Packing your clothes in your backpack may not sound like the most challenging thing in the world to do, but ask anyone who’s done it and undoubtedly they’ll admit it’s one of those things that’s harder than you would think.
For the last couple of years I followed the methods on the OneBag site which worked OK, but not perfectly. The bundle method promoted over there is certainly effective, but I found that in a backpack, your bundle of clothes shifted around and made a mess of things.
I’m getting ready for another trip to Morocco and during a trip to my local REI I came across the Eagle Creek Pack-It Folder. I had walked by them before and passed them as nothing more than a gimmick, but after one too many trips with my clothes stretching out because I packed them too tight, I decided to give it a shot. It had great reviews online and was on sale for about $20. Score an REI coupon code for further savings on this pack and other great finds.
I’m hooked.
The concept is simple. Pack your clothes neatly inside the folder and fasten the sided down to smash everything together tightly. The key, of course, is to fold and pack your close neatly which everybody knows is no easy feat. The Pack-It folder makes it pretty fool proof though.
Fold your pants in half on and lay them on the bottom of the folder.
Use the included folding sheet to fold any shirts or tops you have neatly. It’s just like the stores do it. Lay the thin plastic card on the back of your shirt and fold the sleeves over the sides. Flip up the bottom of the shirt and remove the card. Lay the shirt on the top of your folder and repeat until you’re done with all of your clothes. The card even has directions on it in case you can’t figure it out.
Finally, lay the card on the top of your pile and fold the sides of the folder over. You can cinch them down and fasten the velcro to keep it all tight. There’s even a handle to carry it easily if it’s not going inside a backpack or luggage.
The benefits
If you’re familiar with the bundle wrapping technique, you’ll notice this isn’t too far off. The main difference is that the folder keeps the clothes together rather than wrapping them around each other.
Your clothes will be neatly packed in a considerably smaller space than you are used to. The folder isn’t much larger than a laptop (depending on what size you purchase) so you’ll be saving a lot of room in your backpack.
The drawbacks
As with anything that helps you fit more things into smaller spaces, you’ll be tempted to pack more than you need. Fight the urge and take only what you need. You’ll have extra room in your backpack if you need it for other things while traveling and you’ll save some strain on your back.
The other minor (and I mean very minor, to me at least) drawback is that your clothes will not stay wrinkle free. Wrinkles will be minimized but they will get minor creases from the folding but to me that is not a big deal. They’re much more wrinkle-free than if I were to fold and pack them myself. So far this doesn’t bother me at all.
Some people may complain about paying for another piece of gear, but at around $25, I think this is well worth it. I can enough to last me for two weeks in less than 5 minutes and into a convenient size that’s not much larger than a laptop computer.
The Eagle Creek Pack-It Folder comes in three sizes: 15, 18, and 20. After trying all three, I found the 20 too large and the 15 too small and the 18 just right. I packed one pair of pants, two pairs of shorts, 2 dress shirts, and 5 t-shirts in the 18 with room to spare.
Where to purchase
You can probably find an Eagle Creek Pack-It Folder at your local outdoor retailer, but you can also order them on Amazon for around $25 depending on the size.
Ooh – looks pretty cool. Will have to check it out. Is that you in the picture with your head cut off? :)
It is, and every photo of myself is much better with my head cut off. Trust me! ;)
Super cool! I’ve seen packing cubes, but I’ve never seen a folder like this. I’ll have to give it a shot–I have a tendency to overpack (or accumulate too many things while traveling), so I’m always looking for creative ways to cram more stuff in!
Does the size 18 one fit comfortably in the Kelty Redwing? Would the 20 fit as well?
The 18 fits well. The 20 might, but it’d be close.
Gosh your cute, although id like to see the whole picture of you. If your shy send it to me directly ;)
I’d love to go traveling with you someday and hold your hand all over this planet.
My girlfriend is going to beat you up.
I’d take a beating for you
I’m SO jealous of her! lucky girl!
damn it your studly!
Nice innovation bag for backpackers and those who always travel light. I’m quite obsessed when it comes to cleanliness though coz i’m not comfortable wearing soiled clothes or used one. But then travel light force you to re-use your clothes if you have no time to wash and dry them. Anyway, I still consider myself a travel light person.
I just purchased this same bag for my backpacking trip! I think it would help me a lot considering last year I had a mess in my backpack and this will definitely keep me more organized!!
Here will be the deal that I have for you right now. Receive a customized internet site, read the niche assortment secrets, pick an income source, plug in the targeted traffic source, and finally simply let the state-of-the-art software program go to work. Give it a look for yourself… http://tinyurl.com/d8zuxer
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in
your article seem to be running off the screen in Ie.
I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I’d post
to let you know. The design look great though! Hope you
get the issue fixed soon. Kudos
I blog often and I genuinely thank you for your information.
Your article has truly peaked my interest. I will bookmark your website and keep checking for new information about once a week.
I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
You’ve made some really good points there. I checked on the web for additional information about the
issue and found most individuals will go along with your views
on this website.
It’s very effortless to find out any topic on web as compared to
books, as I found this article at this site.
Thanks for your personal marvelous posting!
I seriously enjoyed reading it, you may be a
great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and may
come back down the road. I want to encourage that you continue your great work, have a nice evening!
You’re so interesting! I do not believe I have read through something like that before.
So wonderful to find another person with original
thoughts on this issue. Really.. many thanks for starting this
up. This website is something that’s needed on the internet, someone with a
little originality!