How to pack a backpack with packing cubes

Packing a backpack is not just a smaller version of packing a suitcase. Two things change: weight placement now affects your body and balance, and a top-loading pack buries whatever is at the bottom. Cubes still help enormously — they keep a pack organized and let you pull one category on the go — but the load order matters more. Here is how to do it for both kinds of travel pack.

First, which kind of pack do you have?

A panel-loader (a travel backpack that unzips flat like a suitcase) packs almost exactly like a suitcase — sort into cubes and lay them in layers. A top-loader (a classic hiking-style pack you load from the top) needs a load-order strategy, because you can only easily reach the top. Ultralight cubes suit both; see the backpacking picks.

Step 1 — Keep weight against your back and centered

The single most important rule for a backpack: put the heaviest cubes closest to your spine and centered vertically (around the middle of your back), not out toward the flap or down at the base. Weight held close to your back and centered keeps the pack balanced and stops it pulling you backward — a comfort difference you feel within the first mile.

Step 2 — Load by access, not just weight

In a top-loader, pack what you need last at the bottom and what you need first at the top. Sleepwear and the next morning's clothes go up high; the cube of clothes you will not touch until day three goes down low. This is where cubes shine — you lift out one labeled cube instead of excavating the whole pack.

Step 3 — Fill the gaps and stabilize

Cubes are rectangles and packs are tapered tubes, so there will be gaps. Fill them with soft items (socks, a packed jacket) so nothing shifts as you walk — a shifting load throws off your balance. For very bulky soft items, a stuff sack fills odd corners better than a cube; see cubes vs stuff sacks.

Step 4 — Compress to reclaim space

Pack space is always tight, so compression earns its place in a backpack more than almost anywhere. Use a compression cube for bulky layers and cinch it down once packed — see the compression roundup. Keep the compression on soft, bulky clothes; it does little on dense ones.

Step 5 — Keep a dirty-clothes cube up top

Reserve one cube for worn clothes and keep it accessible so it is easy to feed as you go. Clean and dirty stay apart, and you always know where the fresh clothes are. The broader system is in how to use packing cubes.