Travel Products - Best way to pack tommy bahama shirts: garment bag?

My family of four will be going on a week long Hawaiian vacation and for the first time I am trying to organize our packing and reduce the number of bags we will have. I just ordered an large llbean adventure rolling duffle and I think that will hold the majority of our clothes (packed in cubes), shoes and the toiletry bag. I am concerned about the nicer pressed items, like silk tommy Bahama shirts.

In the past we have used a wheeled garment bag to hold those type of shirts, pressed slacks and my nice dresses, but I'm wondering if there's a better way. For this trip we will probably have about 7 silk tommy Bahama style shirts in lg or exlg, two pairs of linen slacks, two linen dress shirts, three pairs of nice linen blend shorts that are kind of long and sz 38 waist, several short dresses for myself and maybe a long length silk dress.

Since my husband's shirts are on the larger side I do find that they sometimes get slightly wrinkled in the rolling garment bag, but nothing I bother to re-press. I've never used a packing folder before, and it seems like taking a freshly pressed tommy Bahama shirt off the hanger and folding it is a bad idea. Then again, if I could somehow squeeze everything into the rolling duffle I would be extremely pleased. Already we will be hauling our infant, two year old, double stroller, two convertible carseats, diaper bag, several small carry on bags, golf clubs :rolleyes: and the rolling duffle.

So how should I pack those nicer items? (all of which are pressed and hanging from the dry cleaners. And I should mention that i despise ironing on a typical day, needless to say it is not a task I wish to do while on vacation). Should i stick with the wheeled garment bag? Packing folder? I see eagle creek has a special hanging packing folder, would this be any better?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Wow! With all the bags and other paraphernalia (I have young children too; I sympathize!), I would be trying to get everything into the rolling duffle if at all possible. If the shirts are still inside the dry cleaner's plastic covers I would fold them, still in their covers, and pack them into a large flat cube or folder inside the duffle bag. If you leave the plastic film covers on when folding, it can help to minimize wrinkles and creases. Lots of people swear by the bundling method but I have no experience with it. There are some good threads in this forum if you do a search (check out the stickied packing thread). If the shirts and linen items are seriously crushable I would consider not bringing them or just grit your teeth and expect that a little ironing may be required! If you are lucky, though, wrinkles might hang out with some bathroom steam.

Is this your first time flying with the infant? You mentioned "several" small carry on bags plus a diaper bag. You might find that you will want to keep your hands free as much as possible - you and your husband may each need to carry a child at some point (plan for the worst, as they say...). We found cross body bags or backpacks were the only way to go in this situation (and ideally only ONE each - quite apart from any carry on limits on your airline, any more than one each is a nightmare to deal with on a crowded plane or a large airport terminal). A wheeled carry on bag can cause far more trouble than it solves when you have to manage young children. Just my two cents....

So if I fold the shirts in the plastic dry cleaning bag as suggested which would be better, the large 20" folder or a large cube?

As for our carry-ons, I will attempt to condense everything to one bag but I'm pretty sure we will end up with more than one. Probably one small bag with snacks, toys, iPad, DVD player, diapers &wipes , and bottle stuff that I'll keep underneath my seat. And then another with my husbands junk plus our camera. We've actually travelled with both kids before, but we always end up hauling more than we plan. Thankfully the carseats are really lightweight ones.

So if I fold the shirts in the plastic dry cleaning bag as suggested which would be better, the large 20" folder or a large cube?

I would go for whichever one fits more neatly into the duffle bag and then fold the shirts to the appropriate size to fit it. Or, alternatively, whichever one you like best, because that would probably be the one you are best at folding for!

Sounds like you have the carry on under control. How did anyone fly with small children before the iPad came along?!:D

I pack my Tommy Bahama shirts in an Eagle Creek folder and I don't have any wrinkle issues.

Shak

Went to a wedding and had to wear a TB shirt. Was worried about the same thing but this video provided some inspiration (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDGWW7_O2sI) on folding and traveling with items you don't want to iron. If you put the shirt in a 2 or 2.5 gallon zip lock with some air you own't need to do any ironing. I'm a major fan of this method.

I pack my Tommy Bahama shirts in an Eagle Creek folder and I don't have any wrinkle issues.

Shak

^^^
All my shirts are packed in my Eagle Creek folder from Tuxedo to T Bahama.

Went to a wedding and had to wear a TB shirt. Was worried about the same thing but this video provided some inspiration (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDGWW7_O2sI) on folding and traveling with items you don't want to iron. If you put the shirt in a 2 or 2.5 gallon zip lock with some air you own't need to do any ironing. I'm a major fan of this method.

Wow, I've never seen it with the air before. You could even use the bag to crush the dirty clothes on the return trip. Got to try this.