If a gear item is inexpensive, light, and comes in handy for multiple uses, it’s right up our alley here on the Practical Travel Gear blog. This Tom Bihn packing cube backpack is far from ergonomic and it’s not much more then a few pieces of cloth, two straps, and two zippers, but sometimes less is more.

The idea of this bag is that you use it as sort of a giant packing cube in your suitcase/bag, then when you’ve unpacked you can use it as a daypack, a shopping bag, or whatever. I’m kind of ambivalent about packing cubes though and confess than I only have one with me on my current tw0-month trip for the summer.

Instead I just jam this into a corner or lie it flat between layers of clothing. Then after arrival I use it almost daily it seems. I can ball it up when I’m not using it and it doesn’t add any extra weight to what I’m already carrying when I come back from the store loaded down. And it can get loaded down if you want it to: it holds a respectable 16 liters (975 cubic inches).

It has two compartments: one smaller one on the bottom and the main one on top. It’s made of lightweight but very strong nylon and has heavy-duty zippers. Made in the USA, but it lists for only $35. Nice. It comes in black or yellow.

There’s one more use for this bag that I’ll be taking advantage of on the way home. You can pack souvenirs in it when you come back with more than you left with and need an extra bag for the plane.

You can only get it direct from Tom Bihn though (keeps the overhead down), so check it out online.

See our other Tom Bihn product reviews:

The Aeronaut carry-on bag

The Tri-Star Travel Bag