My pack is sold as 40x25x20cm which is exactly the limit for the airline I fly most, and empty it drops into the sizer fine. Packed it bulges at the front pocket and the top handle, and twice now I've had to squash it in with both hands while a queue watched. I'm not overpacking by much, maybe a 2kg toiletry and shoe layer. What are people doing to keep a soft bag actually rectangular?
Also worth noting the published dimensions on most bags are for the panel, not the loaded bag with a handle and compression straps sticking out. I now buy about 3cm under whatever the airline says and stop worrying about it.
This. I gave up on 40L for that airline and use a 34L, and I have never once had a conversation at the gate since. The two litres I lost were mostly air.
Suspected as much. I'd rather not buy a third bag this year but I take the point.
Pack in flat layers rather than by category. Clothes go in as a single compressed slab against the back panel, shoes sole to sole in the bottom corner, and anything lumpy gets buried in the middle so the outer walls stay flat. A pack full of round-ish stuffed cubes will always dome out even at the right volume.
If your pack has side compression straps, cinch them after everything is in, not before. Pulling them at the end squares the load off. Half the people I see at the gate have theirs hanging loose.
@switchback_sid · 9mo ago · 2 replies
Stop packing the front pocket with anything solid. On almost every soft pack the front pocket sits outside the frame, so a charger brick and a pair of sunglasses in there is what turns 20cm deep into 24cm deep. Move all of that inside the main compartment against your back panel and the bag goes flat again.
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@kimchi_kai · 9mo ago
That's exactly where my shoes were going. Moving them inside cost me nothing and the bag drops in now without the shoving.
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