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Okay, the roll vs fold question is only a part of it. There's so much info out there it can make you crazy. But one thing I haven't seen answered is whether to pack one's suitcase assuming the case will spend its travel time standing up or laying down.
I used to always lay out the suitcase on the bed and start packing. Then i realized that as soon as I stood the bag up to load it into the car, gravity took over and the shoes that were on the bottom when the bag is laying down are now sliding down and crushing things as soon as I stand the bag up. That's just one example.
With wheels on so many bags now, it seems the more common way of life for a bag is vertical. So do you pack accordingly and stand the bag up as you pack?
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Another good reason to use packing cubes. Think of them as like file folders for clothing. You can organize by function (innerwear vs. outerwear, shirts vs. trousers, clean vs. dirty) or by trip portion. Make sure you have one large enough for a folded dress shirt/trousers folded in quarters.
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I don't stand the bag up as I pack but I do put shoes and other heavier things down at the bottom near the wheels.
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I guess if you're traveling by car or only have a carry-on, you could pack according to bag orientation. But if you're checking a bag on an airline, what's the point? They might open it for TSA inspection, and it's probably going to ride "upside down" on the belts (so that the wheels don't interfere with the conveyer).
I also use packing cubes to try and maintain some semblance of order. There are also new styles of bags that are like "closets on wheels". They have separate compartments and you can "open" the bag and hang it with all the compartments accessible.
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Michael wrote:
I don't stand the bag up as I pack but I do put shoes and other heavier things down at the bottom near the wheels.
Same here: Shoes at bottom (near the wheels), then jeans/pants, then
folded shirts at the top. The "roll" thing sounds like crazy talk to me, either that or propaganda from the iron & ironing board manufacturer's association. When I'm folding a shirt to go in a suitcase, I let my OCD have free reign and fold it to exactly fit the space available using a cardboard template I made of the inside of my suitcase. When a shirt I've packed comes out of the suitcase, it's not wrinkled, it's
creased.
An ex-military friend of mine was chatting with me while I was packing once and after seeing me carefully fold and pack shirts said "You know the Army is looking for people like you". He didn't mean that as a compliment. :dunno:
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I pack so it won't shift during transport.
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I assume the whole bag is going through a tumble dryer that moves in 6 axis of motion...
Another tip; you know those "space bag" vacuum storage bags? You put clothes into them, then use a vacuum to suck the air out to flatten 'em? REALLY useful for packing! Make 2-3 flat packs out of your clothes, and you have some additional room in your bag. Plus, they stay fairly rigid when the air is sucked out.
Works very well for me and my soft-sided travel backback that I typically fly "carry on only" with.
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i have heard people swear by cubes. Any recommendation on a good starter set and approach?
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Cheap cubes are easy to find on eBay. Eagle Creek makes nice ones, but they're pricey. I have a midsize one from Rick Steves that seems to be pretty well made. It's mainly the quality of the zippers and seams.
Essentially, you want the cube to be just big enough for what you're packing‚ thus my earlier mention of "a folded dress shirt/trousers folded in quarters." That's something like 13 x 9 inches. And you want it to be no more than about 3 inches deep, so the clothes for a short trip won't have room to move around. I think
the ones sold on the Rick Steves site are too deep. Taking more clothes? Use two cubes. File folder analogy again.
I'm more or less a backpacker these days, so for most destinations I head out with one 13x9x3 cube, packed with two pair of khaki trousers and three golf shirts. I wear a long-sleeve shirt and jeans on the plane. A smaller cube holds underwear and socks. For a cold-weather urban trip with my rolling bag, almost the same but a couple of long-sleeve shirts go instead of the polos, and Uniqlo Heattech undershirts + a second sweater go in a second 13x9.
