Pack Like a Man

When it comes to pack luggage, there are three general schools of thought. Those who fold, those who roll, and those who bundle. Well welcome to the future, because FactoryTwoFour is going to show you how to combine all these packing religions into one uber-packing method and pack like a man.

First of all, think before you pack. Write out the days of the week you’re going to be traveling and start by righting down what you absolutely need to wear on certain days. You know you want to be comfortable and have slip-off shoes on travel days, you might have a meeting you need to dress up for, and there might be a rodeo you don’t want to miss that requires Wranglers and huge belt buckle. Once you have your necessary outfits down, you can start sketching the rest of the days looking for clothing items that can be shared and used again. Be ruthless in your re-wearing and pack as little as possible.

Next, pack your suitcase with your shoes first. Either by facing the soles of the shoes toward the edges of the bag, or lying them heal to toe, create a layer of shoes at the bottom. Next you want to pack any fragile items like watches or sunglasses inside your empty shoes, and pack any additional space either inside your shoes or around them with soft pieces such as underwear, socks, or t-shirts. It is these softer items that you want to use the “roll” method with by turning them into compressed tubes of fabric. Your goal with all this filler material is to create a nice, flat foundation on which to build the rest of suitcase.

Now it’s time to bundle. Lay any pants or jackets into the suitcase one at a time without folding them. For pants, that means the waistband goes all the way to touching the short edge of your suitcase, while the legs drape out over the side. With jackets, the collar once again goes against the short side while the tail hangs over the edge. The key here is to alternate which edge items are hanging over. You should go back and forth on each item so you are left with a suitcase with two bare long edges and the two short edges with clothing draped over them. Starting with the second item, fold the excess back into the case. Work backward (fold in the item on top at any time) unit everything folded within the confines of the suitcase. By alternating layers like this, your pants will be less likely to wrinkle and the thickest sections (waistband and collar) won’t all be on the same side but evenly distributed. Now use your suitcase’s “bra straps” – those interlocking ribbons that cinch everything down.This creates your second flat layer of clothes.

At this point you’ll want to place your folded collared shirts on top of this second layer. If you’ve been judicious enough on the number of items you’re bringing, you should have ample space between the bundle layer and the lid of the case to not crunch your collars. This space is also where your toiletries double-bag goes. Finally, snake your belts around the edges of the case rather than curling them up. You sir, are done packing. You should now have enough in your bag to last anywhere from a weekend to a year, depending on your own personal level of style. For a last tip, leave your toiletries bag in your suitcase for the next time you travel. Now bon voyage!