packing cubes for the ultralight traveler?

I brought three packing cubes with me on an overseas trip last summer. I found them to be helpful in keeping like items together and if I did have any TSA issues, they could easily identify/rescan items and I could repack my bag very quickly. Also, during the long flights it was easy to keep my belongings overhead and only have one dedicated Pack-It with my iPod/books/earplugs/toothbrush/etc. I packed very light for the trip with only one spare set of quickdrying clothes in a Pack-It half cube and my camera and related equipment in a Pack-It Protect-It small cube. The weight of the three cubes was minor in my opinion and made accessing my items easier and more discrete when in public. I've since used them for domestic trips and find them to be an easy way to keep track of my belongings.

I've used the old OR packing cubes more for long-term international travel and (+) found they reduce the volume of most clothing (even fire-resistant stuff), allowing a traveler to cram more clothes into a given space (about 27% iirc). I'd probably buy one of the new Sea-to-Summit cubes (2-3 oz) for my next international flight for lighter items, too.

Add: Helps with organization as previously mentioned but you can't see through the heavier cubes, so you have to memorize a color code system.

However (-) the weight of the clothes will remain the same, while adding the weight of the cube, so unless you are talking about cramming a shell and insulation into 1 packing cube to take a smaller pack negating the weight of the cube, very quickly you will add more weight. Also, more than 1 cube may encourage you to take more clothing (assuming an ultralight trip – a trip where you have to deal with a multitude of conditions – snow, then surf, etc…., may require a non-UL packing solution).

(ed: add)

Amy:

To me, there are two types of traveling: hosteling… and hiking out in the wilds.

Hosteling – I too like a bit of organization here. But I don't use EC cubes because I find they take up too much space. Instead, I use their packing folders — as I find packing clothes flat results in less bulk. I got a fellow DIY hiker right here on this board to "copy" EC's folder, but using silnylon instead, and reduced weight from 10oz to 4 oz. As for housing tiny little things, I use Granite Gear's "air bags" and "air cubes" instead. Again,at just a fraction of EC's weights.

Hiking — In contrast to hosteling, I use pretty much everything that I pack in the course of the day and evening when hiking. So, when I am emptying out most all the contents of my pack anyway — "organizing" stuff into different cubes / pouches / stuff sacks is not all that necessary. I do use one Granite Gear "air bag" to house the small / misc. type stuff. Otherwise, it's everything into the one big hole that is my backpack.

I travel a lot and sometimes use three of them when on long trips and the necessity of carrying suits. One for dress shirts, one for socks, and one for boxers. Helps keep me organized plus I need more than one pair of shoes and several ties. These are business trips that usually require dinner meetings in the evening and then business email/work back at the hotel. Very busy days with not much time to worry about clothes.

For ultralight travels, I don't use them. It is easier to keep shirts and trousers pressed by wrapping each in dry cleaner plastic and folding them in one stack (shirts & trousers separate). Socks and underwear fill the voids. I minimize extra socks and underwear by washing them at night in the hotel. I can travel for over a week with just a small TNF Flyweight Rucksack. Toiletries have to be in a 1 quart baggie. There is little else I need. I could make it smaller by washing shirts and wearing them again, but often I am in meetings during the week with the same clients, so I need to wear different shirts each day (corporate image). My laptop and work related materials are in a separate bag, which always goes under the seat. Sometimes I may be traveling with clients, such as when I am conducting workshops for their distribution network. On these trips I do not go UL, as corporate image reigns supreme. Not my choice, but it is the world I live in sometimes.

For traveling, the packing cubes are great. For one thing, since I started using cubes, I found that TSA just looked at the cubes rather than unpacking each one when searching. They also let me to do a neater job of packing, particularly for clothes I don't want to wrinkle, by not letting them slip around in the suitcase.

I would never use the cubes for backpacking, though. I do use a couple of small stuff sacks to keep tiny stuff organized (it gets awfully hard to find when loose in the bottom of my pack), but it would be silly to carry those cubes around–the small ones I have weigh 2.5 oz. Nor are they waterproof or even water-resistant.

Like others I generally do not use Cubes for backpacking but i do use the Granite Gear Zippsacks for Travel and Bicycle Touring. They are fantastic. You can really pack a lot of stuff in them and they are lightweight and very water resistant. I found that by rolling your clothese it's easy to retrieve and put back items. The small size works well with lightweight pants and mid layers while the x-small works great for base layers. I wouldn't recommend the medium size because they get a little floppy. Downside is you can't choose colors and they are a little pricey.
http://www.granitegearstore.com/Air-Zippsack-P76C50.aspx

My experience is like the others said: love the cubes for non-wilderness travel, but I don't use them for hiking. The new ultralight cubes from Eagle Creek are great.