Ask any traveller what’s the one travel hack that changed their life and we can guarantee at least 90%* will say packing cubes.
Do you travel? And we don’t just mean full-time travelling or long-term backpacking.
We mean any sort of travel. Even a weekend getaway.
If you said yes, then you need packing cubes.
And if you have no idea what they are or why you should get them, keep reading. This guide will tell you everything you need to know, including all our tips and tricks on buying packing cubes!
*made up stat, but you get the point. Almost everyone!
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Here’s a little bit about our journey, if you are new here! If you know us, feel free to skip this part.
After leaving our old life in Scotland in March 2022 (it rains too much there), we travelled full time for almost 2 years. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it was. If you think that carrying overpacked backpacks in 45°C heat around streets that aren’t even on Google Maps is fancy. And that’s just 1% of all the fun we had! 😆
During the 2 years we volunteered in Italy and Bulgaria (free travel while learning new skills, anyone?), explored other amazing European countries and backpacked Southeast Asia.
And, of course, we researched and planned everything ourselves, because you gotta keep the budget low, right? If you are like us, you’ve come to the right place, because we want to share all the useful tips and info with you!
Excited? Good. Let’s get into it so you can go on your own adventures too!
What are packing cubes?
They are cheap little miracles that will forever change how you pack and travel, forever.
Think we are joking?
Not in the slightest!
They look like this 👇
They don’t look like much, we know, but trust us, you want to get them.
We are all about making travel easier and if the travel hack is cheap as well? It’s a win-win!
What are packing cubes used for
Packing cubes have two main functions:
1. Compression
The idea is that you stuff them with clothes and the cubes compress them, which means you are able to fit a lot more into your luggage.
A bit like vacuum storage bags, just without the need to suck. 😉
You can see it in the pictures above. In the first one is a pile of clothes. In the second is a small packing cube that contains all those clothes and more! You won’t believe how much you can fit into one small cube.
Now, there are some packing cubes that are specifically labelled as compression ones.
They usually don’t just have the main zipper going around, but also an extra one that squeezes the packing cube further – a bit like the extension section of suitcases, but it works in reverse. So instead of giving you more space, it reduces the space to compress your clothes.
We’ve never tried these compression packing cubes, because, to be honest, the “standard” cubes work amazingly enough. If you pack them tight and then zip them up, they will compress your clothes and you don’t have to pay the premium for fancy compression cubes.
2. Organising
In addition to giving you more space, packing cubes also keep your luggage organised. This is particularly useful if you are living out of a backpack long-term, because things will get messy. Don’t expect the backpack to stay all nice and organised, the way you packed it in your living room before your departure. 😬
So how can you use them?
Well, you can, for example, have a packing cube for each person, if you are a couple or a family. That way you keep everyone’s clothes separate.
Another option is having cubes for different clothes, e.g. an underwear packing cube, tops and dresses cube, trousers and jumpers cube etc.
Where can you buy packing cubes
Something to know is that there are many different packing cubes on offer, including expensive ones, but unless you are living on the road for years, the basic ones will do you just fine.
The good news is many shops have now caught on the magic that are packing cubes and started selling them.
You can buy them online in places like Amazon, but, usually, you can also find them in sports/adventure shops like Decathlon (if you go for sports shops/branded ones, presumably the quality will be better, but do check to confirm!).
Our first set was from Amazon but then, when we discovered what actually works for us and what we need, we added another set from Decathlon. Currently we use a mix of both and in this guide we’ll tell you why.
Tips on buying packing cubes
Tip no. 1: Size matters
Packing cubes are bought in sets – different sizes and number of them, so before you purchase, have a think about what you need.
Our first set was from Amazon and it had a few small/medium sized cubes, but also a few big ones. We then found out that we prefer/need small ones and the big ones are of no use to us at this point.
What to consider when deciding on size
Small packing cubes:
- Smaller packing cubes are easier to fit/organise around in your backpack/luggage
- You can separate your clothes better with small cubes – e.g. a cube for just underwear doesn’t need to be big
- This is more relevant for long-term travel, but do you want to mix your clean clothes with the ones you’ve already worn? This might impact the size of the cubes you need.
To solve the issue from the last bullet point, what we do is keep only clean clothes in our individual packaging cubes (meaning in Mirka’s cube and Daniel’s cube). Then we have a shared cube for “semi-dirty” – clothes that have been worn, but will be worn again before being washed.
