Packing and Organisation

Cubes, dry bags, liquid rules and the theft precautions that are worth it.

Updated

The small stuff that decides whether living out of a bag is pleasant.

Cubes are for finding things, not saving space

Unless they compress, cubes do not make clothes smaller. What they do is stop your bag becoming an archaeological dig, which is worth the small weight on any trip over a few days. Sort by type rather than by day: tops, bottoms, small things, and one cube left empty for laundry. Day-by-day packing survives exactly one day.

Three or four cubes is the right number. In a small cabin-only bag they can cost more volume than they organise, so roll into a single dry bag instead; they shine in a 40-litre-plus bag.

A folding board is a different tool

For shirts and trousers that must look presentable, a rigid folder gives one crease in a consistent place rather than random ones. Layer garments alternately, fill it so nothing moves, and pack it flat against the back panel.

Dry bags beat rain covers

Almost no pack is waterproof whatever the fabric claims, and a rain cover does nothing about water running down your back into the opening. A liner or a roll-top dry bag inside is cheaper and works better. For small fragile things, a hard case with a gasket handles pressure as well as water.

Liquids: no longer one rule

Airports running certified CT scanners allow containers up to two litres with no clear bag: in the UK that includes Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Birmingham, and Dublin, Rome Fiumicino and Milan are among the others. Most other airports still enforce 100ml in a clear bag.

So pack to the stricter of your two airports, because your return may differ from your departure. The qualifying list changes as scanners are certified: UK rules, US rules. Solid soap, shampoo bars and toothpaste tablets sidestep the question entirely and cannot leak.

Theft, in the order that actually helps

Passport, phone and cards on your person. A cheap padlock and a lockable hostel locker. A tracker in the checked bag. Then anti-theft mesh, if you still want it. The calculation changed: the expensive item is now a phone in your pocket, not a camera in your pack.

And a microfibre towel, one size up from whatever seems sensible.

Kept current

The reviews (41)

Written at the time, about gear that in most cases is no longer made. Useful for what the writer noticed, not as a shopping list.