If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for ways to max out your luggage space so you don’t have to pay extra for a bigger bag.
I’ve been using my trusty roll by hand vacuum bags for a good while now, but I wanted to see what else was out there. So I tested out a few different versions to see what is the best travel vac bag on the market!
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What Are Travel Vac Bags?
Vac bags – or vacuum bags – are bags that you can put your clothes or other material items into, and then suck all the air out which can help save a lot of space. You remove the air either with a pump, or by manually squeezing it out – different bags work in different ways.
What are the benefits of travel vac bags?
Air takes up space, so by removing it using a pump and a vac bag, your things become more compact and take up less space. This is great for when you have a load of stuff you need to fit into a specific size of bag – especially if your airline wants to charge you more for a larger bag.
Whilst vac bags help your things take up less space, remember they can’t change the weight of your items, so be mindful of the weight limit for cabin bags on the airline you’re travelling with.
What size travel vac bags do I need?
Vac bags come in lots of different sizes. They’re used for space-saving in lots of ways, so you can get big ones that hold things like duvets for storing at home. For travelling, you’ll want a vac bag that holds some or most of your clothes.
I have all different sizes of travel vac bags, and the small (28x38cm), medium (60x45cm) and large (70x50cm) sizes can all have their uses depending on what you’re packing! These sizes all fit nicely into my Patagonia black hole duffel – mine is 45L but James has the 40L. They also work for small suitcases too.
For underseat cabin bags, you may want to stick to the small or medium sizes.
Can I reuse travel vac bags?
Yes you can absolutely reuse vac bags. The better the quality, the longer they’ll last.
Also, as tempting as it might be, don’t toss your vac bag aside when you return to deal with later. Unpacking it promptly ensures your clothes won’t get stale or have any moisture trapped inside.
Is there anything I shouldn't put in a travel vac bag?
Vac bags can cause more delicate items to become misshapen. This won’t happen to lots of clothes (like ones made from cotton or polyester) but it’s best not to put items made from wool, cashmere, silk or leather inside.
Also don’t put your puffy jacket or coat in a vac bag, as these work to keep you warm by trapping lots of air inside – you don’t want to extract it all out!
What Are The Best Travel Vac Bags for Maxisiming Luggage Space?
I tested out five different travel vac bags to see which ones were the best. To get a feel for how much would fit in each, I attempted to pack six sweaters into each one.
Keep scrolling for the low down on each travel vac bag and which one ranked the best!
Packmate Travel Roll Storage Bags – Large
£9.99
What do you get?
These exact ones sell out all the time, but we’ve linked the medium bags, small bags, or you can get the large set on eBay. You get 2 bags of the same size in the large pack, but there’s also a super handy multipack you can buy too.
How many sweaters?
We managed to get 6 sweaters into this size.
Price per bag
£5
My Review
These are the Packmate bags I’ve been using for years. The reason they’re such a winner is that once you’ve packed in your items, you just roll out the air by hand! This is great because you don’t have to remember to take a pump with you, and you don’t need to give any luggage space over to the pump either. They do the job pretty well, I find my things are a lot more compact when I use it, though I do appreciate that if you did have a pump you could probably get more air out.
Amazon Basics Medium Vacuum Storage Bags
£11.47
What do you get?
You get 5 of the same sized bags and a hand pump. Choose from small (60x40cm), medium (70×50 cm) and large (80x60cm).
How many sweaters?
We squeezed 6 sweaters into the 70x50cm medium bags.
Price per bag
£2.29
My Review
Now you get a large handpump with these Amazon Basics bags, and I mean large. It’s a bit contradictory because you’re using vac bags to save space, and yet this pump is so big. That said, it did a great job of taking the air out and so the vac bag was super compact. Even given the low price, I do think it’s far too big for travelling with. If you’re still interested, just be warned it’s a manual pump, so you need to roll up your sleeves and put your back into it to get the air out!
Vacbird - Vacuum Bags with USB pump
£29.99 (but often lower on amazon!)
What do you get?
