Which Resealable Bag Works Best for Travel?

Just Zip It: How to Make A Clear Choice - washingtonpost.com

RESEARCH QUESTION: The Transportation Security Administration limits carry-on liquid- and gel- based toiletries to what can be crammed into one quart-size zip-top bag. Plenty more will be cruising the X-ray belts come Thanksgiving. Resealable bags are plentifully stocked in the aisles of supermarkets and other stores, and a few travel product companies sell heavy-duty bags, too.

We wondered: Which bag does the best job of not only keeping your toiletries secure but also acting as a toiletry kit for your travels? The store brand or the name brand? Regular or freezer? The one with a double zipper that changes color when sealed or the bag with the plastic clip? Or do you spring for a more expensive version from a travel goods company?

This article is a couple years old, but still very relevant. I recently purchased some assorted size Aloksaks to carry my toiletries and such, so I was curious to find out how they fared against the much cheaper grocery store brands. Follow the link to find out.



In summary, your priorities determine which bag is best. The Aloksak is the toughest by far, and when closed properly, watertight to a greater depth than you are likely to take it. But, the Aloksak also holds the fewest toiletries. In the first photo, you can see that I can't even close the top of the bag with my regulation size toiletries in it. Conversely, the Safeway freezer bag held the most items.



The bags resealed by sliding plastic clip are the least likely (at least of the grocery/drugstore variety) to tear at the seams with repeat closings. I have found that these Hefty Freezer bags with the plastic clip are quite sturdy, and seem to hold the most 2-3oz travel size bottles. In the second photo, I have all the same items, from the Aloksak photo, in the Hefty bag, and I usually add 3-4 more items to it when traveling (small toothpaste tube, sting kill, shampoo and conditioner in small bottles). It holds them all with ease.

A One Bag Pro Packs His Gadgets (and Everything Else)

I just found a Flickr set called Lightweight Travel. On it people post photos of the contents of their "one bag" as it will be packed for a trip of 3 days or longer. On top of the photo, many people attach notes regarding what each item is/is for, which is very helpful/generous/anal-retentive. I love this!

I have not gone through every photo, but I learned so much from this one person, I just had to post his strategies and a link to his heavily annotated photo. This Flickr pool is brilliant, because it is theory put into action.

Please follow the link to his photo on Flick to complete this packing light lesson.

Red OXX Air Boss on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
My one bag carry on for a 14 day trip to the Middle East

Comments

Roscullion says: This is most of what I took in the Airboss. There was a 1 bag 7kg limit on carry on so I wore the vest and put heavy items in the pockets at check in. I wore Craghopper cargo pants and the laptop fitted into the leg pocket. (If you were behind me when I was walking along loaded up you may have thought I was trying to mix a coctail!). I wore the camera kit seperately. All essentials for the filght were packed in the day sack ready to pull if I was forced to check the bag in. (Liquids, Laptop, Ipod etc.) Once into departures I put it back in the Airboss and just had the camera seperate. 6 flights on this trip - got asked to put the bag thru sizing frame once and got it weighed once out of Doha (11 .5kg! - the guy asked if I had a laptop in there, I said yes and he waved me thru). Airlines: Qatar Airways, Oman Airways, Emirates. Clothes all synthetic type that wash thru and dry overnight in hotel sink. Not shown because I was wearing them: Nikon D50 & Tamron lens, Blackberry Pearl, CH cargo pants, CH long sleeved shirt, synthetic webbing belt with hidden pocket containing $100, sandals, socks, wallet. Also 1 short sleeved shirt and 2 pairs socks on clothes line drying over bath. This arrangement works well for travel to Middle East. Total weight of carry items approx 13kg so its a bit cumbersome when transiting or duty free shopping etc. I use Priority Pass lounges to help with this. The choice of clothes gives the ability to look smart - business casual style - and enough flexibiity to hike, do the tourist thing etc. Never been challenged about the Utilikey (which has a blade) on any flight including Far East, North America, Europe. Once they pulled my keys at the XRAY and asked "whats this?" It was the USB drive I explained, the utilikey was right by it!

The best way to clean white leather purse?

