Here’s My Secret to Fitting Twice As Much Stuff In My Luggage

Packing cubes are fantastic for organizing clothing by type, outfit, or person. I used them a lot when my kids were younger, since I could pack both of their clothes into one suitcase while easily distinguishing the older kid’s stuff from the younger kid’s stuff. (This prevented the bigger kid from accidentally wearing two-sizes-too-small underwear all day.) But these zippered rectangular bags are great for sorting anyone’s clothes into neat, tidy parcels that can lie flat in your suitcase.

The REI Co-op cubes are about the same size, shape, and price as some of our other recommended packing cubes, like the Eagle Creek Pack-It Reveal Cube Set, but they have a bonus feature that gives them an edge for an overpacker.

While most packing cubes have just one zipper to open and close them, the REI Co-op cubes have two. The extra zipper in the middle opens up the cube like an accordion to nearly double the storage space, allowing you to stuff more in than you thought possible. According to the manufacturer, the cubes adjust from 3.5 liters up to 6 liters (small); 8.5 liters up to 13 liters (medium); and from 14 liters up to 21 liters (large).

I’ve managed to fit twice the number of T-shirts in a medium cube and a couple extra dresses in a large cube than in a non-expandable packing cube. And all you have to do to compress the cube is push on the bag and zip it closed.

Even though the packing cubes might be stuffed to the brim, my items are still wrinkle-free when I pull them out. One technique helps with that: Stacking the cubes along the bottom of your suitcase allows them to continue lying flat, which helps avoid the wrinkles your clothes would get if they were packed regularly. Though the best way to reduce wrinkles is to make sure you fold the clothes to the size of the packing cube, which was confirmed by @thetravelmentors (video) on Instagram.

The cubes can then be repurposed to hold dirty clothes accumulated over the length of the trip, making it easy to unpack by simply emptying the contents of my packing cubes straight into the washing machine once we arrive home.

It’s also really nice that this particular set comes with REI’s satisfaction guarantee, which means you can return or exchange a new item for up to a year.