It seems that travel hack sites are crazy for these. I'm not seeing the advantage. I already roll outfits together, stuff socks in the shoes, wear the biggest shoes on the airplane, and pack necessities in a carry on.
The TSA insists that I not bring large bottles of anything, so that's not an issue.
I am not traveling with children (and when I did, the aforementioned rolling was just fine)
They seem to advertise "compression" as a desirable feature.
I am not an over-packer. Outfits are coordinated with one color scheme so any top goes with any pair of pants.
Should I spend the $20, or save it for a WDW hotdog?
[Rolling up my sleeve] Friend, don't GET ME STARTED!
I love, love, love my packing cubes!
Here are, in my view, their biggest advantages:
(1) When traveling with multiple people (some of whom may be sharing drawers at the destination hotel, or in the case of my children, sharing a suitcase en route), you can have a different color for each person, which makes it easy to keep track of whose-stuff-is-whose.
(2) Unpacking and repacking is an absolute breeze: just unzip clothing cubes and place them in drawers, and toss any cubes/pouches of makeup and toiletries on the vanity, and voila! - you just unpacked in 30 seconds. To pack up again, rezip the cubes and toss them back in your carryon. Also, the cubes help keep small items from getting lost or caught in a drawer if they slide around. (More than once, I've found items left by prior hotel guests that were in dressers, stuck up behind the drawer.)
(3) I like to pack my family's clothing in full outfits (mostly for the kids' benefit, so they don't have to figure out what-goes-with-what every morning). With packing cubes, I can layer several outfits with all their components (shirt/shorts/socks/undies, repeat), without anything shifting or getting lost, and my family members can simply grab the outfit on top each morning. If you prefer, you can stack outfit components together, roll them carefully, and put 3 or 4 "outfit burritos" in each packing cube (and the cube will help keep them from unrolling/wrinkling).
(4) If your suitcase gets opened by the TSA and rifled through -- as mine was the last time we traveled, thanks to random selection -- having everything in cubes makes the inspection process easier (as the cubes have mesh on top so the inspector can easily see/feel what's in them), and allows you to put everything back where it was in seconds afterward, without your packed clothes even getting wrinkled and without your unmentionables being tossed about the airport for all to see.
(5) Arranging packing cubes in a suitcase is like adult Tetris. It's productive fun.
(6) The cubes aren't just handy for clothes: they're great for packing dry foodstuffs, electronics cords and cables, etc. -- thing that otherwise have a tendency to get spread around your suitcase (or your hotel room).
The one thing I _don't_ use my packing cubes for is compression. Yes, you could try to use them for that purpose but in my opinion, if you have to overstuff them (risking damaging them in the process) to get your things to fit, you're packing too much. I see them more as an organizational tool than a space-saving one. I could fit all the same things in my bag with or without the packing cubes, but I choose to use them because they simplify my packing/unpacking/repacking and save me time and stress on vacation.
(See? Doesn't just
looking at this packing-cube filled suitcase (packed by me last year for 10 days of fall weather in Scotland) make you feel all happy and serene?) Then again, if you
don't have OCD like me, it may make no difference at all...
*Also, don't pay full price -- buy them on eBay, or wait until ebags has a seasonal discount sale.
