Overnight with a suit -- Is there a good TB option?

[Fulton]

Last night I drove to Suffolk, VA and needed to bring a suit to wear at a funeral this morning.

I have adopted my S25 to carry my packable clothes in a TB packing cube and toiletries in a few mesh bags. But I needed to carry a separate hanging bag with my suit, dress shirt and dress shoes.

Is there a good TB option for an overnight trip where you wear casual clothes to travel and carry a suit-shirt-shoes outfit with toiletries and a little paperwork for iPad?

On trips where I wear the suit to travel, I have done overnights with nothing but am S25 for underwear, spare shirt, toiletries and iPad. But this trip felt like too much for the S25 and too little for my A45. I feel like people must use other pieces with some suit-rolling or other techniques.

(The travel tray remains the smartest single thing that I own. It cuts my stress in the hotel room because I know I won't leave anything behind.)




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[Frank II]

You have a few options:

The Tri-Star - The midsize "one bag" travel bag for business or leisure travel. - TOM BIHN would be the most practical. Fold the suit carefully and put it in the back section with the internal straps. The front section for shoes and toiletries. And the middle for the paperwork. It would probably have extra room in case you wanted to bring anything else.

If you wanted to "roll" your suit, and there are demonstrations on youtube, then an Aeronaut 30 - Carry-on Travel Bag for European Budget Airlines or Short Trips - TOM BIHN might work if the 45 was too big.

Personally, if I had the need to travel like you, I'd go with the Tri-Star.

[jacqueline]

Seconding the Tristar

I want to chime in on the great shape/structure of the Tristar.

I recently traveled to San Diego by plane and needed to take a floor length evening gown. I folded it carefully inside its carrier bag, to prevent wrinkles, and then tucked it neatly into the middle pocket of the Tristar. Shoes were put into a packing cube and inside another pocket, along with two other casual outfits and one business casual outfit. Much more room in this bag than it may appear at first glance. The organization is superb.

[imperator]

In my experience, suits will get wrinkled even in garment carriers, so I just assume I will be steaming/ironing when I arrive. If I have to pack a coat instead of wearing it, I usually roll up some undergarments and use that as the base for a "roll". I only roll it up enough so that the length of the coat will fit in the packing cube, then I pack my other clothes up against the rolled part to make the whole thing more rectangular.

As an aside, I use the WF backpack strap pocket for storing what little paper I have to carry during my travels, it works pretty well, if not as convenient as the Tri-Star's 3rd pocket..

[NWhikergal]

I have traveled with suits successfully by putting my suit in a smaller Eagle Creek packit folder inside of my Smart Alec, and there was plenty of room for exercise clothes, toiletries, etc. And a folder Daylight backpack or briefcase can easily fit inside the SA. However, I do wear smaller women's clothes, so this might not work for a larger men's suit.

[Fulton]

Thanks. I actually love that video. I had been studying it like homework trying to decide if the method really would let me pull out a suit that I could wear.

Any specific packing cube that works for a suit? If I invest in the TS or another bag, I will go all the way with cubes too.


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[Fulton]

Thanks. I appreciate the help. I feel like I'm considering the right stuff because I had studied that video and looked at the Eagle Creek pack it folder. I'm glad to hear they're both legit.

Does the Western Flyer carry a suit, overnight clothes and toiletries? I almost wish that I had some major travel scheduled so I could justify ordering a WF and TS to test pack. ;-) Thanks again for all the advice.


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[imperator]

Thanks. I actually love that video. I had been studying it like homework trying to decide if the method really would let me pull out a suit that I could wear.

Any specific packing cube that works for a suit? If I invest in the TS or another bag, I will go all the way with cubes too.
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I use the Backpack Packing Cube in the WF, but I only did it once. It won't work for a full roll like the video, just have to roll until the remainder of the jacket fits flat inside the cube. If I don't have the time to let the jacket hang in a steamy bathroom, I should probably already be wearing it, and the bathroom steaming works pretty well on minor packing wrinkles like that. Plus, jackets are a good way to carry extra pockets while travelling.

