<p>I am not a great packer; I can get everything in, but I think I could go with a smaller bag if I were a more efficient packer. My entire family is known for overpacking. I have a friend that can get so much in a small suitcase!</p>
<p>So what are your favorite tricks to packing? Do you fold or roll? Shoes on the top or bottom? How do you pack to keep your duffel from tipping over when it is standing on it’s end? How do you pack things like a man’s suit or a long dress?</p>
<p>I don’t have a favorite method - I’ve tried everything, and usually just folding and going works. But, my H rolls everything. Claims he fits a lot more in. Some things I do:</p>
<p>Anything long (dress, long pants) I lay in the suitcase first - unfolded, so it hangs over the edges. Then I pack the other clothes in, and fold the long things over the top – no wrinkles!</p>
<p>I always put shoes (stuffed with socks) and other heavy items (often canned goods, when we lived in Germany and I had to stock up on staples when I came home) at the bottom of the suitcase (bottom, that is, when the suitcase is standing upright.) That way the heavy things are on the bottom and don’t crush other things. I also put shoes in plastic bags, so they don’t make other things dirty. And I put anything liquid in ziplocks – too many accidents!</p>
<p>One of the tips I never follow is to pack all “neutral” clothes - black, beige, blah. First, I am fair and blonde, and look terrible in neutrals! Second, I am on vacation - my chance to live it up! I do take neutral pants - jeans and black dress pants usually, but my shirts are colorful. Third, I like to look like I changed my clothes from day to day. Hard to do if they all look alike.</p>
<p>The one thing I am still searching for is the perfect jacket - one that goes easily from casual sweater duty to dressy blazer duty to rain duty - not so big as to be sloppy, but long enough to cover my longer shirts. </p>
<p>We all take a change of underwear and a t-shirt in a ziplock bag in our carry-on, in case of lost luggage.</p>
<p>Speaking of ziplock - back before the days of 50 pound weight limits, we had some friends who packed everything in ziplocks. They used their vaccuum cleaner to suck air out of things – towels, for instance, take up a lot less room when vaccuum packed!</p>
<p>I found it helpful to save all of those zippered, plastic covers that sheets/comforters/towels/etc came in and pack like-items together (i.e., socks in one, underwear in another, accessories in another). This way, unpacking is so much easier. I do this for anything from vacation to college packing. This also prevents stuff from shifting, and will keep stuff compact.
For shoes, try stuffing stuff inside them if you can. If they’re open sandels, tuck stuff around them. As for heels, I’ve yet to figure out efficient packing for them.
Rolling clothes doesn’t necessarily save space (according to physics, it can’t), but it generally allows for tighter “folding” and creates a uniform shape for all your articles, which makes it easier for packing. If you have divots in your suitcase (some rolling-bags have them, and there are spaces in between the handle slots), arrange stuff in those.
As for dresses, I usually put them in a garment bag (trash bags do well too) and fold and hope and pray that it looks ok upon arrival to a destination =P</p>
<p>I discovered packing envelopes and packing cubes a few years ago and don’t know how I lived without them. You can check them out here:
<a href=“http://www.ebags.com/travel_accessories/packing_aids/packing_folders_cubes/category_search/index.cfm?Ne=100&N=4001+20011226[/url]”>http://www.ebags.com/travel_accessories/packing_aids/packing_folders_cubes/category_search/index.cfm?Ne=100&N=4001+20011226</a></p>
<p>They save space in a suitcase, keep things from wrinkling, keep things organized that can get lost in a large bag (the cubes are great for underwear, t-shirts, socks, etc.), and are so easy to unpack. I highly recommend them!</p>
<p>I admit I have a few eccentricities, but I can’t stand the thought of a security person pawing through my “delicates.” I pack all of those items in ziploc bags so they can look but not touch.</p>
<p>over30, I’m the same. And I’m always paranoid that the underwire in my bra is going to set the wand off, and someone is going to pull me aside and make me take my shirt off (recurring dream :eek:). I’ve gone as far as going braless, but lately I’ve overcome my fear and started “wearing” again.</p>
<p>patsmom, how are those cubes used? Do they go into a larger suitcase?</p>