9 bags of 3 different sizes: 3 tiny (40x40cm), 3 very small (40x50cm), 3 small (40x60cm) and a USB pump.
How many sweaters?
We managed to get 4 sweaters into this. Now, it is smaller than the first 2 bags we tested but I didn’t expect the size difference to be so noticeable! However, the number of bags you get in this pack does make up for it.
Price per bag
£3.33
My Review
This Vacbird pump comes with a USB cable, so you need to plug it into an adaptor or a UK plug to use it. I was actually really impressed with the size and lightness of it… until I turned it on!! Okay, fine I am being harsh – it does the job, but it just takes a little while to suck all the air out but who doesn’t have 60 seconds to do this? And it sure beats having to pump the air out yourself! In the end, the bag compressed pretty well given how tiny the pump was. A good compromise!
Monvane - Vacuum Bags With Wireless Pump
£24.99
What do you get?
6 pack of bags – 3 medium (70×50 cm), 3 small (60x40cm) and a wireless electric pump.
How many sweaters?
Interestingly, we managed to get 5 into this one – it felt roomier than the VacBird bags even though they should have been the exact same size!
Price per bag
£4.17
My Review
Okay wow – the air was sucked out of this in seconds!! It’s super powerful and the pump itself is pretty light and compact. It’s wireless so you just need to charge it up first, then you can use it – which would be a real drawback if you realised you needed to pack quickly! However, the vac bag was pretty damn compact at the end and overall, I was really impressed with this. Though perhaps I shouldn’t have been for the price!
White Rhino - Vacuum Compression Bag
£35.99
What do you get?
1 bag and a wireless electric pump with a travel lock
How many sweaters?
All 6 fitted in with ease – I probably could have got more in!
Price per bag
£35.99
These bags are no longer available online – which may make sense when you read my review!
My Review
This White Rhino pump is a bit more complicated than the others – I had to read the instructions carefully before using it. It’s a wireless pump which is handy – they recommend charging it up about once a month – but it wasn’t very fast at extracting the air. In fact, given the price, it was all a bit disappointing really as it felt like it wasn’t as compact as the others. That, and the packing was a real let down. I was expecting something fancy for the price, and it came in a really cheap looking plastic wallet. The hilarious thing is I now can’t actually find it online anyway, so perhaps it was all some wild fever dream!!!
So, How Do I Rank These Vacuum Bags for Maximising Luggage Space?
5th place – White Rhino
Coming in last, it’s White Rhino. I have to be honest, this felt like a scam – £35.99 for just 1 bag! Plus being the most expensive, I actually felt it performed the worst. The bag felt like it had a good bit of air still left it in after I used the pump.
4th place – Amazon Basics
Amazon Basics takes fourth place. The pump took the air out really well BUT it’s just so big, and it was a bit of a faff to have to pump the air out manually. Plus the pump is a bit large for travelling with, maybe it’s better if you are using it for things like duvets that you’re storing at home.
3rd place – Vacbird
Sitting in third place is Vacbird. It’s a decent contender and performed well, but just took ages to suck all the air out. Plus you do need to have power to use it, so that could be a bit restricting.
2nd place – Packmate
In second place, it’s my Packmate bags! I’m really impressed at how well these measure up against the competition. I’ve certainly never had any complaints and I love how easy they are. No pump, no problem!
1st place – Monvane
Coming in at the top spot is Monvane. The little pump is super powerful and sucks the air out SO fast, it feels like magic! The wireless pump is great because you don’t need a power source, just charge, and it’s so small it hardly takes up any space in your luggage. It gets a huge thumbs up from me!
Pack More Stuff With the Best Travel Vac Bags for Your Holiday
With most short-haul airlines charging you more for extra for cabin luggage, vac bags are a smart way to get as much packed in as possible. Of course you could also use them when packing larger checked-in suitcases, to squeeze even more in.
The Monvane pump is the clear winner which I’d definitely recommend, but the Packmate bags are pretty decent and I’ll definitely keep using mine for my trips this year – and beyond.
