Eagle Creek Organized Traveler Cube Set
The reviewer's admission to being hopelessly unorganised is the best argument for this kind of kit, and it has aged well: cubes are for people who are not naturally tidy, which is most of us.
What the set does. A few zipped fabric boxes that turn one large compartment into several labelled ones. Your bag stays packed, you stop unpacking to find socks, and repacking each morning takes a minute instead of ten.
The system that actually works: sort by type, not by day. Tops in one, bottoms in another, small things in the third, and one cube left empty at the start of the trip for dirty clothes. Day-by-day packing survives exactly one day.
Eagle Creek still makes the Pack-It range, so this is buyable, and the category has grown up around it. Two changes worth knowing: compression versions with a second zip for bulky clothing, and much lighter fabrics, since a set of heavy cubes can add 400g to a bag for no functional gain.
Where cubes are the wrong answer: a small cabin-only bag. Packaging costs volume, and in 20 litres the cubes can take more space than they organise. Roll into a single dry bag instead.
And the thing no cube fixes: taking too much. The system makes a well-judged bag pleasant to live with and makes an overpacked bag tidy. Weigh the bag, then remove a third, then buy the cubes.
Part of the guide to packing and organisation.