Luggage organization's - how do you?

[Paul_B]

I've had a long experience of packing rucksacks for backpacking trips. I'm a firm believer in finding your own organisation of kit within the sack according to how you use things. That's not my issue here.

I've got an issue with being unable to work out a packing system for normal airport type trips. I've just got a suitcase hybrid with shoulder straps and wheels. It's got two compartments and opens out like a suitcase. It's basically a suitcase with extras. How do you pack such a thing for traditional holidays? It's clothes, footwear, ski clothes, toiletries and luxuries. The last would be in the removable day sack though. No real kit like tents and it's a hotel stay so perhaps no issue getting at contents.

This might sound fussy but I like organisation. In just haven't traveled like this enough to work it out. BTW I have a few character traits that having set places for things is kind of important. Not OCD but to do with losing things, frustration and the like.

My backpacking sack I can pack then I could point you directly to everything in it such that you could reach non blindly down the inside of the sack and the first object your hand reaches is what you're looking for. I find when you're out in all weathers that organisation is important.

Ideally I want to have that confidence and organisation level for family holidays. Perhaps there is some OCD there but I think it's more that I'm useless at finding things and can start arguments in an empty room if I lose something.

Without a system I'll end up with everything thrown in. This is the first time I've had a proper suitcase type of luggage with plenty of division for organisation. It's overwhelming.

 

[Duggie Bravo]

For a suitcase, I pack similarly to my kit bags, except some of the clothing is different.

I will normally use one side for shoes, wash kit, electrical items and things that don’t mark.

The clothes side, I start by sizing my items, by length and width.

These are laid flat and then shaped to the suitcase.
T-shirts and under are rolled and placed in the middle, clothes are then folded over the top so no sharp creases.

On arrival at the hotel I will unpack as soon as possible to reduce creasing.


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[Paul_B]

Creasing? That's a worry for others, we've never bothered with that. Never really go anywhere where we need to be smart. Got my funeral/wedding/ job interview suit but that's about it. It's possibly a reaction to having to wear a suit in a past job.

I tend to roll things up, socks tucked into pairs and that's about it.

Last year I had a duffel bag which we took the ski jackets, coats and salopettes out to hang up. After that it was rummage for what I needed. Don't think there were many drawers and storage options considering it was a family room.

 

[SaraR]

I've had a long experience of packing rucksacks for backpacking trips. I'm a firm believer in finding your own organisation of kit within the sack according to how you use things. That's not my issue here.

I've got an issue with being unable to work out a packing system for normal airport type trips. I've just got a suitcase hybrid with shoulder straps and wheels. It's got two compartments and opens out like a suitcase. It's basically a suitcase with extras. How do you pack such a thing for traditional holidays? It's clothes, footwear, ski clothes, toiletries and luxuries. The last would be in the removable day sack though. No real kit like tents and it's a hotel stay so perhaps no issue getting at contents.

This might sound fussy but I like organisation. In just haven't traveled like this enough to work it out. BTW I have a few character traits that having set places for things is kind of important. Not OCD but to do with losing things, frustration and the like.

My backpacking sack I can pack then I could point you directly to everything in it such that you could reach non blindly down the inside of the sack and the first object your hand reaches is what you're looking for. I find when you're out in all weathers that organisation is important.

Ideally I want to have that confidence and organisation level for family holidays. Perhaps there is some OCD there but I think it's more that I'm useless at finding things and can start arguments in an empty room if I lose something.

Without a system I'll end up with everything thrown in. This is the first time I've had a proper suitcase type of luggage with plenty of division for organisation. It's overwhelming.

I use pretty much the same system for any type of bag and like you prefer things to stay in their place for the duration. I have stuff sacks for pants, socks, bras and sometimes one for warm woolly underwear (all three mixed) if only taking a few sets. Then I have one plastic bag for dirty laundry. Electrical stuff goes in one bag and first aid and small safety gear in another one.