Let me just say for the record, I love that knowledge is at your fingertips on the internet. Searching for advice on how to clean my white leather bag, that had become grimy as a result of nyc subway travel, I came across this post on Yahoo Answers: The best way to clean white leather purse?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Use Mr. Clean magic eraser and water. It is VERY effective and will not hurt the leather as the eraser is not truly wet. Wipe any moisture dry from your bag and then treat with a leather conditioner to avoid cracking and hardening. Allow conditioner to dry thoroughly. -Kanakale

Can I just say - brilliant! Using the Mr. Clean magic eraser is something I would never have thought
of, but it worked exceedingly well.

Here are my results:
First photo - top of the bag still dirty, bottom of the bag Mr. Cleaned.














Halfway
Bottom of the bag - you can see the dirt line between cleaned and not clean.








Bottom of the bag fully cleaned - no more dirt

7 Quick Gadget Travel Tips

From www.TravelGearBlog.com

Quick Tips for Traveling with Electronics

Here are a few quick ideas to save yourself time and money while traveling. My thoughts and additional tips are in blue print.

1. Turn off and unplug devices from constant power. TV's, computers, even a not-in-use cell phone charger has a power draw. If you cut back on these, it'll help you reduce your monthly bill, and it really doesn't have a drawback. The easiest way to do this is by using power strips. Plus everything into them that you can, then when you leave, just turn off the power switch or unplug the power strip itself from the outlet. Check out this NYTimes link for more on this.

2. If you have a PDA or electronic organizer, use it. How many times have you found a great idea about something, or got some intel on a favorite local spot only to forget it later? If you store it in your planner, you'll have quick access to it. Maybe get some directions as well.

3. Carry devices in a front pocket, or a pocket on your person with a zipper. We've all heard about people getting pick-pocketed in other countries, let's not make it you. If you've got a closed pocket that is close to your person, the chance of you getting pick-pocketed and losing your iPhone (or Nokia E90) are going to be reduced. Never keep expensive gadgets in your backpack's outward pockets. These can be grabbed so easily without you ever knowing it. Just ask any NYC subway rider.

4. Keep your devices charged. If you've got a camera, and you see a great photo op, only to find out your battery is almost dead, it's going to be annoying. If you charge them when you're not using them, and make sure everything is ready to go, when an opportunity comes up you'll be able to take advantage. A good way is with the Callpod Chargepod, which enables you to charge everything at once, overnight. I also carry a couple AA and AAA batteries, because there are still certain things that are not rechargeable, such as flashlights, the hotel room t.v. remote.

5. Know where your local tech stores are. It's hard to find what you need when you already need it. If you have an idea of where to go to get things that are near where you are, when it comes time to get something you may have forgotten, you'll already have an idea where to start looking. Who knows, you may find it at the first store, and save yourself a lot of hassle.

6. Have a separate bag/pouch to carry all your electronic accessories. I use the Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube, which comes in varying sizes. The same can be said for ziplock bags, which also work well, are much cheaper, offer protection from spills during transit in luggage, and are less likely to be opened by security inspectors. On the downside, they have to be replaced more frequently. Wait, why is it again that I use the EC "cube" instead of a ziplock bag? Oh ya, it matches my Eagle Creek luggage . . .

7. Check all outlets in your room before leaving to return home. This is not a time saver, but definitely a money saver. I can't tell you how many times I have found a mobile phone charger still plugged into an outlet on my last sweep through a hotel room. I don't WANT to tell you how many times I didn't do this, because I was in a hurry, and left things behind.

Which Luggage is Right For You?

PRACTICAL TRAVELER; PICKING OUT THE RIGHT BAG TO PACK - New York Times:

Great article from the NY Times on what type of bag is best suited for you/your trip. These days there are so many options, but no one best choice. Different styles work for different types of trips, so when choosing, keep in mind the length of the trip, amount of hauling you will have to do yourself, type of terrain and transportation (cobblestones and stairways vs limo to luxury hotel).

"Type of Construction. As outlined by Mr. Meek, there are three basic categories of luggage today. One is the hard box, such as the molded luggage of Samsonite or American Tourister and the aluminum alloy cases of Zero Halliburton (which usually retail from about $325 to $550). These are especially durable, watertight and can usually be handled roughly without disturbing the contents. But they are relatively heavy (the 29-inch four-suiter Halliburton, probably the heaviest, weighs 19 pounds).

