DUMB-ASS TRIPS
by Leslie Strom

Picture a freeze dried travel wardrobe, something out of "The Jetsons," where you pull out a few packages of lumpen topography, open them up, and there expand two weeks worth of clothing for a trip to Europe with a carry-on.

Okay, so I gave this little fantasy a test drive. I went to Mendocino for four days carrying an iBook computer, zip drive, power adapters, a software box, plugs and cables, a heavy manual... AND... underwear, jeans, a sweater, a skirt, toiletries, and sleepwear. I put all this, with a minimum of struggle, into an Eagle Creek Back Office computer backpack, which is considerably smaller than the typical carry-on suitcase. How did I pull off this feat of packing? With the help of the Space-age miracle - Giant ziplock compressor bags. I tested the Eagle Creek medium-size compressor bag, the Pack Mate travel bag, and topped off the theme with a few Zip-loc® bags from the grocery store for my smallest items.

Choose a bag size: I found that for carry-on travel it's best to avoid the largest of the bags and opt for several medium-sized ones like the Eagle Creek Pack-It Compressor Medium at 15.5 x 24.5" or the Pack Mate PackMate Medium bag 14in x 20in. They are easier to pack, fit in any suitcase, and can be good for sorting dirty from clean clothes once you're on the road. Three packing compressor bags are a good addition to your luggage collection and will cost under $20. They also come in sets. You can get the bags at most luggage stores, on line, and Wal-Mart.

Set up the stack: The animated illustration (top) from the Pack Mate web site shows the stages of flattening a single pillow. One must forgive their brazen example which is extremely fluffy and extremely square. You will more likely be packing four or five items of clothing of varied densities and sizes per bag, and you'll want to minimize wrinkles. Pile up your clothes in a neat stack on top of the bag. Plan to leave a little room all around.

Stuff with optimism: Put the stack of clothes into the bag, making sure things are as wrinkle-free as you can make them and nothing sharp is next to the plastic bag. Close the zipper closure.

Squish, purge, roll: Put the bag on the floor or on a hard surface. Initially, squash it flat as best you can. In my highly scientific tests I found that the Pack-Mate's zipper closes securely, but the Eagle Creek bag needs a bit more caution to prevent blowout. Roll the bag so the air comes out the valves. Once unbent they bear a slight resemblance to a pizza box.

Pack the suitcase: The compressed bags are made of a nice slick plastic and between being slick and being stiff, they can be lodged easily into just about any kind of carry-on, backpack, drybag, duffel, or beer cooler. In fact, I use these compressors for the laptop computer when I'm traveling by small, wet boat, as added insurance. Sailors should get a bunch of these, because they're pretty much waterproof and very lightweight.

Unload at your destination: Open the bag and pull your clothes out. They'll sort of expand like a horse does when you undo the saddle cinch. Wrinkling is minimal (assuming you packed with some care) because there is no room for the items to shift or bunch or have Twister marathons the way you know the clothes do when they're hiding in your suitcase.

The small ziploc bags work well for socks and underwear - just leave a little opening in the zipper, flatten the load, and seal it up. It holds a seal pretty well. Of the two brands of larger compressors, Eagle Creek and Pack-Mate, I found Pack-Mate is of a clearer material, lighter in weight, easier to seal, and cheaper to buy. Since zippered plastic storage is Pack-Mate's whole gig, so to speak, it's not surprising that they carry a bunch of monster storage bags for the home. The Eagle Creek bags are easier to find in travel stores along with their other products and perform perfectly well. The different sizes are color-coded.

One note about the air valves on all the bags - dust, foot powder, dirt, or water will degrade their ability to stay closed, and a compressor bag that fluffs back up when it's not supposed to can be a nuisance.