There was another long discussion on packing cubes at
Calling All Packing Cube Afficianodos.
I wrote there twice.
In summary…
We’ve used ebags and Eagle Creek for a decade. We love them. All four of us have a different color set of 3. They keep our family of 4 organized on long and short trips and even overnighters. They do compress a little bit.
Recently, I bought some Gonex compression cubes, hoping they would allow us to pack a smaller check in suitcase. I didn’t like the half zipper for the cubes and I had a hard time zipping the compression zipper. It kept on getting caught on the fabric. And DH was dubious about how long the compression zipper would last. I sent them back.
Do we use them with carryon luggage? Absolutely! For up to 4 days, with a complete change of clothes each day, we just use the largest cube for everything. We each can get all three cubes into regulation carryon luggage for a 10 day trip. But it’s very snug. We never do just carryon for such long trips. One check-in and 3 carryons gives us flexibility to buy stuff and dirty laundry just takes up more space. Although, I have been known to fold up dirty laundry and put them back into the cubes. We throw the cubes into the wash when we come home anyway.
The compression bags may have allowed us to just do regulation carryons since there is no weight limit. But they will be awfully heavy to lift into the overhead bin!