Brain bag and packing cube advice?

[dkhyland]

Hello TB community,

I am planning on ordering a new Brain Bag and would appreciate some advice/info on packing cubes that will fit in the bag. First, I am an RN who travels around Florida every other week for 2-3 days at a time. I have the luxury of wearing scrubs and running shoes for work. I usually pack the following:

2-3 pairs of scrubs, underwear, 2-3 t-shirts, 2-3 pairs of socks, 1 pair of boxers, a small Snake Charmer that I use for toiletries, 1 pair of flip flops, 1 pair of shorts. 1 13” Dell laptop, a large Snake Charmer that I use for personal/work cables/bricks, 1 10.5” iPad Pro.

I already have a Synapse 25 and 19. The 19 is way too small to manage this stuff. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Devin

[backpack]

My advice would be to buy a Large Packing Cube or a Packing Cube Backpack for your scrubs, short and tees, which would fill one compartment of the Brain Bag. Get a Cache for your Dell and place both in front of the Large Packing Cube.

The other compartment would fit your Snake Charmers, your foundation garments:socks, etc... in a Small Packing Cube and your flip flops in the front compartment. Place your iPad Pro in a Cache and slip in in the back of the front compartment.

I have a Brain Bag and I also tried on an S25, I think that your load, packed with the same accessories as the Brain Bag could fit in the S25, but it depend on your clothing size.

In the S25, The Dell could be on a Cache with rail and the iPad in a Cache inside the back pocket in the main compartment, which would also contain your scrubs, tees and short in a Packing Cube.
I believe socks and other foundation garments can be placed in the side pockets, inside 3D Organizing Cubes to avoid the embarrassing accidental spill.

The Snake Charmers and the flip flops: in the lower pocket.

You would still have space in the front pocket and the water bottle pocket.


The S25 is more compact and stylish but the Brain Bag is a workhorse, the most versatile bag I have ever owned.

PS: One of the reason I always give for using Packing Cubes and other packing accessories is the need to protect clothes and things from spills which are prevalent in your line of work.

No matter which Bag you choose make sure to ask the Crew (Customer Service) which accessories fit best in your bag for your load.

[DubbySmurf]

My advice would be to buy a Large Packing Cube or a Packing Cube Backpack for your scrubs, short and tees, which would fill one compartment of the Brain Bag. Get a Cache for your Dell and place both in front of the Large Packing Cube.

The other compartment would fit your Snake Charmers, your foundation garments:socks, etc... in a Small Packing Cube and your flip flops in the front compartment. Place your iPad Pro in a Cache and slip in in the back of the front compartment.

I have a Brain Bag and I also tried on an S25, I think that your load, packed with the same accessories as the Brain Bag could fit in the S25, but it depend on your clothing size.

In the S25, The Dell could be on a Cache with rail and the iPad in a Cache inside the back pocket in the main compartment, which would also contain your scrubs, tees and short in a Packing Cube.
I believe socks and other foundation garments can be placed in the side pockets, inside 3D Organizing Cubes to avoid the embarrassing accidental spill.

The Snake Charmers and the flip flops: in the lower pocket.

You would still have space in the front pocket and the water bottle pocket.


The S25 is more compact and stylish but the Brain Bag is a workhorse, the most versatile bag I have ever owned.

PS: One of the reason I always give for using Packing Cubes and other packing accessories is the need to protect clothes and things from spills which are prevalent in your line of work.

No matter which Bag you choose make sure to ask the Crew (Customer Service) which accessories fit best in your bag for your load.

I second the above. You can definitely fit a large sized packing cube, A45/TS/PCBP/whatever, in one main compartment with your Dell in a Cache. You could probably even fit the iPad in that same compartment. In the second compartment then would go Snake Charmer, maybe a PCSB or smaller sized cube, etc. I imagine you’d still have space in that second compartment and then you could fill out the front as needed or move items around.

[BWeaves]

An Eagle Creek Specter medium packing folder fits in the BB easily.

[melminimalist]

I definitely would recommend a packing cube backpack. I have heard from a nurse perspective that the moveable feast is an awesome day bag for all the nurse needs like a stethoscope and such.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[dkhyland]

Awesome info all! I like the idea of the packing cube backpack but I’ll never use it as such during the day. My goal is to do away with my rolling duffle and go with 1 bag/accessories. I would have everything in the bag, go to the office, check into hotel in the pm, dump the packing cubes and use the BB for work back and forth from the office until I head back home. Like the fact that the BB can be “cinched” to tighten it up as it seems to be quite the large bag. I’ll look into the cache for the Dell work laptop as well but the iPad Pro has the keyboard cover and a TPC cover for the back so probably no need for another cache.

[backpack]

Aether Packing Cubes are lighter than the Halcyon Packing Cube Backpacks, anyway, so they would be a great.

For the iPad, think about putting something to cushion the underside, I am all about Caches or Padded Pouches for my electronics.

The Brain Bag looks like the ideal bag, for you.

[dkhyland]

So I just ordered the BB in Navy/Grass and a Lg WF Packing Cube! Can’t wait to get them this week. Are there any threads with pics of BBs and different organizational strategies people use? Would love some new ideas that people come up with.