How to do you pack your commuter bag?
 

Since I started commuting, I have been experimenting on how I have been packing my bag. I have the Incase Messenger:

http://image.rakuten.co.jp/gettry/ca...mg56991096.jpg

The bag is big, which is exactly what I wanted. I have experimented with the folding and rolling technique, but have not found one that works the best yet. My office is business casual, so usually I pack dress pants, a button down, belt, shoes, and the rest of the garments.

Tried the folding today and I did have a few wrinkles so maybe the rolling I will try tomorrow.

What do you pack, how do you pack it, and what do you pack it in?

I packed quite a bit of stuff in my Sunlite saddlebags, but they're not waterproof, nor are they very rigid. Thankfully, none of my clothes needed to be ironed.

I would pack a pair of jeans/pants in a large zip-lok bag, and squeeze the air out of it to make it as flat as possible. I did the same with shirts, undies, etc. in another bag, and squished them flat. I could easily fit a full change of clothes in 1 pannier this way, plus it was waterproof, and made it easier to find things.

In the other pannier, I could fit lunch fixings, extra shoes, towels, etc.

Rolling.

I use panniers to haul in everything on Mondays.

My left side is my "landing gear" side, so when loads are of unequal weight, that's the heavier side. Typically, one or two library books, four apples, four oranges, four bananas, four trail mix bars, four granola bars, four containers of leftovers for lunch.

On the right, one or two library books, rolled black jeans, three rolled button-down oxford shirts, one rolled library-themed t-shirt (for t-shirt Thursday). This week's t-shirt:

http://www.workplacepro.com/prod/S-VHGB-CU-dkc.jpg

The panniers stay at work during the week, then on Thursdays I haul home library books (Imagine that!) and the laundry.

In the three seasons, this lets me ride any bike I want on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I think today the Peloton, and tomorrow the Litespeed Classic.

BTW, the trick to rolling the shirts is to do so loosely. You're not making fireplace logs out of newspapers. With the collars buttoned and one or two buttons done on the front, gently fold in half along the buttons and the rear pleat. Gently fold the arms in. Gently roll from bottom to top. Jeans are rolled from bottom to top as well.

I roll my clothes in a bakcpack that I strap to my rear rack. Two tips that have worked for me.
1. If at all possible, leave the shoes at work, they are generally the heaviest, most awkward, dirtiest thing to carry. I leave black & brown shoes at work & am always covered. Leaving shoes at work makes carrying your clothes at least 50% easier.
2. Buy a bottle of downy Wrinkle releaser & leave it at work. Carefully rolling your clothes leaves them generally wrinkle free. However, every now & then, I still get a wrinkle. A couple of sprays of the wrinkle releaser & a quick tug on the garment & the wrinkles are gone.

I have read this and been trying it. The main issue I am having is my dress slacks. I have to believe rolling those are not a good idea, unless someone else disagrees. Last night I bagged all my stuff and put a dryer sheet in it, came out great this morning except for the few wrinkles.




I will do this also. Thanks.

yea, I pack my Rain Cape on top If I don't have it on when I go Out the door.

There is a big difference in the way id pack a pannier verses a backpack/messenger bag. It depends how stiff/much padding is on the back of your messenger bag. I like a straight contact point against my back if im using one of my chrome backpacks or messenger bag. I like to put softer items like shirts/pants and extra layers like shells/knee/arm warmers/etc against the back, then lunch and tools in front of that making sure theres not going to be anything poking me in the back.

If im using panniers that packing isnt as big of a deal. I usually try to keep heavier items at the bottom and obviously try to keep the weight evenly distributed.

I've got a Topeak MTX Trunk Bag DXP. Used to have some Bontrager Panniers, but those were actually too big and messed with my aerodynamics (40 miles round trip, windy season... it made a difference.)

The trunk bag has one large compartment, and 2 side pockets that unfold to expose panniers. 99% of the time I can fit everything I need into the main compartment and leave the panniers packed up. So here's my typical load. The large compartment is split into 2 halves using an adjustable velcro divider.