While I've been able to squeeze 5 days worth of clothes, toiletries and computer into a WF in a pinch, adding a jacket drops that down to 2 days, maybe 3 if you're short and have lighter fabric clothes.

A Bihn bag without cubes and pouches is somewhat like a Ferrari without an engine, you really don't get the full experience without them.

[CodeHead]

Any specific packing cube that works for a suit? If I invest in the TS or another bag, I will go all the way with cubes too.

I had to fly this last winter with a suit in tow. I used my tri-star for the suit. My 'packing cube' for the suit was a 2-gallon ziplock bag. The video I followed was this one where they used a special ziplock garment bag. I couldn't find one so an 'extra large' 2-gallon bag did the trick. The key was leaving some air in the bag so the suit didn't get crushed. I used my tri-star and it worked perfectly. (Had to get the larger ziplock bags from target...)

Rest of the bag had dress shoes in the front smaller section, clothes in the middle and front section with the dopp kit there too. Kindle and tickets and it was full.

[Fulton]

Overnight with a suit -- Is there a good TB option?

Thanks. This looks great. I am trying to decide whether a TS or a WF makes the most sense. Did the suit fill the back section? Or was there room for a suit and more clothes? I had been focused on overnight trips, but in wondering if I should buy for a 3-4 day trip. I'm planning for a suit, two or three days of underwear, tshirts, ties, etc. Plus a pair of shoes and toiletries.


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[CodeHead]

On the tri-star, the suit fit in the back with no real room to spare... I don't think I would have gotten the western flyer to work.

For me to get the tri-star to work, I had to get the packing cubes for it. My other cubes were too big. The weird thing about the tri-star, is the dividers 'give' a bit. So if you stuff the back section, the middle section is smaller. If you also stuff the front, the middle is pretty much useless. (Also, if you stuff the front, those zipper compartments aren't going to let you store anything much.) The tri-star packing cubes are a must to me for regular clothes.

I love the 'idea' of the tri-star... it fits everywhere. Weekend trip and its perfect. I did wonder if the aeronaut 30 would work better for me as its basically a fancy duffel. The aeronaut 45 (original version) I find too big, but easy to pack. I don't know if the A30 is basically a tri-star without dividers... would that be fine. I sometimes wish there was a Tom Bihn store where I could look at the bags in person to get an idea.

My trip with a suit in the tri-star was a 4 day trip... everything else in the bag (minus kindle) was mushable. And that bag was packed. Though I seem to remember I had something that I didn't use. I need to take pictures of my bags when I travel to remember how I did it last time.

EDIT: This was the post I made when I did my trip. The whole post is the 'angst' I have with the tri-star. Really, the TS changed my packing style.

[hachkc]

I think either the WF or TS could meet your needs. I pack a sport coat in the back pocket of TS somewhat frequently. You do need to fold it as "rolled" clothes don't tend to work as well in the TS or WF. The WF has a slight advantage over the TS as the pockets are slightly deeper by about a 1/2 in while the TS is 1 in wider and taller. I think the A30/A45 could do a "rolled" suit but remember the center section isn't as wide as the WF or TS.

[giantsteve]

Here's the video that changed my [packing] life.

works perfectly in the Tri-Star and there are virtually no wrinkles... Even after 24 hours. I fold the suit jacket as shown in the video and place it in a large TB Tri-Star packing cube which I gently secure in the outside compartment with the hold-down straps. The suit pants, shirts and other larger clothing goes in an Eagle Creek 18" (medium) folder and they also come out perfect. In fact I have used this method to easily take 2 suits in the Tri-Star (and my suits are 44 long, so net exactly small). I can even use the Eagle creek folder & Tri-Star packing cube to take a suit in my new Brain Bag!

[hachkc]

Here's the video that changed my [packing] life.

Same basic fold technique I use.