Flat Stuff Sacks

[Andrea356]

Lately, I've been examining my stuff sacks for my sleeping bag and clothes with disapproval. They're great - water resistant, good size, and help me keep everything organized (this is key to my mental health). So far, so good.

However, they are cylindrical. This means they fit together awkwardly (lots of wasted space) with the rest of my gear and also raise the profile of my pack. So I was wondering...what about making stuff sacks shaped something like a box of paper? Basically, the sac would only be about 2 or 3 inches thick, but broad and tall to make up the difference in volume. I think this shape would be much more pliable (allowing me to shape it around my other gear) and would also keep everything in my pack closer to my back. The trick would be making sure that the seams were tough enough to keep from splitting with heavy use, but I can see it working.

Has anyone ever tried this, or does anyone have any opinions or imput to give me before I give it a shot? Thanks!

[JustaTouron]

Lately, I've been examining my stuff sacks for my sleeping bag and clothes with disapproval. They're great - water resistant, good size, and help me keep everything organized (this is key to my mental health). So far, so good.

However, they are cylindrical. This means they fit together awkwardly (lots of wasted space) with the rest of my gear and also raise the profile of my pack. So I was wondering...what about making stuff sacks shaped something like a box of paper? Basically, the sac would only be about 2 or 3 inches thick, but broad and tall to make up the difference in volume. I think this shape would be much more pliable (allowing me to shape it around my other gear) and would also keep everything in my pack closer to my back. The trick would be making sure that the seams were tough enough to keep from splitting with heavy use, but I can see it working.

Has anyone ever tried this, or does anyone have any opinions or imput to give me before I give it a shot? Thanks!

While I have never made them. I know they do exist and are mislabled as "packing cubes". Rarely are they actually cubes.

http://www.ebags.com/ebags/packing_c...?modelid=13032

[generoll]

most stuff sacks are waterproof, so I doubt those would work. It would be hard to make a "sack" hold a flat shape once it's stuffed full unless it was made out of a rigid material. The issue is real, but I suspect that you'll just have to shove things into your pack like the rest of us and let the pack compress things into shape.

[JustaTouron]

you certainly would give up water resistance with the packing cubes....many of the commerically sold one are in fact made of mesh. Of course you could just line the backpack with a garbage bag and/or stick each cube into an extra large ziplock.

[Rick Hancock]

Granite Gear makes a "Cube" type sack. I have a couple that I use on occasion, they are okay but not great, there are quite a few seams and a zipper down the length of of top. I stuff my quilt, spare socks, sleepwear (coolmax boxers), and headlamp with some room left. The new model is called ZippSack and has a weather flap over the zipper. Mine are a sil nylon material very light and durable I mainly use it to keep the bag clean and for spare clothes which I keep to a minimum.

My hiking buddy use to carry EVERYTHING in tupperwear containers! We started calling him the Amway Guy!
Rick

[Compass]

Just do not stuff the bags super tight and the will mold into the extra spaces on their own as you stuff your pack.

Compession sacks exacerbate this problem by making a rigid cylinder and they are often more than twice as heavy as an appropriately sized stuff sack.

Dry sacks(roll top) can be problematic because they hold/trap air which takes up extra space.

[DrRichardCranium]

I had the same problem, because I have an internal frame pack & just wanted to fit the sleeping bag into the bottom of my pack. But the stuff sack makes it into a stiff oblong shape.

My solution? Ditch the stuff sack & use a contracter trash bag.

[Pringles]

I made silnylon stuff sacks that were too big for my tent and my sleeping bag. I stuff things in them, put them in the pack, and since they're not "stuffed" tightly, I can push them around some. Since they're silnylon, they're pretty much waterproof, though I also have a liner bag in my pack, too. Since I started packing this way, I can get more stuff in my pack in a more compact way.

Pringles

[Sailor (The other one)]

We use the 13L size of these http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/64 for our sleeping bags. They are waterproof and have a flatish shape. Since the eVent on the bottom lets air out, we don't cram the bag in and it all fills in the bottom of the pack. As we pile more on top of it, it compresses more. No wasted space. Granite Gear has both something comparable and a very light Silnylon version http://www.granitegear.com/products/...tdryblocs.html

[JAK]

Lately, I've been examining my stuff sacks for my sleeping bag and clothes with disapproval. They're great - water resistant, good size, and help me keep everything organized (this is key to my mental health). So far, so good.

However, they are cylindrical. This means they fit together awkwardly (lots of wasted space) with the rest of my gear and also raise the profile of my pack. So I was wondering...what about making stuff sacks shaped something like a box of paper? Basically, the sac would only be about 2 or 3 inches thick, but broad and tall to make up the difference in volume. I think this shape would be much more pliable (allowing me to shape it around my other gear) and would also keep everything in my pack closer to my back. The trick would be making sure that the seams were tough enough to keep from splitting with heavy use, but I can see it working.

Has anyone ever tried this, or does anyone have any opinions or imput to give me before I give it a shot? Thanks!

Way coolest idea I have heard in months. Thanks.

[Tinker]

I've been packing my pack with trash can liners for years with a few stuffsacks thrown in where applicable.
Read my posts here as to how I pack. Since my backpack has only 3 external pockets I use stuffsacks mainly to keep things organized.
Here: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...335#post964335

[JAK]

What I really like is how you could make them to exactly fit your pack dimensions.

[Andrea356]

Thanks for the input, guys! Y'all made a bunch of good suggestions.

I'm going to give it a shot, just for the hell of it. I think that it could work pretty well as long as (as various folks pointed out) they aren't stuffed too tightly. Since cylinder bags work well this way, maybe flat will squish about even better. Plus, by making it myself, I can make it lighter than the commercial cube options and (as JAK said) size it to fit my pack. And, of course, it's just fun to tinker about with things...

I'll let you know how it works out...If anyone has any other ideas, please continue to post!

[Rocket Jones]

I've started making my own oversized stuff sacks for the same reason. If it's not stuffed solid, it will fill the existing space better.