All Hail the Surprisingly Versatile Packing Cube! These Are Our Favorites

Packing cubes can be worth buying even for experienced travelers who already know how to pack. Regular cubes add a small amount of weight, while compressible styles can be a major benefit for people who tend to overpack. Cubes help keep clothes folded and organized in duffel bags and travel backpacks, where organization is harder to maintain. They protect items from dirt, damage, and sand, and they reduce wrinkles by keeping garments separated. Cubes can also limit how much TSA inspects by containing any problematic item to a single cube. They enable privacy and easier removal of items to adjust checked-bag weight. Unpacking becomes faster because cubes can be placed directly into hotel drawers without fully removing clothes.

"Even though I'm a frequent traveler, I lived well over four decades of my life without thinking I needed packing cubes. I know how to pack, I thought. I can roll my things up tightly to fit in any carry-on suitcase or backpack. Are packing cubes really worth it? Why would I spend money on something simply to separate my workout pants and pajamas from my daily outfits?"

"Then I bought a set, and I will never go back. Packing cubes are often scoffed at by r/onebag minimalists and those who can live three weeks out of a backpack with four outfits and a toothbrush. To their point, regular packing cubes do add weight (usually less than a pound), but compressible styles, like the Eagle Creek Pack-It Reveal Carry-On Set ($104), Thule's Compression Packing Cube Set ($54), or Bagsmart Compression Cubes ($43), are a game changer for overpackers."

"Packing cubes are also critical for duffel bags and travel backpacks, where it's harder to keep clothes folded and organized. They protect your things from dirt, damage, and sand. And they get your clothes to your destination with fewer wrinkles. They also provide privacy: If TSA decides to go through your stuff publicly right next to the security line (as happened to me one year when I packed an apparently suspicious-looking 20-ounce bottle of soda), they will only go through the offending cube instead of rifling through everything."

"Unpacking is also much quicker and easier with a set of cubes. You don't even have to take your clothes out-you can put the packing cubes right in the hotel drawers. If you're ready to give the packing cube life a try, or upgrade a current set, check o"

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