I Tried 3 Ways to Pack My Carry-Ons — And Discovered 1 Clear Winner

When it comes to traveling, I will do anything in my power to not have to check a bag, even if I am going on an almost monthlong trip, a feat I have managed to pull off in the past. I just prefer to pack my bags light. It’s easier to move around, get dressed every day, and focus on what matters when traveling. But knowing how to pack a suitcase as a carry-on with everything I need can be challenging. 

Before I took a recent three-week-long vacation, I decided to test the best way to pack my carry-on bag (and personal bag) to fit as much clothing as possible into it. While my intention was to pack just about nine days of clothing (I planned on doing laundry while traveling), I still wanted to try to make as much space as possible for shoes, other gear like toiletries and my headphones, and souvenirs I would inevitably end up buying on the trip. I decided to put two of my most-used methods to the test — rolling and KonMari — and one I had never tried before — compression packing cubes. I walked away with a clear winner. 

To accurately measure the best packing method, I laid out all of the clothing I actually planned to bring on the trip that would fit into one carry-on bag, which included nine pairs of underwear, three bras, nine pairs of socks, two swimsuits, two pairs of bike shorts, a pair of jean shorts, one pair of pants, one long-sleeve linen shirt, one short-sleeve button up, one rain jacket, five casual cotton crop tops, four regular T-shirts, one pair of pajamas, five dresses, one skirt, a pair of walking shoes, a pair of running shoes, a pair of water shoes, and a pair of Birkenstocks, as well as all of my toiletries that fit into my Paz toiletry bag, which I also wanted to fit in the same carry-on.

Ratings: I rated each packing method on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most effective at packing the most stuff. I also took into account ease of use and “repackability,” because in this particular case, I knew I would be packing and repacking my bag a lot over three weeks of travel. 

Results: 3/5
Ease of Use: 5/5 
Repackability: 5/5

Method: For this method, I simply rolled up all my clothing as I packed it into my bag. It’s super easy to do.

How it went: This method was easily the fastest way to pack, because you’re just taking your clothes, laying them flat, and rolling them up. The main benefit of this method is that you can really cram a lot of smaller things (like crop-tops, swimsuits, socks, etc.) into nooks and crannies that you wouldn’t think they can fit in, making your packing options a bit more variable. The negative is that if you have big items (two of my flowy dresses with wide skirts, for example), they seem to almost get bigger as you roll them up. And, your clothes will get wrinkly this way, but that’s just sort of the name of the game when it comes to packing. Big pro: It’s incredibly easy to pack and repack your back over and over. But, I was unable to fit more than one pair of shoes on top of the rolled clothing, and my toiletry bag was absolutely not going to fit at all. 

Results: 4/5
Ease of Use: 2.5/5
Repackability: 4/5

Method: For this method, you simply use the KonMari method of folding clothing to take up less room in your suitcase. Because my suitcases are soft-sided, I laid the clothes down flat, rather than perpendicular to the bottom of the bag (as you would typically with KonMari folded clothes). I also didn’t put things away in packing cubes as my final test was compression packing cubes and I didn’t want to confuse the two methods. 

How it went: This method takes a little bit longer, but it keeps your clothes much neater (and more wrinkle free) than the rolling method. The main benefit of this method is that your clothes stay neat. The negative is that repacking takes a bit longer — not impossible, but you need to refold clothes every time you unpack or repack your bag, and that takes time. I was able to fit two pairs of shoes under my clothing, so I also had a little bit more room for extras (one pair of shoes or the toiletry bag, but not both) than the rolling method. 

Results: 4.5/5
Ease of Use: 5/5
Repackability: 4.5/5

Method: I had a set of three compression packing cubes from BagSmart, which I had actually never used before, so I decided to test to see if they were actually everything they were cracked up to be and if they would truly provide me extra room in my bag. I simply separated my clothing by type (underwear and socks with swimsuits, shorts with other bottoms and skirts, tops and dresses, etc.) and put them in each compression packing cube, which were three separate sizes as well, then zipped up the compression compartment. 

How it went: This method was incredibly easy, and I was amazed at just how much these compression packing cubes, well, compressed all my stuff. I simply filled the bags with my flat folded clothes, then zipped them all shut, and boom. Tons of room. In fact, these bags had more room to spare, so while I was traveling I bought new clothing without any issue of fitting them into my bag. Some cons: Your clothes definitely wrinkle in these things and with a soft-sided, rounded bag, there were weird gaps of space in between my cubes and the walls of the bag, but I was able to stuff them with other random things as the travel went on. I was definitely able to fit the most clothing with this method and had room for three pairs of shoes. The repackability factor was great, and I found myself moving clothing around based on what was clean and what was dirty, so keeping my dirty clothes in a separate breathable packing cube than the rest in between cities was a big plus. 

For best results, I hate that I have to recommend buying something, but compression packing cubes are 100% the way to go, and I will recommend this method to everyone I know. This isn’t what I expected at all — I was a rolling method devotee until I tried each way of packing. Ultimately, no other method allowed me to pack as much as I did, with as much space as I had, and none of the other methods would have allowed me to stuff the amount of new clothing I bought while traveling into the cubes as well. While wrinkling is a problem with this method, we were staying in hotels, so I was able to iron anything that I needed to de-wrinkle before we went out for the day. 

Now that you know which method worked best for me, maybe you’ll try your own experiment. Good luck packing!