What is the most efficient way to pack a bag?
On trips of four days or less, I try to travel with a shoulder bag containing my laptop, electronics, etc. and a rolling, carry-on bag for everything else.
What is the best technique for packing as much clothing as reasonably possible into a standard-sized, rolling, carry-on bag? I don't want to overpack the bag doing something ridiculous or have any difficulty getting the bag in and out of an airline's standard overhead bin. Currently, I use a trick someone showed me where I stack several like items and then fold them together. It seems to pack them tighter and prevent creases from folding. Is there a better way?
I'm especially interested in tricks for packing shoes and jackets. I am a runner and my running shoes always seem to take up too much space. Jackets also never seem to be fold down efficiently.
Best Answer
Roll, don't fold your clothes. It is much easier to make a tight roll than it is to make a tight fold.
This doesn't mean not to use the "bundle wrap" method mentioned in other answers, but after you've done that, roll your boxers, remaining shirts, etc, and stuff them in the corners and nooks and crannies that remain.
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How do you pack your bag efficiently?
Although folding your clothing may seem to make the most sense, rolling saves nearly double the space! Start with your larger clothing items such as jeans and outerwear, and end with your smaller clothing items such as tee shirts and tank tops. Try out this tip while packing for your next trip, and you won't be sorry.What is the most space efficient way to pack?
Folding clothes is the quickest way to pack and is preferred over rolling for items that easily wrinkle such as a cotton button-down shirt or linen. Fold items along their existing creases.How to Pack your Clothing Efficiently - Army Roll Method
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Answer 2
A good & space-saving method is to wrap larger clothing (shirts, pants) and your towel around your laptop, and than put this bundle into a tight plastic back so it stays together before you pack it into your backpack - this also makes a good buffer in case you drop your bag and it will stay dry in the rain thanks to the extra plastic bag.
Always put the large items in your backpack first, and fill the remaining gaps with all the smaller items - socks, underwear, laptop power supply, bits & pieces etc. The disadvantage here that you have to repack everything if you want to get your laptop out.
Travel light! shirt, pants, 5 pairs of socks&underwear plus what you wear on your body should get you through 1 week before you have to wash anything. (You may need some more for colder places...)
I also prefer to have a bottle of water strapped to the outside of my backpack, and the camera somewhere in one of the outer bags for easy access.
Answer 3
Since the amount of how much you pack is limited by the available space you want to compress the clothes as much as possible. Rolling the clothes is a very good way to do this and i've used it on many travels already.
Then a friend told me about 'space bags'. Which basically enable you to vacuum pack your clothes in a plastic bag. So you put your clothes into the space bag and then compress it as much as possible. The air in the bag will be let out and no fresh air comes in. (similar to what iHaveacomputer wrote before me)
Perhaps that might be something you want to look into. Personally i haven't tried them, but i am curious if they actually work well. I could imagine that it would be great to compress a jacket and the main set of clothes, and using the rest of the clothes and the shoes to fill in the gaps.
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