Packing My Bags

There is a phrase which occurs again and again in popular songs, regardless of genre: “I’m packing my bags”. It is universal shorthand for taking a trip somewhere, getting out of town, making a new start. Ah, the romance of the open road.

It is hardly coincidental that those same songs do not include lines about unpacking the bags. Where is the romance in hunting for a stray sock, or the thrill in trying to track down the source of a leaky shampoo bottle? What freedom is there in realizing that all those carefully folded clothes are now sadly crumpled?

Imagine how much more scope songwriters would have if they had had access to Travelling Light Garment Mesh Bags, Packing Cells, Toiletry Bags and assorted Travelling Light Pouches and Stuff Sacks? Organized, wrinkle-free clothes! Easily accessible electronic accessories! Personal care products secure and spill-free ready to be deployed in the hotel bathroom!

Granted, you may not be planning on writing a song; but there’s a very good chance that you will find yourself ‘packing your bags’ for a trip sometime in the not too distant future.

(This doesn’t even have to involve air travel or even a far-flung destination: you may just be heading out for a car-camping trip and would like to avoid the chaos which otherwise occurs inside your duffle bag).

Here, then, is how to get the most into your travel bag, and get the most out of your travel. Feel free to whistle your own soundtrack as you pack:

T-Shirts, Sweaters, Shorts, Skirts, Pants: Fold them and pack them in the Medium or Large Garment Mesh Bags. Because the zipper of the Garment Mesh Bag opens around three full sides, it makes sliding that stack of folded clothes into the Mesh Bag incredibly simple. You now have several soft, flat rectangular packages which are easy to stack in a duffle or carry-on bag and just as easy to pull out at the other end. With a bit of practice, clothes will come out with nary a stray crease.

Button-down shirts and Blouses: Fold them over the supplied folding board and lay them inside the Shirt Folder. Same story as above: the flat package (full of unwrinkled garments) is easy to pack into and retrieve from your bag.

Socks and underwear: Take your pick between the Garment Mesh Bag in Small or the Packing Cell in Small or Medium. Anyone who has built with Legos as a child will find it easy to fit the resulting rectangles into spaces in your duffel.

Toiletries: Two options – if you are checking your bag, pack your personal care products into a Hanging Toiletry Bag, Toiletry Cell or Toiletry Bag. More about accessing those items in the hotel bathroom in just a moment. If you are traveling with just a carry-on bag, decant your liquid care products into the leak-proof 1.3 oz or 3.0 oz (40 ml / 89 ml) bottles of the TPU Clear Zip Top Pouch. Its clear, welded construction will outlast conventional Ziploc bags, and its water-resistant zipper will contain minor spills (assuming you didn’t use the Sea to Summit bottles for everything…). At your destination, you will find that the Toiletry Bags all use piping around the exterior seam which works like a frame to give the bags a three-dimensional shape. Once you’ve used them, you’ll wonder why all toiletry kits aren’t made this way.

Small odds-and-ends: Pack them in Mini Stuff Sacks or (if they require a little shock protection) in Padded Pouches)

All of the above will need to be packed into a travel bag of some kind. In recent years, “expedition”-style duffles (in sizes down to ‘carry-on’) have become popular. They are tough and weatherproof, and some have the backpack –style straps to make carrying them over longer distances a little more comfortable.

However – until now, none of these duffles has combined strength and water resistance with a brilliantly simple hand grip/shoulder/backpack strap system and a shape which is easy to load and unpack. All this changed in March 2017 with the introduction of the new Sea to Summit Duffles, pictured below.

Easy packing/unpacking – the padded lid opens wider than on most duffles to give you access to your gear, and it closes – via a double zipper – to provide weather-resistant/theft-proof storage. Sea to Summit Duffles are built taller than similar duffles to make packing and unpacking even easier.

Variable carry straps – the multi-function straps are secured with gated metal hooks and convert quickly from hand grips to backpack straps to a shoulder strap. Carry your duffle right up to the check-in counter, then remove and stow the straps inside the bag to prevent anything snagging on the baggage handling machinery.

Tough and weather resistant – Our duffles feature a tough 1000D nylon base and rugged construction. All handles and straps are integrated into a 360° yoke, which is built into all four sides of the duffle.

Practical - the inner fabric is bright yellow to make it easy to find items, and the lid features an inner zippered pocket.

Cool looking, too – Sea to Summit Duffles are available in Orange, Blue or Charcoal and come in four sizes – 45 L (Carry-on compatible), 65L, 90L and 130L

Do you have a question about any of the above? Would you like to know more about the new Sea to Summit Duffles? Or would you just like to share a verse or two of a song that you’ve written about unpacking your beautifully organized travel bags?

Just ask Baz