I have these: Compression Packing Cubes, Organizers for Travel (National Park) https://a.co/d/1S4fPOy

They are expensive, but my old ones were lost in a move, and I needed new ones I could get same-day. I also think there were about $15 less when I bought them, but Amazon is currently increasing prices so that it can cut them for early Black Friday next week.

I like these for compression and organization. I am able to take a three night business trip using these, an underseater rolling suitcase, and my normal commuting backpack, which means I never have to gate check my bag, even on one of those tiny regional jets. I’ve had two instances in the past three months where my flight was significantly delayed (8-12 hours), and if my bag had been checked, I would not have been able to get on a different flight.

Anonymous wrote:E-bags are still my favorite but the cheaper ones from Amazon work fine too.

+1 I’ve been using my eBay’s for a dozen years. Multiple sizes. They are great!

I got a bunch of colors and dispersed them among family members. Easier for me to remember socks are in blue, tops in green, swim in red, etc.

We use monos cubes. No complaints and very useful

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are a gimmick.

No, I love them. Each of us has a color and we can more easily put multiple people’s clothes in one suitcase. And each person knows the size of packing cube that has their tops, underwear etc. It makes things much less chaotic. I note a big improvement.

And what do you do with your dirty clothes?

DP. But I carry a lightweight dirty clothes bag. When all of the clothes are dirty, I put them back into the compression cubes, except for the underwear, which stays in the dirty clothes bag.

Anonymous wrote:I have tried packing cubes and find them useless. Maybe for a specific type of travel they may be useful in some situations. For most trips, you don't need them.

No one has ever been able to tell me what benefit they really provide?

1. Organization. If you don’t care to organize that way, they’re not for you.
2. Compression (in some brands). If you don’t need to compress, they’re not for you.

Seems simple enough to me. DH doesn’t use them. I do because I’m usually packing for DD in my bag, so I like separating our stuff.

I use the 2 gallon ziplocks and find they work so well. I can see thru them, they can roll and are durable.

I have tried packing cubes and find them useless. Maybe for a specific type of travel they may be useful in some situations. For most trips, you don't need them.

No one has ever been able to tell me what benefit they really provide?

Anonymous wrote:Not what you asked, but: I’ve always used ziploc bags for packing, and I recently used a few with a new carryon that has mesh panels and a compression side. I don’t see how packing cubes would make things better. My 20” carryon held quite an impressive amount of stuff for a week of travel.

+1 Two gallon Ziploc bags are amazing for this and not something I knew existed a year ago (I thought one gallon was the max).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are a gimmick.

No, I love them. Each of us has a color and we can more easily put multiple people’s clothes in one suitcase. And each person knows the size of packing cube that has their tops, underwear etc. It makes things much less chaotic. I note a big improvement.

And what do you do with your dirty clothes?

I like the Gonex cubes I got on Amazon. They have compression zippers and a mesh top, so you can see what’s in them.

The compression does work to fit more in a bag, and I love that they keep everything from getting scrambled during a trip.

How useful they are depends on your luggage. They’re useful in a backpack or duffle to help organize a single large space.
I like them because they constrain how much I can bring because I like to travel light.
I have expensive ones by Sea to Summit (ultra sil, so very light) but I’ve been using them for over 15 years and they’re holding up fine. I expect them to last another 15 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are a gimmick.

No, I love them. Each of us has a color and we can more easily put multiple people’s clothes in one suitcase. And each person knows the size of packing cube that has their tops, underwear etc. It makes things much less chaotic. I note a big improvement.

We do the same and use a mix of compression and non-compression. It is really amazing how much space is saved.

Not what you asked, but: I’ve always used ziploc bags for packing, and I recently used a few with a new carryon that has mesh panels and a compression side. I don’t see how packing cubes would make things better. My 20” carryon held quite an impressive amount of stuff for a week of travel.