How to Create a Modular “Go Bag” System That Fits Every Need

We all love our go bags, but they don't fit every situation. You'll struggle to take a large backpack everywhere you go and a tiny bag can only fit a limited amount of stuff. While each bag has its own optimal uses, constantly transferring items just makes matters worse. The solution? Create a modular go bag system so you can swap items easily.
I have a ridiculous collection of backpacks, messenger bags, and everything in between. I've accumulated so many over the years—all favorites I can't bear to get rid of—that I don't even know how many I have. This didn't happen because I have a weird sort of bag fetish, but rather that no one go bag works in every situation. While I've reduced myself to three—a large backpack for when I need everything, a small messenger for basic needs, and a field bag for sports and exercise—I found that I kept forgetting what was in which bag when I had to move them around so often.

Choose Your Modules

When you need to move a bunch of stuff around, grouping it together is very important. Before you can create a modular go bag system, you need to know what those modules are going to be. What's a module exactly? It's just a container that holds a variety of items, often in an organized fashion. When you have a few of these, it's easier to transfer everything because there's less to move around. Everybody is going to have a different case, but here are some examples I've encountered:

• Storage Devices - Take all your portable external disks, whether they're hard drives or flash, and keep them together. Storage comes in wonderfully consistent, thin, rectangular shapes. Grouping it together for your bag takes little effort.
• Gadgets - The type of gadgets you use will vary. If you're not just carrying around a music player and a point and shoot camera, you might need multiple modules for activity-specific equipment like photography and audio recording. You'll have to decide what goes together and what doesn't, but remember not to split things up too much. The goal here is to reduce the number of items in your bag so you can swap them easily.
• Cables and Power - No gadget-based bag is complete without a diverse array of cables and charging equipment. Chances are a few USB chargers, or one massive multi-port brick, will handle all your needs on the go. You may also need a laptop charger, and those are notoriously difficult to store. MacBook adapters have a wonderful solution in Quirky's Power Curl, but PC laptops have options in the form of a small electronics travel case, mesh bag (with storage hook), or small packing cube (all of which we'll discuss later).
• Art Supplies - Group all your pens, pencils, charcoal, blending tools, paint brushes, watercolor set, and whatever else you might need to take with you for your on-the-go artistic needs. If your bags tend to focus on art supplies, you may want to create separate modules for each type.
• Files and Folders - Files and folders are generally the same size. You can keep them in one larger folder if you don't have too many, or you can simply strap them together with a book band.
• Books and Notebooks - Books and notebooks can also be bound together easily with just a band.
• Grab Bag - Some items just don't fit into any category but you still need to take them with you. When you can't figure out what else to do, create a "Grab Bag" module to hold onto your uncategorizable goods. Ideally these items will be small and easily managed. If not, you'll end up transporting a large mass of stuff with you most places and need very little of it. If you have a lot of miscellaneous things, consider what you can leave behind. When you need something for a special occasion, you can always toss it in the grab bag before you leave and remove it next time you remember.

Once you've decided which modules you need, it's time to figure out the best way to organize them.

Plan Your Organization Scheme

There are many ways to make a module compact and organized, but some options work better than others. Let's take a look at ways you can keep things compact and easily portable.

The GRID-IT

The Cocoon GRID-IT is one of our long-time favorite organization tools. When creating a modular system for your go-bag, it's almost indispensable. As you can see from the photo to your right, the GRID-IT is a rectangular board with a busy grid of elastic bands. Lift one up, put something under it, and it'll stay in place. Because there are bands everywhere, you can arrange the GRID-IT however you like. This makes for a very versatile storage tool that you can pull out of one bag and stick in another very easily.
The GRID-IT sometimes fails when items become loose and slip off. This happens if elastic bands become loose from being stretched out by a large item, then used to try and hold a smaller one, or if you just don't secure certain things very well. Cocoon does make GRID-ITs that come in cases or have protective neoprene wraps, however, so you can easily solve that problem by purchasing a protected version instead. You really only need this if you're planning on storing small, thin items (e.g. flash drives, pens/pencils).

The Mesh Bag

Mesh bags don't offer a lot of organization in themselves, but if you just need to keep track of a couple of items that won't get tangled up or lost if tosses in a single space they make for a great module. Many storage bags, like these or these, come with hooks on top. You don't necessarily want to just dump your storage bags into your go bag, so these hooks can help you secure them in place so they stay exactly where you want them.
Hooks require something to hook onto, of course, and not every bag offers anything like that out of the box. Often times you can use internal zippers (as the loop inside the zipper pull can usually secure a hook) but you can add places to attach these bags if you make some minor modifications. The easiest method is to use a clothespin to pin the bags on instead. If you want a more permanent adjustment that works with the hook, however, that's pretty simple as well. With a small sewing kit, sew on a small piece of rectangular fabric to the inside of your bag. Sew only the left and right edge, leaving the middle part open so you can hook your storage bags onto it.

