Packing Cubes for A45, and I thought this would be easy.

[jhnmason]

Bihners,

Now that I've received my A45, which is awesome, I need to decide on which packing cubes would best meet my needs. I've already got a few TSSs in various sizes, one of each size, but want something to help me stay organized when I travel. My next trip will be the beginning of November so I'd love to test all this out then. I found a couple of threads about the various options but am still having trouble deciding. Here is what I am very confident I do want, at least 2 All fabric End Pocket Cubes - for shoes, dirty clothes, anything like that. Now, what I'm not sure about is the rest. My initial thought was to go with 1 large and 2 small packing cubes as this would let me compartmentalize a bit more, but the 4 vertically stacked End Pocket Cubes look great and ultra organized to me. This is intended on being my One Bag for travel, and thusly organization would be great. Also, on my next trip I'm going to try to save my wife and I the $35 bucks and try to use only the A45 for the two of us, since it is only a 4 day trip, thus I'm thinking all the extra cubes may be helpful for separation. The TSSs should provide ways to use up the extra nooks and crannies as well, but I'm still not sure which direction to go since 6 End Pocket Cubes, if I bought one for each pocket plus for for the middle, is certainly not cheap.

Please advise, thanks.

[terayon]

Because the A45 is a big open space, I find it useful to have smaller cubes rather than the large. But if you have, say, dress shirts that you want to pack folded, you need a large packing cube. The large is also a good option to, say, pack all your shirts and pants in, then use small cubes (or TSSs, which you already have) for underwear and socks.

I use an all-fabric cube for shoes, but I generally throw my dirty clothes in a big sack (an old stuff sack for a sleeping bag, actually). The combination of the laundry sack and the packing cubes works on the same principle as the travel laundry stuff sack - as the packing cubes empty, the laundry sack gets full, and because the sack is big enough that I'm not cramming stuff in, it's flexible in shape enough to squeeze into the nooks and crannies.

[backpack]

I second the need for a Large Packing Cube to keep pants, shirts, skirts, tees even cardigans or sweaters relatively flat, thus saving ironing time if an outing to a nice restaurant or a meeting with VIPs is expected.

I don't have End Pocket Packing Cube but TB forum members who use them find them really useful.

[jhnmason]

I'm thinking, as of now, that I'd go for two end packing cubes, both all fabric, both for the end pockets and shoes or anything else I'd want separated. For more flexibility I think I'll try one large Packing Cube and two Small as I feel that leaves me a bit more leeway since I generally don't need to pack tons of larger items that would be more appropriate for the large packing cube.