Travel Gear: Dimensions, Zips and Boxes

Travel gear is bought twice: once before the trip, and once at the airport. The specs that prevent the second purchase are dimensions, zip type and what the airline actually measures.

What decides it

  • Cabin bags: the airline limit is a box, not a volume. Measure 55 × 40 × 20 cm against the bag’s external dimensions, wheels included.
  • Packing cubes: compression only works with a two-way zip. One-way zips are just bags.
  • Adapters: check the plug types covered and whether the USB-C port carries power or only data.

Current listings

Related reading

Our measurements on what actually fits in a 55 × 40 × 20 bag and on the two-to-one ice ratio for cooler bags.

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