The Packing Cube

Packing cubes are like the mesh bags mentioned above, but they allow room for larger items of greater volume. This tool was primarily designed for packing clothing, but works great for cables, power adapters, hard drives, and various other items you might stuff and stack in your bags. Thanks to handles along the edges, you can pull them out easily. They're really great when you need storage with a little more height and form than a bag can provide.

The Three-Ring Binder

A three-ring binder is a great way to organize small electronic components and a thin one will fit nicely in most bags. All you really need beyond that are sports card sleeves, as those provide a good amount of room for things like flash drives and cards, membership cards you don't want to keep in your wallet, sticky notes, and many other small things you don't want rolling around just anywhere in your bag.

The Folding Sleeve

Versatile storage is great, but sometimes you need a module that's pretty specific. While we'll discuss some options you can buy later in this section, you can save yourself some cash and get exactly what you need by making a folding sleeve.
What exactly is a folding sleeve? It's a series of simple pockets attached to each that form a long rectangle, and you can fold them up to fit neatly in your bag. (In fact, it's kind of like this mail sorter we featured a couple of years ago.) Making a folding sleeve is very simple. Just follow these steps:

1. Take a large piece of canvas (or other thick, sturdy fabric) and measure out the length of the sleeve. (Because it folds, you can make it longer than your bag.) Now measure the height of the largest item you're going to put in it. (Generally speaking, you don't want to include anything larger than a smartphone or portable hard drive.) The height of the canvas should be twice the size of this item, plus a little extra for wiggle room. When you have your measurements, cut the fabric accordingly.
3. Fold the fabric in half you have one really long sleeve that's half as tall. Take the top end of one side and fold a tiny little bit over to make a ridge, then sew it in place. Do the same for the other side. (You can use staples if you don't have a sewing kit to make a crude version like the one pictured in the examples, but sewing is definitely a better option.)
4. Sew all the way up on both sides of the canvas, but do not close the top. Clip any excess fabric along the edges (if necessary).
5. Turn your canvas inside out so that you have nice, smooth edges all over.
6. Measure each item you want to place in the sleeve and make marks vertically along the canvas. (Basically, map out the sleeve's compartments with a pencil.) Be sure to leave a little extra space so nothing fits too snugly or you won't be able to fold.
7. Sew a straight line up the sleeve in each place you marked. When you're done, you'll have several compartments for all your stuff.

Now you can store that sleeve you made in your bag and fold it to whatever size you need (assuming its contents aren't excessively bulky).

The Module-Specific Organizer

Some modules may benefit from organizers designed for the items it carries. For example, the Neatnix Readytech Organizer is almost like a GRID-IT, cable sleeve, and packing cube all in one. If you have tons of SD cards, you can get an organizer specifcally for them. Before you decide to use a bunch of versatile solutions, look around for items that may be designed for the specific need you have in mind. Often times, something exists.

Choose the Right Bags

Chances are you have a few bags already if you've made it this far in the guide, but maybe you don't or maybe you don't know which bags will work best. For the most part, sticking to two or three bags is the way to go. A big bag and a small bag should fill two of the slots, and then any third bag should fill a specific need like photography or sports and exercise. Of course, you don't need to consider any luggage one of your bags. Travel is a different situation, although one that still benefits from your modular system.
Once you've chosen your bag types, there are a few things to consider before you start putting everything together. Are there pockets in the bags that you want to use? If you do, consider what might go in each bag that never needs to leave. This is the best use for pockets as they go against the point of your modular system. Also, if you have a lot of gadgets, you may want to consider a bag with solar charging built in (such as this one). Certain bags work better for different situations, too, as hiking and camping packs almost always have a space for a water bottle and tech bags have a padded area for your laptop. Consider your needs and choose appropriately or you'll be swapping bags often, and that's annoying and expensive. If you need some suggestions, the Wirecutter has plenty.

Put It All Together

You're almost done! You have your modular system set up but now you have to put it together. This doesn't require much more than stuffing your items in a bag and calling it a day. That said, since this system is brand new you should practice a little bit. Put each module in each bag and see how they fit together. Certain modules might need to go in first, so one doesn't get in the way of the other (e.g. packing cubes before hooked mesh bags), and you may want to have some modules more easily accessible than others. It should only take a few minutes to figure out, and now you can easily transport all your gear so that any bag can be your go bag.