These are the zippable fabric envelopes or cubes that you put your stuff into before you put that stuff in your backpack. I confess that I was a great skeptic of these pricey items that seemed like heroin for gear heads. I was wrong, and I now would not travel without them. Update – have ditched all but one.
Their primary value is containing ‘like with like’, so it is simple to find anything that I search for. They keep clothing reasonably well folded, toothpaste away from fabrics, and ensure that random small things do not fall out of my pack and get lost.
I chose the Eagle Creek products, and carry:
Small envelope. This contains all the electronics that are not used every day, as well as spare glasses.
Bathroom dopp kit. For all the personal hygiene items as well as random small fiddly things.
I used to carry a medium and a large envelope to contain and compact my clothing. But as I have pared down my gear list I no longer need this.
Rather than add specialized containers for wet or dirty shoes and clothes I keep a small thin, plastic shop bags on hand.
Additional organizing items include a ziplock bag for bandaids as well as phone protection during wet hiking; and a super light linen market bag that I use when buying berries and beers.
Total weight around 100g.