While this keeps clean and worn clothes separate, it also means your individual packing cubes will soon stop compressing as there’ll be less things in them and the compression works by having them full.
If you start with a big cube, you’ll soon end up with a half-empty blob that just won’t do anything aside from holding your clothes together in one bag (cube).
Trust us, we’ve been there. 😅
For this reason, we would also suggest smaller packing cubes.
Bigger packing cubes
- Big cubes are good for winter holidays, when you have bulky clothes like sweaters, jackets etc. with you, so you can easily compress them.
- You might also consider bigger packing cubes if you are a family who will be sharing them, for example, if you are using the “organising by type of clothing” approach.
- All in all, you might need to buy a few sets to mix and match the right sizes that work for you, which is why we would recommend buying good quality, but cheap ones, like the ones we got in Decathlon, so you can buy a few sets without spending too much.
Tip no. 2: Shape
Most cubes come as rectangles (that’s what we have) but there are some brands that sell round ones to fit the backpack shape better. This is only really relevant if you have a top-loader though, otherwise any shape can be organised pretty well around your backpack.
If you are wondering what backpacks we have, we researched A LOT, of course, because we couldn’t find anything that suited Mirka, but then discovered the amazing Fairview Trek 50l Osprey for her. Daniel also got an Osprey, Kestrel 58l.
Tip no. 3: Learn about rolling
Not on the ground. That won’t help you pack light.
To get even more out of your cubes, don’t just throw clothes into them. Roll them to save space and keep your clothes wrinkle-free. This is a secret that many don’t know about. And yet it’s not that hard to do. Look up how soldiers roll their clothes to learn the technique (you can do this on YouTube).
Tip no. 4: Check the washing instructions
Our packing cubes are handwash-only. We totally washed them in a washing machine by accident, because we didn’t even think about checking the label. 😬
You don’t wanna wreck your cubes before you even use them, so check before you wash.
Tip no. 5: Top material
The cubes often have some sort of mesh material on top. The idea is that you can see what’s in each cube when they all look identical.
Mesh also airs your clothes a bit, though this does work the other way too. So if you have your semi-dirty/dirty clothes in them, your whole backpack/suitcase will smell, which is something to think about. 😬
You can either get packing cubes without the mesh, or with little mesh, or you can use a different bag for your dirty, smelly clothes.
Check the options and decide what works for you.
You can see the differences in the mesh in the two cubes – the top one from our Amazon set has a lot of mesh on both sides. The bottom Decathlon cube only has a thin mesh stripe at the top.
Tip no. 6: Alternative use
If you buy a set and there are sizes you don’t need, you can use them for other things. We have a lot of bits and bobs when backpacking and use two of our medium-sized cubes to keep these things contained.
We have also repurposed the biggest packing cube as our general travel clothes storage bag. So all our travel-only clothes (like microfiber underwear or quick-drying T-shirts) live in that cube in our storage until they are needed.
Vacuum storage bags vs packing cubes
A bit about the difference between these two, because, when reading this guide, you might have been wondering, why you can’t just use vacuum storage bags instead.
There are a few disadvantages of vacuum storage bags:
- For them to work properly, you do need a hoover. We know some travellers travel with a portable pump or a hoover, but that doesn’t go with our idea of packing light.
- If you choose the approach of sitting on the vacuum bags to get the air out, they might burst. It has happened to us. Needless to say, packing cubes don’t burst (at least that we know of!).
- Your clothes will get all scrunched up. Yes, they will get a bit scrunched up in the packing cubes too, but nowhere near as much as when you flatten them in a vacuum bag.
- Looking for something and not sure which vacuum bag you packed it into? You have to open them all and then suck the air out again – not ideal if you are at an airport and just need a hoodie because you got cold! With packing cubes, you easily unzip them, check and zip back up.
The one thing vacuum bags are good for is dirty, smelly clothes. As we mentioned, the packing cubes often come with a mesh material on top, which means your backpack or suitcase can get smelly, if you put stinky clothes into them.
If you know you will have clothes like this on your trip (perhaps you have a long hike planned in a hot climate), you can pack a vacuum bag to keep those clothes away from the rest, without taking up a lot of space in your luggage.
All in all, it’s up to you, which approach you prefer. Sucking or compressing, you decide. But be smart and choose compressing. 😉
We hope this guide showed you why you should get a set of packing cubes before your next trip. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments.
PS: Should we do a competition to see who can fit most stuff into a packing cube? 😁