<p>I also pack my undies in a ziploc; what in the world did we do without the invention of ziploc?</p>
<p>Funny story-when my daughter went to sleep away camp the first time when she was 8, I packed all her clothes in ziplocs. I wanted to keep everything dry as I knew the cabins were very damp. I packed all socks in one, undies in another, and I may have even packed outfits together, but I don’t remember how I really packed the shirts and shorts. Well, after three weeks at camp, I unpack her duffle to find almost all her clothes still in the bags. It seems she didn’t really understand she had more clothes available to wear!! The plus is I didn’t have many clothes to wash!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>dp - that’s right. They’re soft-sided, zippered cases that come in various sizes. They hold a lot more than you’d think. You can pack underwear in one, you can roll up t-shirts and pack them in another, they’re great for pjs, knitwear, sweaters, etc. I use a small one to store the cables, AC adapter and manual for my digital camera. It’s padded on all sides and would be great to pack an Ipod, camera, cellphone, charger, earbuds - stuff like that. </p>
<p>The packing envelopes are used for packing clothes that fold. There’s a stiff insert that you use to fold the shirts around, kind of like what they use at the Gap to get all the clothes folded so perfectly for display. You can stack several shirts and pants in one envelope, then you place the stiff insert on the top of everything and the four corners of the envelope thing wrap around the stack and attach with velcro. You can compress the package pretty tightly so it doesn’t take up as much room, but somehow the clothes come out unwrinkled.</p>
<p>Just toss the packing cubes and envelopes inside your larger suitcase or duffel. The cubes are soft and flexible and can fit in odd corners easily. I probably haven’t described them very well, but if you look at them on the Ebags link, you can see better what I mean.</p>
<p>They can be pricey but they go on sale often.</p>
<p>I pack almost everything in ziplocks. I roll and insert. I find that even for tops it works well. Jeans and jackets go in loose.
Snowball I started the ziplock method when my son went to a school that did extensive outdoor travel. They recommended stuff sacks but he never knew what was inside. With the ziplock he could see what was in what. For him I would pack shirts in one, bike clothing in another and long underwear in another. each bag would have like minded items in it. In the first few years I would pack every item on the packing list but eventually I realized that most of the extra shirts and shorts came home clean still in the ziplock. Seems my son just wore the same thing every day.</p>
<p>This ziploc bags are great - you can fit lots of stuff in them. </p>
<p>Large 1.25 ft. x 1.25 ft.
Xtra Large 2 ft. x 1.7 ft.
XXtra Large 2 ft. x 2.7 ft.</p>
<p><a href=“Ziploc® | Everyday Solutions | Ziploc® brand | SC Johnson”>Ziploc® | Everyday Solutions | Ziploc® brand | SC Johnson;
<p>Doubleplay – Playtex has some very supportive bras without wires. Excellent for those days when you will be heading through security – maybe more than once. </p>
<p>As for packing dresses…it starts with the fabric the dress is made from. A jersey or a microfiber will wrinkle very much less than something stiffer/fancier. Avoid satin! I’ve seen a lot of dresses lately that are very pretty but made from soft fabrics - don’t forget your slip though. (I don’t like the feel of those ribbed polyester ‘travel knits’ at all. I want clothes that breathe, esp. on long, long flights.) I put shoes in a regular plastic shopping bag and then tuck them at the bottom of a fold-over garment bag or in the outside compartment. </p>
<p>Though one would think heavy items should go at the bottom of a suitcase, I’ve noticed that baggage handlers pay absolutely no attention to ‘which side is up.’ Suitcases come sliding down the conveyor belt onto the carousel upside down more times than they come down right side up. I think the best thing to do is put heavy things around the edges, inside the elastic compartments if you have them, so they don’t shift around.</p>
<p>Anything liquid or which might potentially leak in a ziploc- often doubled and usually the freezer versions.
I have packing cubes for various subtypes of non-clothing items in particular.Chargers, cables, etc.
Before I pack I put everything into clusters so that I have an idea of ‘where the pjs might be’ for easy access if I am not fully awake.
I try to take half of what I have laid out for any given trip. Otherwise, I way overpack.