Left half (standard kit, stays packed no matter if I'm commuting or funning):
* 2 tubes, multi tool, tire levers, 2 CO2 cartridges, CO2 inflator, Adjustable wrench, 8 SRAM power links, 10 links of extra chain, scraeder-to-presta valve adapter, patch kit, tire boots; all in one gallon ziplock bag.
* Folded up paper towels, in another ziplock bag
* Band aids, neosporin, bandages, in another ziplock bag. Will be replacing this with a hardshell kit that takes up less space soon.

Right half:
* Cable lock coiled up.
* Rubbermaid 24oz plastic container holding my lunch.

Then on top of those I can fit my U-lock, and place my keys on top. So when I get my bike ready for the commute the night before, I simply pack the cable lock and the lunch (if it's non-perishable), put the U-lock on top, and drop my keys in, and zip it up.

In the side pocket I have a separate ziplock bag with my wallet, phone, and keycard for work (so I can just bump the bag up to the key reader and it will let me into the office).


If I have commuted to work too many times in a week and ran out of backup clothes at work, then I must transfer some clothes as well, in which case I break out the right pannier and stuff the clothes in it.

On days like today when I am going to hit up the grocery store after work, I fold up my Topeak Chopper HB basket, and it fits entirely within the right pannier. Then after work I go shopping, remove the basket from the pannier and mount it on the handlebar, then load up the basket and panniers with the groceries, and ride home.

Additionally, since the weather has gotten a little strange and temperatures can vary greatly between daylight and moonlight hours, I decided to bring my backup long-fingered gloves, balaclava, and 2 lights (since it'll be dark after work now). So these went into the left pannier. Hopefully this won't affect how many groceries I can fit on the bike tonight. We shall see.

I'm really loving the trunk bag. It's slightly more annoying to access my spare tubes and tools because they're packed pretty tightly, but given the frequency of that is relatively rare, I find the aero benefits of being able to fold up the panniers are worth it compared to the slight inconvenience of things being packed a lot tighter. My average speed went from 12mph to 14mph on my route. Over 40 miles that makes a big difference.

I roll my pants when it's too warm to wear them to ride in, but I roll mine from the top down. I fold them 'backwards' first, with the front folded in & the rear pockets showing. They seem to roll better that way (for me at least)

I work in a warehouse, so 'business' doesn't even apply to the dress code at my pay rate. That being said, while I don't 'kit up' to ride, I find myself having to deal with layers now. I use a backpack- I prefer 2 straps to one- and I roll. I stack all of the layers that I won't be using for the ride home on top of each other and make a 'clothes burrito'. Does take up less room than rolling each item individually.

I also have a locker at work where I have a pair of jeans, company polo, socks, and undies just in case, as well as a pair of old sneakers. If it's wet when I go to work, I'll wear my waterproof boots and change when I get to work, then change back prior to going home. If it's dry on the way in, but wet when leaving, I'll change into the old sneakers to ride home in to preserve my better pair (which are left at work).

I just got one of those "Eagle Creek Pack-It" systems for my work shirts. Works great. And I leave a few dress pants/shoes at work.

On the left side of the rack I use a large Ortlieb office bag for miscellaneous stuff, papers, iPad, journals, cable lock, and there's room leftover.

On the right side I use an Ortlieb shopper for layers that i shed on the warmer ride home, and stuff I pick up on the way home - light shopping, mail. I could probably jam everything into the office bag, but I like the convenience of extra space.

If your bag is big enough, bundle wrapping:
http://www.onebag.com/pack.html

What kind of storage do you have at work? Can you take several days/weeks worth of clothes to work in advance and leave them there?

How bad were the wrinkles? Can you store a small travel iron at work and touch up your clothes when you get there and before you get dressed for work?

I usually wear jeans, T-shirts, and boots. All of which travel fairly well. I usually just roll them up. And usually there aren't many wrinkles, or at least not that I've noticed.

The clothes go in one pannier bag, and in the other bag I carry lunch or a snack, my locks, extra water bottles, etc.

I have thought about this.....unfortunately I have really no storage space at work. Basically, I pack my bag, ride to the gym across the street, shower and change there and then come to work. I never store anything. We do have a few closets that I would need to clear out where I could store some clothes, but this is a few extra steps I would need to take. That being I would ride in, have to lock my bike up at work, go upstairs and grab clothes (still have to pack them) unlock and then go over to the gym and re-lock up, etc.



