Are Packing Cubes Actually Worth It? Here’s What Years Of Messy Suitcases Taught Me

Packing cubes can seem like an unnecessary extra when packing a suitcase, especially when clothes can simply be folded or rolled and placed directly inside. But after years of struggling to keep luggage organised, one traveller found that packing cubes became particularly useful during a Sri Lanka cruise and later while travelling with her twins. What began as scepticism about adding another layer of bags to her suitcase eventually became a regular part of her packing routine.

Her first major test came during a cruise to Sri Lanka, where different activities required different outfits throughout the day. Instead of putting everything together in one large suitcase compartment, she organised clothes according to each day's plans and placed them inside separate packing cubes. This meant she could find a particular outfit without removing half the contents of the suitcase, making frequent changes considerably easier.

The biggest advantage proved to be organisation. Tops, bottoms and smaller clothing items could each have their own space, preventing the suitcase from turning into a single pile of clothes. The system became even more useful when she began travelling with her twins, who often share a suitcase. Using different coloured cubes for each child allowed her to separate their belongings immediately and avoid searching through mixed-up clothes for socks, shirts or other essentials.

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Packing cubes also made unpacking simpler. Rather than removing individual pieces from the suitcase, the cubes could be lifted out and placed where needed. However, they do have limitations. They cannot reduce the actual weight of the luggage and may even encourage overpacking because more clothes appear to fit neatly into the available space. They also add an extra step when looking for a specific item, while shoes, toiletries and bulky clothing still need to be fitted around the cubes.

For travellers who pack lightly and use a small backpack, packing cubes may not make a major difference. They can be more valuable for families, shared suitcases or trips where outfits need to be organised by day. The traveller also found that the cubes became useful enough for her husband, whose neatly packed suitcases had long been a source of comparison, to ask to borrow them for an upcoming trip.

Overall, packing cubes do not make packing effortless or solve every luggage problem, but they can make a suitcase considerably easier to manage. Their main benefit is creating separate sections for belongings, making clothes easier to locate and simplifying both packing and unpacking. For this traveller, years of messy suitcases ultimately led to a simple conclusion: packing cubes had earned a permanent place in her travel routine.

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