If I want to make sure that the bag is not rifled through, I usually spread sanitary products liberally throughout. In many ‘traditional’ countries, in particular, this is a real deterrent to anyone sticking their hand in.</p>
<p>For camping, I’ll use ziplocs and can typically get a whole outfit into a 2 gallon zipbloc. That’s BDU pants, t-shirt, underwear, and two pair of socks. Roll it all up and stuff it in. This way, I pull one bag out of the pack and then can put the clothes I’ve got on right into the bag and put on the clean stuff.</p>
<p>I’ve also been able to stuff 7 or 8 t-shirts into one of those 2 gallon bags.</p>
<p>I’ll leave out camping packing. It’s a different skill.</p>
<p>I used to travel on business a lot. (Do you want to find an electrical outlet to recharge a notebook computer battery in John Wayne airport? Send me a PM.) I’ve developed a few strategies.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The best way to pack something is to not take it.</p></li>
<li><p>You can handle a little cold or wet. An overcoat is a lot of weight to drag around to be warm for five minutes. Obviously, if you know you’re going to a really cold place and will be outside a lot ignore this.</p></li>
<li><p>Stuff things in shoes (if you are packing a pair). I frequently get stuck having to wear dress shoes for meetings, but I prefer sneakers for off-hours and schlepping through airports. To make up for the lost room, I store socks and underwear in shoes.</p></li>
<li><p>I stack clothes on top of the open suitcase, with those I least want wrinkled on the bottom (this would be cotton dress shirts). I then fold the whole pile together, leaving the most wrinkle-resistant clothes on the inside of the fold. It’s fast an easy, and minimizes the clothes ironing time in hotels.</p></li>
<li><p>I avoid too many organizer things. Organizers take up room and add weight – my enemies when traveling.</p></li>
<li><p>I wouldn’t pretend to give advice to women, but a man can get by a whole business trip with one pair of pants, especially since we don’t often wear suits any more. Just don’t tell my mom I would wear the same pair of pants four or five days in a row. In warmer months, I add a pair of walking shorts for evenings.</p></li>
<li><p>NEVER EVER EVER pack anything in check-in luggage that you don’t want stolen. This includes electric shavers (yep, I had one stolen from my bag), as well as more obvious things like cameras, computers, and music gear. Since the TSA gives any number of recent prison parolees permission to root through your stuff, just assume that if it isn’t clothes, it will get ripped off.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t check prescription medicine.</p></li>
<li><p>If you use carry-on bags, pack your skivvies on the bottom underneath your other clothes. There is less chance that the nice TSA people will show them to the world if you are selected for a security screen, and don’t even let me get started on “random screening.” What a stupid concept.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I guess there aren’t any miracles. Clothes always get wrinkled, and the less I carry the better it gets. Rarely do I wish I’d brought more.</p>
<p>I agree with WashDad. Less is more. I’m one of those obnoxious travelers that insists on carrying on. So no matter where I go, or for how long, I haul out my 22" roller and just fill it up. If it doesn’t fit, I don’t bring it. I’m an expert at washing things out, or even a quick stop at a laundry. (Clothes that dry quickly are a must - no jeans!) Stuff that might spill is best bought when you get there (especially if you’re going to Europe or someplace really far). Wear one pair of shoes and pack one. That’s all you need.</p>
<p>By the way, all travelers should know that under no circumstances will an airline reimburse you for lost/stolen/damaged electronics, jewelry, prescriptions, antiques, or “anything fragile.” That’s a little know clause written in really tiny print on your baggage claim.</p>
<ul>
<li>I think it’s amusing that OP says her entire family overpacks. Like it’s an inherited trait. :D</li>
</ul>
<p>Yes weenie, it is an inherited trait! Of course, we usually travel by car so we always have room for way more clothes than we need. It is the trips where we fly that I have trouble with. I am a very indecisive person and while traveling never know what I might want to wear on a given day. A few months ago I went with my husband to his medical school reunion. I had no clue what the attire was for each event so I took several outfits too many. After the first event I talked to a few wives or other doctors to see what they might be wearing the next day. Of course, the outfits I would have picked were perfectly fine, but I just wanted confirmation. Well, I was under dressed for the cook-out, but I didn’t care about that; it was a cook-out so I went in very casual capri’s, most of the other women were in skirts or slacks.</p>
<p>This is one of the nice things about being male. Khaki slacks and a long-sleeve dress shirt cover everything from a dinner at friends to just short of a wedding or funeral. Throw in a tie and a sports coat and you’ve got most weddings covered, too. (I still wear a suit to a funeral.)</p>
<p>just remeber that if you pack in ziplocs to bring etras because they rip when you try adn routinely stuff sthings in them…</p>
<p>I packed my whole suitcase vacuum packed in ziplocs, only to have some rip 6,000 miles from home… not a good expereince</p>
<p>I have a good friend who travels to Europe several times a year. (We went on our first trip to Europe together and took only a carry on bag each for a 3-week trip.) She also travels extensively for her job.</p>
<p>For her European trips with carry on bag only, she takes only black pants, black sweater or jacket and some tops. She says her only decision is which of her black items to take and two pairs of pants or three.</p>