A second category is semistructured, which means that there is a basic frame but soft or semisoft sides, usually with zippers, allowing room for expansion. ''If you put an extra sweater in, it's going to bulge a bit,'' Mr. Meek said, ''but you won't wrinkle anything.'' Most of the people interviewed agreed that among the better brands are French, Ventura, Skyway and Hartmann. For the traveler who simply must travel heavily laden, such as a professional entertainer, several retailers spoke admiringly of the French jumbo garment bag, which can carry up to eight men's suits or 15 to 18 lightweight dresses and has suggested retail prices from $505 up, depending on length and type of covering.

The third category is totally unstructured, soft, casual luggage - the most prevalent on the market today. It can be in the form of a duffel bag, a backpack or a suit or dress bag to carry aboard a plane and hang up or fold over and stow beneath a seat. It usually lies perfectly flat for storage, will carry as much as anything on the market and weighs practically nothing. If the material used is of superior quality, such as Cordura or ballistic nylon, it is virtually indestructible. Those interviewed mentioned that among the leading brand names are Bill Bayley, Pegasus and Andiamo. "

I definitely live in the third category mindset. To me, the lighter the luggage, the better, since I already have to haul the weight of all the clothes/shoes/electronic equipment inside. Can you imagine starting out with a suitcase that weighs 19 lbs. (Halliburton 4-suiter), and then adding your 20-30 pounds of stuff to it? Where is that bellman?!

In addition, those of us that live in tiny NYC apartments don't have room to store anything but the soft-sided bags that lay flat when empty, and take up relatively little room. Happy Packing!

MyWorld66 States Map

create your own personalized map of the USAor write about it on the open travel guide

Ok, this stuff is fun, so I went ahead and did my World66 "states visited" map too.

This looks a bit better than my world map. 20 states or 39%. Looking at this map kind of brings out my competitive side, and makes me want to go to all 50 (and 1 district).

By the way, I HAVE been to Canada, I just forgot to mark in on the previous post's map.

A Man Packs For A Week (Tim Ferris)

From the Blog of Tim Ferris, who is packing for Maui in this post. This is much more my style than was the Nancy Novogard packing post. I will never be the one who inter-wraps my clothes with tissue, then places them in recycled dry cleaner's bags to reduce wrinkling. One of the many ways in which I will disappoint Martha.

» How to Travel the World with 10 Pounds or Less (Plus: How to Negotiate Convertibles and Luxury Treehouses): "I practice what I’ll label the BIT method of travel: Buy It There.

If you pack for every contingency—“better bring the hiking books in case we go hiking, better bring an umbrella in case it rains, better bring dress shoes and slacks in case we go to a nice restaurant,” etc.—carrying a mule-worthy load is inevitable. I’ve learned to instead allocate $50-200 per trip to a “settling fund,” which I use to buy needed items once they’re 100% needed. This includes cumbersome and hassle items like umbrellas and bottles of sunscreen that love to explode. Also, never buy if you can borrow. If you’re going on a bird watching trip in Costa Rica, you don’t need to bring binoculars — someone else will have them."

He follows this bit of wisdom with a video and packing list explaining everything in this photo, why he is packing it, and where to get most of the pieces. This is minimal packing.
I am wondering if he has another pair of shoes? My guess is that this pile is sans a traveling outfit, which he is wearing for the plane ride there. This is for a week long trip. There must be more shoes . . .

Tips For Travelers

Ultra Cord Travel Pack 13-Piece Connector Kit wUSB, FireWire, Headset, Network and Telephone Cables - Carbon Fiber ULT33142 at TigerDirect.com

I don't know about you, but I carry an entire separate Eagle Creek pouch to hold all my cords and chargers when I travel. AND they are always tangling. Here is help for us frequent travelers with a lot of electronic/computer gadgets who don't want to be carrying a tangle of cords for recharging and connection equipment. Love those retractable cables! One caveat: before you leave behind all the cords that came with your camera, phone, etc. try out the replacement tips at home first to make sure they are compatible.