Shoes/boot go in the bottom end and orientated so that the soles support the sides. Fragile things and toiletries go in the centre and everything else is packed around it to keep it protected. There's no point in having bags for t-shirts and trousers etc as you won't have that many.

I pack the same way (fragile stuff in centre of a cocoon of less fragile stuff, minimise the potential for movement, and every hollow filled with something so to minimise dead space) for a weekend away and a month's fieldwork in the Arctic.

The trick is to keep stuff organised while away! (You need a warmer jumper when heading out for dinner so you so you quickly change, pulling one out and shoving the other one back. Then you get back and need your phone charger that's somewhere in the bottom, but it's late and you just root around until you find it. And the next day everything is jumbled but you're rushing to get out and then nothing is where you can find it ) Sadly I think that's only solved by keeping on top of putting things back where you explain them to be.

 

[Robson Valley]

Experience and habits for packing a suitcase.
Once a month, rarely 2X, for 6 years of flying for business.
Every 2 weekends from 2000 to 2006.
I just fell into a routine with a mental check list. I can pack for 2 weeks in maybe 15 minutes.

Beat the hello out of one super-size case and bought a bigger one.
It has a paperwork pocket and a clip-on shoulder bag (useless).
I have a toiletries bag which has not been unpacked since 1993. In it goes.
Clothes, by habit, in corners and layers.

I have a really big pack. tent, s bag everything. Small loads, I use a cardboard box to fill 1/2 the pack.
Same as you = there's a place for everything by habit. The stove is _always_ in the same pocket.

Above all, I have resisted the urge to spread my stuff out where ever I land. Have not lost a thing.
In this day and time, I even leave some clothes in the suitcase.

 

[Billy-o]

Clamshell packs

When I first met dearest wife she had a clamshell pack from Mountain Equipment Coop. By the time I saw it, it had already traveled round Europe for a year and spent four months travelling around Vietnam. Unbruised. She then gave it to her younger brother, who then went on to do much the same. Anyway, don't know if that one lives still, but in 1991 we bought two more and used them for everything. They are still going strong. One of them needs a new coat of silicone on the inside. They are about 50L including the attached daypack (overhead sized). Handle on the side and top so you can tuck away the shoulderstraps and hip strap. Short compression straps outside with longer ones inside and a mesh compartment. That's it for organization.

Since then, I have downsized but up-priced to GoRucks ... I don't use clamshells for camping because too much crap gets inside, but for travelling, and I travel very much, nothing, nothing beats them.

For organization: a sealable bag for wet stuff, a bag for grubby undies and shirts, something padded for electronics, Dopp and a pencil case for just things. Do not over-organize. It will eventually freak you out and in any case you will never be able to find anything.

 

[Paul_B]

I have this bag, or similar in a different colour

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8806543

Main compartment has u shaped zip that opens it up except for a bit right at the base. The lid part is actually another big compartment, perhaps 20 litres. The side compression straps go over the main compartment zips and either compresses the contents or compresses the contents and hold the 20 litre day pack onto the bag. When booked in at check in the shoulder straps would be zipped into the back and covered with the zip cover. The daypack is carry on bag.

I liked the osprey version but £180 with the daypack extra at £60. This was a present so I'm happy enough with it. Hope total 80 litre capacity is enough. I'll probably have some of my sons clothes too. My clothes are bulky. Still got to get winter boots to go in it too.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Do you have a sewing machine? Get some light coated fabric (sil nylon ideal) and sew up some Pull Outs, like the things Kifaru sells. Pretty simple zip organiser pouches. You can colour code. I use such things to separate clothing types so that things stay together even when they are pulled out of the bag.
https://store.kifaru.net/ultralight-pullouts-p22.aspx

I like these better than stuff-sacks since they pack flatter and you have better access. When made yourself you can custom size for whatever clothing or gear you are working with.

I have even made small versions from stiffer fabric for first aid pouch and electronics carrier.

With a suitcase I tend to pack very much as SaraR describes.

