what do I ned to organize?

[hillview]

I have a number of bags and other than a travel tray, a few key straps and a cache I have no other org items.

Help me organize as I am in LOVE with the O-rings and organization in general.

Ideally something for
- small and medium cafe bags (I have a medium and plan to order a small as well)
- S19 and S25
- A30 (on the fence on packing cubes for this)?
What do I need to organize?
1) pens, eyeliner, lipstick (currently all in a non Bihn pouch which I'd like to replace)
2) wallet alternative (cash and credit cards?)
3) on occasion female care items (sorry for TMI)
4) maybe something smaller than the travel tray for my cords (2 lightening cords, a mini power strip, macbook brick)
5) I am on the fence on packing cubes for the A30 -- anyone want to sell me on why I need these?
Anything else??
Thanks!

[aedifica]

I am beginning to really like packing cubes--I just started using them a few months ago. Because:
* if I stuff a packing cube full, it compacts the clothes a little, so I can fit more into the suitcase than if I put the clothes in loose
* it's easier to dig through my suitcase to find something--I can pull out one cube that I know has the item, instead of having to dig around and pull out three things that were next to the thing I want
* it gives me a pleasurable feeling of organization to look into my suitcase and see smooth cube surfaces instead of a mishmash of stuff
* not an issue with the A30, but with the Tri-Star and other bags with narrow openings, I find it easier to slide a packing cube into the bag than to slide in multiple layers of clothes

I saw someone here mention using packing cubes to sort items--I remember they said they have one packing cube with pajamas, maybe an eyeshade, etc, so that no matter how tired they are when they get to their destination they can just pull out that one cube without having to search for the stuff. I like that idea.

[Fulton]

I'm a convert like aedifica on the cubes.

I have organized stuff many different ways in a WF and an A45. I like being able to compress the clothes. I also like being able to pack ahead -- filling a cube days or a week ahead and knowing that was done. Plus the cubes help me organize.

For example -- A business trip separating my professional clothes from casual evening outfits. A casual trip having a cube of my clothes, a cube of my son's clothes, a cube of bathing suits/beach stuff, and a cube of activities and toys. I've done a trip where I used one cube for Day 2 and 3 and then another cube for Day 4 and 5. Generally, I end up with one or two cubes used for laundry.

Plus I also read the forum post suggesting a cube of "everything I need the first night." A few months ago, we arrived in Utah with a jet-lagged toddler, and I rooted through my bag to find things in the dark. Next time, I will have one cube with pajamas, diaper, a book, etc. so I can walk into our room and have everything at hand.

As always, it is a personal choice. But I think the cubes are second only to the o-rings in terms of valuable innovation. They're one of the reasons that I've graduated converted to TB bags.


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[BWeaves]

Packing cubes keep clothing from shifting around and getting wrinkled. If you have to open your bag for TSA or customs and someone paws around in there, everything stays neat.

Plus, it's easier to find things. I either pack all like items together (undies in one, pants in another, tops in another), or I pack outfits together (everything for Friday together, everything for Saturday together, the fancy evening items together). For packing style one, I like Eagle Creek clean dirty cubes. When I've worn something, it moves to the dirty side of the cube. At the end of the trip, I'm all packed and ready to go. For packing style two, it's kind of the same way. At the end of the trip, I'm all packed. It basically comes down to if I'm just bringing a couple of specific outfits (packing style two), or if it's a long trip and I'll be washing clothing as I go along (packing style one). Either way, I love packing cubes. For winter, I love the compression cubes because they squish sweaters into a smaller volume.

Wallet alternative? Clear double organizer pouch. I think it's the small size I like. Money lays flat. Credit cards can be put in back to back, which cancels out the RFID so they cannot be read. Or you can just put a bit of aluminum foil in the pouch and it prevents reading the RFID. Plus, I can hook the COP to a keystrap and an o-ring. If I take it out, I won't leave it behind. It's tethered. Also, during a slash pouches attached to o-rings don't fall out like a loose wallet would.

[ceb]

You bring up a good point about security screening. The screeners don't care about clothing, but they do care about things that look suspicious (wires, books, metal objects) so if you pack like items together (electronics for example) then they can pull out that packing cube, check it and go from there instead of rooting around in all your stuff and leaving a mess. I find packing cubes far more useful than o-rings - but then again, I'm a guy and wouldn't let a wallet out of my pocket.