensable? I think so. They are a must have. Here are a few good reasons why you should use them:
- Helps organise and seperate items packed
- Protects belongings from soiling
- Stores belongings securely
- Compresses packing
- Maximises packing space
- Reduces folds and wrinkles
- Easily identify what is packed
- Quick packing and unpacking
- Made of strong lightweight materials
Brand Names or Cheap?
I have found that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get good quality packing cubes. Of course you could go for the brand names that are well made and usually expensive. There’s nothing wrong with that choice, but the cheap ones can do the same job. Make sure the material used won’t rip at the seems or the zips get stuck or come undone and remain open. Before making a purchase, it would be good to get your hands on a few samples and giving them a thorough work over.
The material should be hard wearing, waterproof and washable. Probably of lightweight nylon. The panels should be sewn together preferably double stitched. The zips should run smoothly and shouldn’t jam or come loose. Preferably zips with the larger heavy duty metal slider like those made by YKK the well-known Japanese manufacturer. I don’t recommend the sliders and pullers made of plastic unless they are heavy duty. The teeth or chain should be of plastic as they are kinder to anything that may get stuck when zipping. Metal teeth will definitely damage anything that may get stuck. Don’t purchase any zips that have flimsly slider/puller made from lightweight diecast as they are prone to fail or break easily. The puller on these may break off leaving the slider with no way of being pulled along the chain.
So as long as the cheaper packing cubes meet the following basic criteria here below, they should be able to do the same job as the more expensive kind:
- Size (various sizes that will fit together tightly in your luggage)
- Material (strong durable material that can be washed or wiped clean)
- Stitching (sewn double stitched or overlocked with strong thread)
- Zips (slider/puller made from metal on plastic teeth/chain)
Finally, packing cubes aren’t there just to separate your travel gear for easier packing, keeping things tidy and saving space. They also importantly keep what is clean away from what is soiled or dirty. You can add ziploc bags or other lightweight plastic bags like the ones you get in supermarkets and fruit/veg shops to protect the insides of the cubes from getting dirty. Especially good for packing shoes. Anything still damp should not go directly into the cubes but into a waterproof sealable bag.
Packing cubes make you really wonder why they weren’t around when luggage was invented. We know now that we can’t travel without them. Happy packing.
