One minor frustration of organizing your gear for a camping or river trip is trying to squeeze your gear into the space allotted. Using camping packing cubes and compression sacks optimizes space and helps you find what you’re looking for during the trip without dumping out your entire dry bag or backpack.
Here’s a guide to camping packing cubes, compression bags, and other containers that will help you keep your camping gear for river trips as compact and organized as possible. (Looking for a comprehensive list of essential camping gear for river trips? Check out Rafting Gear Checklist for Multi-Day River Trips.)
Quick Guide to Camping Packing Cubes & Containers
Here’s a rundown of useful types of camping packing cubes, compression sacks, and other containers for camping trips or river trips.
| Type | Top pick | Best use |
| Packing cubes | Cotopaxi Del Dia packing cubes Check availability at REI | Toiletries, clothes, first-aid supplies |
| Water-resistant packing cube | Nite-Ize RunOff Waterproof Toiletry Bag Check availability at REI | Water-resistant and dustproof for extra protection from sand and water |
| Compression sacks | Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil compression sacks Check availability at REI | Sleeping bags and clothes, other soft gear |
| Rigid containers | REI Trailgate Gear Bin Check availability at REI | Kitchen gear, camera gear, camp lights and batteries |
| Lotion and pill containers | Humangear GoTubb containers Check availability at REI | Lotion, sunscreen, pills, body wash |
Compression sacks
Commonly used to scrunch sleeping bags down into a tighter wad, compression sacks are ideal for creating separate, compact groups of clothes and other soft gear so you can keep similar items together. Relatively inexpensive, compression sacks come in various sizes and they cinch down so you only use as much room as you need.
Although compression sacks aren’t waterproof, most are made of water-resistant nylon so they can protect your clothes and other belongings from accidental dousings. Here are a few good choices for compression sacks that are made of lightweight nylon, come in various sizes, and have drawstring closures
Small packing cubes and accessory bags
As useful for river trips as they are a trip to France, packing cubes help you corral everything from toiletries to first-aid supplies to kitchen gear. After years of using different types of packing cubes, I recommend spending more on sturdy cubes. Packing cubes made of thin fabric work fine for clothes but if you invest in high-quality containers, you’ll be able to repurpose them for different situations and they will last for years. Here are some I’ve used with good results over the years:
- Cotopaxi Del Dia Packing Cubes: My top pick for packing cubes, these come in a set of three different sizes (the largest 10 liters) and are well-made and versatile.
- Cotopaxi Nido Accessory Bag: I use this for toiletries, and it swallows up a surprising amount of items in multiple compartments. The fabric is sturdy and the zippers are solid after countless river trips and more mundane travel.
- Nite Ize Runoff Waterproof Toiletry Bag: If you need an accessory bag with extra protection from mishaps, check out this waterproof, leakproof, dustproof bag, which is designed to protect the contents for up to 30 minutes of water immersion. This one is ideal for carrying electronics, sterile toiletries such as contact lens solution, and other gear that needs extra care.
Large rigid gear containers
To organize gear that will be contained in dry boxes, we use a variety of rigid, zipped containers that have the essential characteristic of being square to best fit in various dry boxes. Cylindrical containers create weird pockets of space that you end up filling with things like small propane canisters and disinfectant wipes, which creates more random gear that you have to carry up to camp separately—not ideal.
To save time, space, and frustration, collect your kitchen gear into easy-to-carry containers that have zipped or locked lids so the contents will stay put. Here are some great options:
- Gregory Alpaca Gear Pod—This is a 5-liter, rigid container with a zipped lid that’s on the small side but is ideal for collections of electronics (for example, flashlights, solar chargers, or batteries) or kitchen gear such as spices or small dish sets. These containers are stackable and have a convenient top grab handle.
- REI Trailgate Gear Bin—These bins come in three generous sizes (60 liters, 100 liters, and 140 liters), and have structured panels that can collapse for storing. The smallest size works well to hold a significant amount of kitchen gear and dropped into a raft dry box.
For more details on containers made specifically for packing food, check out “9 Food Packing Tips for Camping on River Trips.”
Small containers for lotions, pills, guitar picks
A good set of small containers will save significant space by allowing you to carry only the amount of lotion, sunscreen, pills, or other flotsam (guitar picks, spices, etc.). Here are a few great choices—all inexpensive and incredibly useful.
- GoTubb Small Containers—These are the most ingenious containers I’ve used. They are small but hold a surprising amount of lotion or ibuprofen and they snap securely shut so the contents don’t spill out. Also check out Humangear’s GoToob squeeze bottles for liquids.
- Humangear Stax Interlocking Containers—Ideal for organizing snacks, medicine, and other sundries, these watertight containers come in various sizes and stack together with a convenient clip handle that you can attach to other gear with a carabiner.
Organizing your gear into smaller bags and containers yields significant benefits when you’re on the river: You’ll conserve space on boats and save time looking for stuff.