I have tended to find myself on one of three types of trip. Backpacking/canoeing where I am going to be living from the pack, as packed. Road trip, where I will be using the pack, but have a vehicle to work with, so not everything has to stay in the pack all the time, and lastly, visiting people, or in hotels, where I have multiple days with all the space, light, heat and shelter I could want. Sounds like your trip is the latter. In which case, there is really very little to be bothered about.

When I travel like that, I may pack the bag for transit, but I don't worry about it being ideal for living out of. I turn up in a hotel, or a friend's house, and I can take some items out, re-shuffle and generally make access convenient. Re-rigging to live out of the suitcase/bag/pack. Maximum pack density is never optimum for access convenience, and if you have space, light, shelter, and some time, there is no need to try to make it so. When it is time to go again, the contents are re-shuffled to transit config. Higher density, fragile things I may have been using a lot can be packed inside shoes, padded with wadded socks, shirts used for padding, flat boxy items at the bottom/wheel side.

Yes, sometimes I take a little time to find smaller random items, but that is only because such trips are infrequent and always to different places. Can't expect to have a practised system if you don't get to practise with the same kit! I have not lost anything. Suitcases and duffel bags don't get fully emptied. Top loading back packs do.

Good luck.

Chris

 

[Billy-o]

Wear your winter boots on the plane ... when you get to the airport you'll see a bunch of people with the same idea. I used to slip out of them into an old pair of felt Birks ... I say 'used to' as now I just have more boots in different places

 

[Paul_B]

Wish I had a place in one of these resorts. Simply leave the bulky kit there and travel with carry on. Do you get many second homers in Scandinavian countries? I expect the outdoors and place in the country could be more common.

I did a trial pack at the weekend to see if the case was big enough. Only packed about 80% of my stuff and all randomly packed. Result was plenty of empty pockets of space often where you couldn't easily reach.

I learnt early on with backpacking that without order you often waste space when packing.

The other thing I learnt was loads of individual dry bags for organisation meant you had loads of cylindrical packages that don't compress against each other completely because they're airtight. This creates gaps IME. I switched to either one large drybag packed with dry night kit then everything else loose or an event drybag which allows air to be squashed out.

I've looked at packing cubes, pullouts, etc. There's several manufacturers making rectangular kit organisation products. I've always thought your adding weight, material and bulk when it's not needed. Drybags for backpacking protects in heavy rain. Most hotel holiday trips the bag material should protect for the length of time it could be in wet conditions. Loose fabric items squish down better than bagged up items I think.

The bag I have seems to have various pockets and divisions. I guess it's a case of laying my kit out and trying to find out where the most efficient and practical location for it in the bag.

As to why bother when staying in a hotel? I'm taking bulky kit and carrying overflow from sons bag so probably run out of space if packed inefficiently. Plus obsessive tendencies, possibly.

Although to be fair, with a uk backpacking background efficient packing is essential in case of bad weather when setting up camp. Especially if it's getting or is dark. I could start my pitching up even without a torch on. A mix of touch and picturing my kit (location and how it goes together) in my head. So this obsession has good reasons to exist.

 

[Paul_B]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Plenty of ideas and food for thought. Always good to hear opinions from others. Especially since I often have these obsessive worries queries that are probably of little matter to most people.

 

[Herman30]

Why use a suitcase in the first place? Why not your backpack that you are used to?

 

[Paul_B]

It's easier in hotels to live out of suitcases. It's still a rucksack so it'll be on my back for longer walks with it between airport hotel or carpark and terminal for example.

 

[Janne]

I travel a fair bit. I do not have a specific way, it depends on what I am packing.
Fragile things are in the middle, surrounded by clothes.
Electric shaver, deo, perfume, bottles of gifting booze goes in the middle.
Essential and hard stuff like fishing reels ( without the line) I transport in my hand luggage.

For me it is important the luggage is hard, and that both halves have a zipped cover.

 

[GuestD]

clothes rolled. Toiletries, buy them when I get there, never had the need for any electrical stuff. I've always travelled light. Two pairs shoes/footwear max. Easy. Usually packed in a soft bag.