Travel space bags

[LisaAJ]

Has anyone used these for packing before? We will be in NY for a week before hitting Florida and will only need our big jackets for that period. I want to space bag the coats so they don't take up too much space. We have just about filled a whole suitcase with winter clothes!

There is some cheap travel bags on ebay but I'm not sure if I should spend the extra to get the brand name ones. Any reviews?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Has anyone used these for packing before? We will be in NY for a week before hitting Florida and will only need our big jackets for that period. I want to space bag the coats so they don't take up too much space. We have just about filled a whole suitcase with winter clothes! There is some cheap travel bags on ebay but I'm not sure if I should spend the extra to get the brand name ones. Any reviews?

I haven't used them sorry, so can't comment on your actual question.

However I can sympathise with the need to pack for different seasons. On our last trip we spent half our time in the National parks where the temperature dropped below freezing and even snowed one day, and the rest of our time in Anaheim and Hawaii where the temps averaged around 30 degrees.

Packing was a challenge and it didn't help that our clothes are big in general given that we are 'big-boned' people. In the end we did manage one suitcase each by deciding not to pack any large winter jackets except for my son's. We instead packed our thin rainproof jackets (which also provided great protection against the wind) and a set of warm layers for wearing underneath including a couple of merino tops. It worked really well and we actually ended up packing more clothes than we needed.

Good luck figuring out something that works for you.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I had a Japanese exchange student come and stay with me this year. She used a couple of the travel space bags and from what I saw when I was helping her pack up, the ones she used were brilliant.

She came during winter time in Melbourne and had a puffy jacket with her. She only used the space bag for the puffy jacket and the bag completely flattened the jacket to a thin pancake. I don't know what brand it was and I suspect it only worked as well as it did because she was packing a puffy jacket. I don't know if it would have worked as well with a woolen coat.

I'm with Wanderlust. I tend to take clothes that I can layer up. Admittedly if you're in the biting NY cold, you might want to have the security of a jacket. I wouldn't presume to tell you whether to take a coat or not; rather I would remind you that clothes are cheaper to buy in the US.

 

[LisaAJ]

Thanks guys. It's the puffy style jackets I want to space bag. I've bought layers for us to use so that we can use them in Orlando as well as at home but the jackets are proving bulky. They are squall jackets which work well here in the winter. I didn't want to spend heaps of money on something we'd only use for a week.

I think I'll give the EBay ones a go. They are a fair bit cheaper than the other ones.

 

[minneylovesmicky]

I think I'll give the EBay ones a go. They are a fair bit cheaper than the other ones.

i have not tried the cheap Ebay ones, but i have tried the cheap Kmart ones, waste of money. best bet would be if you wanted to try the Ebay ones, buy them early and use them at home, pop the jackets in them and see if they last a few days. The Kmart ones i used didn't last a week with clothes in them.

 

[LisaAJ]

Thanks for that I looked at those but they only had the vacuum ones not the rolling ones. I might order a couple of the cheap ones and if need be, buy some from Walmart while we are there. Just looked them up and they look quite cheap.

 

[Snickals]

I've used them before. But they were the ones you attach the vacuum to, just got them at a cheap store. Worked great for making extra room in suitcases.

 

[Sugarglider]

I had both the rolling ones and the vacuum ones and reckon the vacuum ones were much easier to get and stay squishy. However - take care with them cause the simplest nick in the plastic stops them from being vacuum-able. took me a couple of bags to be gentle enough.