Wasn't sold on packing cubes for 3 years, then tried them on a 10 day trip

I always thought packing cubes were just extra weight and hassle... figured I could just roll my clothes tighter. Last summer I did a 10 day loop in the Wind River Range and my buddy had them. He could unpack his whole bag in 30 seconds to find his rain jacket. Meanwhile I was digging through everything like a raccoon. On day 4 I was so annoyed I asked to borrow one of his. It really did keep my dirty stuff separate and made camp setup way faster. Has anyone else been converted after swearing them off for years?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopherwilson6d ago

Honestly the space thing is kind of funny because at first I figured they'd just take up more room but ngl they actually let me cram more in since everything compresses down better in the cube than just rolling loose. Your dirty sock problem hit home though, I used to just shove my stink stuff in a random corner and hope for the best, ended up with my clean shirt smelling like a barn. The cubes basically saved me from smelling like a walking disaster by day three, so yeah I'd say they're worth the extra half ounce of weight. Just don't try to argue with your buddy about it for a whole trip like I did, you'll end up eating your words and his trail mix.

the_eric6d ago

That Wind River trip sounds like a rough way to learn that lesson... I've never done that range but I hear it's brutal. The thing that got me was the dirt separation too - I did a week in the Smokies and my clean socks ended up smelling like last Tuesday's shirt. Did you find the cubes made a noticeable difference in how much space you had left in your pack, or was it more about just staying organized?

sanchez.pat3d ago

Wait, did you say you just shoved your stink stuff in a random corner and hoped for the best? Man, I did that exact thing for years and it always bit me in the ass. I think the cubes actually help with space more than people give them credit for because they force you to pack tighter instead of just tossing stuff in loose. Like, when you roll a shirt by itself it takes up all this weird air, but cramming it in a cube squeezes that air out and lets you stack things flat. Plus you can shove the cubes in every nook and cranny of the bag, which you can't really do with loose clothes that just flop around. The dirty sock thing is the real win though, keeping that nastiness sealed away from everything else is worth the extra ounce or two alone. I'd bet you could fit an extra day's worth of food in the space you save just from not having a bunch of loose piles of clothes in your pack.