Some people go light, others want to bring the kitchen sink. I belong in a 12-step on the latter, but either extreme appreciates fewer bags to carry. Here’s a packing technique that you may want to play with, and it’s bailed me out when I’ve bought more at destination than I really had room to bring back home.
Ziploc makes a line of Big Bags and the smallest of those is perfect. Put your bulky item(s) into one (down vest, bulky sweats for lounging, a favorite chenille robe, even shearling Uggs boots). Zip it almost all the way shut leaving about a 2-inch opening. And then just sit on it. That forces all the air out and compresses what’s inside. While still seated, zip the remaining 2 inches closed, and check the whole seal. Talk about flat! Stuff that’s huge otherwise just takes up no room. The seal lasts surprisingly long because those bags are sturdy.
What totally surprised me when playing around with crushing my stuff this way, is that I tried it with a stack of t-shirts. I folded them carefully first, but was surprised to find that somehow there was nowhere near the wrinkling I expected. You can do the same thing with the Jumbo (15″) size available at most supermarkets or even the regular gallon size for socks or unders or anything else. Just make sure they’re the freezer quality.
Ziploc packing not only conserves space but even if not compressed, it lets you slide things in and out of a suitcase without rumpling everything else above and below what you’re retrieving.
Leave a Reply