I definitely have enough room and will be trying this. Thank you for the recommendation.

Does the gym have lockers you could rent?

I carry my clothes each day and layer them into one "package" which keeps my dress slacks wrinkle-free in a backpack.

Layers:
1. Towel folded in fourths
2. Dress slacks from hanger (one fold)
3. Dress shirt layed face first onto slacks and folded in thirds into the middle - much like in a store
4. T-shirt, underwear and socks on half of the shirt

Fold this entire assembly in half (towel on outside) and place in plastic bag (in case of rain). Then goes into backpack section next to my back.

From what I read above (http://www.onebag.com/pack.html) it is basically the same idea that you are following I believe. I am going to start with a towel, then wrapped the shirt and slack around it. See how that works for the wrinkle wise.

Panniers: underwear and socks in one shoe, rolled up towel in the other. One shoe in each pannier with a steel Starbucks container of strong coffee (not Starbucks) on the bottom one one side and a Coke on the other. Rolled up shorts, jeans, or slacks on top of one, rolled up shirt in the other. Top compartment of one pannier has wallet, wristwatch, house keys, battery packs for taillights, and clean shorts and jersey for the return trip. Top of other pannier has tool kit, spare tubes, hair brush (omitted after annual short haircut), and reading glasses. Handlebar bag: paperback novel, musette containing breakfast and lunch, casquette with bandana and fingerless gloves for the return trip, and battery packs for the headlights.

I used to use a Topeak rack trunk. Lunch, wallet, keys (if no pockets) went in the main compartment. Other things, including clothes got rolled and went into the fold down panniers.

Since I started grad school, I've been using the Axiom Lasalle panniers I've had for a year or two. This allows me to keep one pannier dedicated to change of clothes and lunch, while the other is school books, etc. That makes it easy to hop on the bike after stopping by home to head off for class with just one pannier, the school one. I generally roll clothes. Lunch goes on bottom (in tupperware), clothes on top of that and rest of lunch, usually bananas, goes on top of clothes to keep it from getting bruised too bad.

I roll mine. I use a backpack so I just roll and stack, usually jeans first, then shirt, undies, hand towel.. that's it for my clothes.. When I used a messenger bag I rolled too, but instead of stacking i'd put them in vertical rolls next to each other if that makes sense.

However, being a graphic designer, wrinkles aren't an issue for me, I can pretty much get away with wearing anything as long as it doesn't stink.

I use a Banjo Bros size Med backpack. I iron my clothes, fold them carefully, then put them in 2gal ziplock bags. By squeezing out the air, I get a pretty stable package and I see fewer wrinkles than I do with any other method, and I am a wrinkle-phobe.

Depends. I have three packs and the Topeak DXP Trunkbag. I dropped the rack and trunk because I did not like how it made the bike feel a bit unstable. Plus I would always be paranoid of the trunk falling off -- it never did but was just a mental thing.

Since i use a smaller 20" wheel folding bike to hybrid-commute. I'll either use a Chrome Citizen Messenger, Maxpedition Pygmy Falcon II or a Burton backpack.

Fully loaded Chrome

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6036/...e672aa5b7b.jpg
Commuting Setup: Chrome Citizen Black - Internal Contents by sudoshift, on Flickr

This is pushing it. Loaded quite heavily.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6163/...23df7f151c.jpg
Pygmy Falcon II Work Commute Contents by sudoshift, on Flickr

The Maxpedition backpack is great because I can put water on one side of the mesh compartment and tools in the other.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6178/...05b90bb9aa.jpg
Maxpedition Pygmy Falcon II by sudoshift, on Flickr

My favorite has to be the Burton.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6200/...cefd34ce51.jpg
Burton Backpack by sudoshift, on Flickr

It looks great and its highly visible since its yellow. Downsides it gets really sweaty.

Just an update:

This morning I followed the (http://www.onebag.com/pack.html) way and I do not have ONE wrinkle in any of my clothes. I just did it like this:

Laid out my pants (half folded lengthwise)
then laid my dress shirt on top of it with the arms folded in at the seams at the shoulders
then tri-folded a towel and put that directly in the middle of that and wrapped everything around the towel and put in a bag.

I am going to experiment with it, but didn't have a problem. Thanks for all the tips.