I recently went to Ireland and used the Outdoor Products Essential Carry-On. It worked really well but it's kind of "floppy" since it's made of a lighter weight cordura. My question is this: would packing cubes and/or folders help in the stability of the bag?

Yes, they will help greatly. But don't go overboard. Use one Eagle Creek 18 folder and one cube, perhaps two cubes if you must. Otherwise you lose the weight and cost advantage and could have gone with a stiffer, pricier bag right away.

I'd put the packing cube in the bottom close to the backpack strap. It will work as your lumbar support. The folder is inserted last; as a lid so to say. It will give stability to the back and serve as a protector from outside impacts. Don't put anything hard on the side you carry towards your body. If you have to carry shoes, fill them with socks, put them in grocery bags, wrap the shoes with a pair of pants or a towel or sweater. Use those as a lumbar support and move the cube up to shoulder blade level.

Till

Good advice about packing cube placement, but...

I know you post often about the weight of cubes, Till, but don't you need a lot of big ones to really add up? I think one regular sized, one half-sized, and a few smaller ones of mine came out to about half a pound. I've heard Rick Steves' are even lighter than the EC cubes. And if your bag only weighs one pound, I would think less than one pound of support materials is okay (considering a stiffer bag might weigh 3-5 lbs. Maybe I'd be more strict if I had a very low weight limit, or a heavier bag.

I do use plastic bags for some clothes, but I don't always want my shirts to smell like Ziplocs when I take them out (unless there are less plastic-y-smelling bags I should be using?).

I have packing cubes made by both Eagle Creek and Rick Steves...for the OPEC bag--as the one mentioned here--and using it for leisure travel, i would get a set of RS cubes. They are lighter than EC, more flexible and will, slightly scrunched together, fit in the bag side by side. They are 5" thick and if filled will bring structure to your bag yet soft enough to make it fit in tight places.

If weight is an issue, I would not use an EC Folder as it weighs more than a pound empty. The RS cube set (3 cubes) weighs 7 oz total.

Berg, you are right the cubes themselves don't weigh so much. It is a matter of principle. If lightweight is the number one priority you use as few cubes or whatever packing aids as you possibly. If organization is the number one priority one can go to the point of having a bag within a bag for each item. :)

In his case the OPEC (nice name) weighs 793g, so close to 2lb. I suppose the EC cube I have weighs around 80g. The 18" folder is 430g and the 15" folder is 305g; I just weighed them on my rather accurate kitchen scale. So say you bring an 18 incher and one cube, you are at 1300g. That's 2.86lb. In fact, that's still very good and just marginally over the weight of an MLC which is equally floppy.

Still, the principal of limiting packaging weight when you try to pack light should be respected as much as possible. Just don't turn your life into hell for it. ;)

So let's be generous and allow him one 18 incher and two cubes. That should be all he needs, really.

On the subject of RS cubes: I like those a lot for the mesh and wire structure and the lightweight design. What I don't like so much is the height. You will have a hard time using these actually as compression cubes. Also for bags like the Airboss or Tristar the 5" height is too much. The compartments of those bags aren't even that deep. I don't know how deep the compartments (does it even have any?) of the Opec are. The bag depth is 9". So they might be just ideal as Buzz pointed out. Cheaper, too, I believe.

Another thing one can do to stiffen the bag is to use a compression bag. The EC stuff works reasonably well but don't expect it to keep a vacuum forever and don't overstuff them. When they are squeezed for all they're worth, they will flatten and stiffen quite dramatically. So maybe one 18" folder, one medium EC compression bag and one cube or two, and that bag is as stiff as an Alu Rimowa.

I own too many bags including the OPEC. It is a one compartment bag with the main compartment about 6-7 inches. And that's why I recommended the RS cubes. At 5" it's no problem to fit them in the bag. (I wouldn't even think of using them in my Tri-Star but we're talking about an OPEC bag..)

People buy the OPEC bag for one of two reasons--it's cheap ($35) and it's lightweight. To then add packing cubes/folders that weigh more than the bag sort of makes the point moot. That's also why I recommended the RS cubes--they are the lightest ones around. I've used them in the OPEC bag and when combined with the included compressions straps add stiffness to the bag, and keep it under the 8" maximum of many European airlines. .Plus he's only adding 7 ounces to the bag helping to keep it below some of the very low weight restrictions for European airline carry-ons.

One other thing...the RS cubes cost $18. An EC 18" folder and a couple of EC cubes cost more than the OPEC bag itself!!!!!! (An EC Medium Compression Sac won't fit in the OPEC bag.)

For a business trip, or leisure one where I use the Tri-Star, I would then use an EC folder and a few smaller EC or TB cubes in the other compartments.

Something I use every day is this set of Outdoor Research ditty bags .

I generally use the whole set of 3 for longer travel, with a roll of clothes in the big orange bag, shoes or a coat in the green, and chargers and junk in the small silver one. They're practically weightless and the silnylon is slippery, making both packing stuff into the sacks and stuffing the sacks into a stuffed bag a lot easier than with canvas packing cubes. They're also water resistant - clearly don't take them for a swim but I can have my bag get soaked and have all my clothes stay dry. I've had mine for 5 years now and one of them has only recently developed a tiny tear thanks to cramming in a bunch of pointy stuff but it's still holding up for daily use.

I still use an EC quarter cube or half tube for most trips. They're good for book-like things that should stay flat and electronics. I'll admit that I prefer to roll my clothes so cubes don't work as well as a stuff sack.

Buzz, excellent advice on the OPEC/RS-cube combo. I could have sworn the Medium compression sac would fit because I thought that's what I used in my carry-on bags but I was probably mistaken and it was the small one I used. Perhaps that's still and alternative to the EC folder.

Thanks everyone! I've got a lot to think about.