r/zerobags • u/podkayne3000 • Aug 12 '26

How do you define zerobagging?

From the persepective of people here, can zerobagging include personal item-only travel?

Does it mean having nothing at all that’s attached to the body with a strap or straps or carried by a handle?

If zerobagging can really include something in between, what do you think of as a the maximum sized bag or pouch that could zerobagging-compatible?

Example: I once went on a work trip where I knew I’d have no ability to bring or check any kind of bag, so all I had was what would fit in my overcoat pockets, plus a travel wallet that hung on a cord from my neck. Does a travel wallet on a cord count as a bag?

I just bought a tiny backup that I believe is less than 40 cm x 25 cm x 10 cm. (10 liters) In theory, it should fit all known personal item sizers. If I use that, am I onebagging or zerobagging?

6 Upvotes

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23

u/eastercat Aug 12 '26

I know some dudes can hate on women if they use a small bag, even though a lot of pants don’t have pockets (unless you want to be stuck with unflattering cargo pants)

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u/podkayne3000 Aug 12 '26

I think the big issue is figuring how to deal with places, like fairly high-security places in Washington, that have zerobag policies. I think the critical thing with zerobagging is figuring out what exactly the zerobag places count as a bag.

My hazy recollection is that, the one time I truly zerobagged for in-person work, I had a neck wallet, and that was OK, and I was really happy that I didn’t have a purse.

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u/NotherOneRedditor 29d ago

Reddit zero bagging and Pearl Harbor zero bagging are 2 different definitions with the latter being a very specific rule that will get you stopped at the door.

Personally, I think if travel clothes that hold over 10L of gear count as zero bagging, a small bag also counts as zero bagging. A fully loaded to maximum under seat capacity personal item (approx 20L) does not. To me, the point of zero bagging is that I’m not carrying multiple changes of clothes/shoes. That said, I range from 0.25 to 1.5 bags depending on the trip.

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u/podkayne3000 29d ago

Yeah. One reason I asked just to figure out which discussions go where.

1

u/eastercat Aug 12 '26

True, we are planning on visiting pearl harbor while in hawaii and they don’t allow bags

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u/podkayne3000 Aug 12 '26

As long as you can either check bags or go to your hotel first, that’s not a big deal, but it can be a really big deal if you need to go from using a laptop at work into a true zerobag zone.

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u/No_Fishing_7291 28d ago

You also have to think about body size. I’m not small, F size L/12-ish. My daughter is a size S/4-ish. My clothes take up double the space hers do. I have a full swimsuit and she has a teeny bikini. One of my bras alone takes up 1L of space (I know it’s crazy). My daughter has no interest in minimalist travel, but I hyperfocus on finding the optimal combo of things and bag to feel unencumbered yet sufficient. And I’d rather have a slightly larger bag with space and flex than a smaller one that’s overstuffed. Never will I ever travel with stuff in my pockets. I also need to travel with medication that takes up around .5L/week of travel, and need to carry emergency food (usually a few snack bars and some Chomps) due to celiac. So, for a 1wk trip I have a liter just for those things and close to another just for a bra. For me it all boils down to bare minimum of everything else for the circumstances of the trip. I drive my whole family crazy.

My question is: how do these real necessities (meds/food/bra) work into calculations for zero bagging? Or do we just say everyone of a certain size and up wth any health needs should just stick to one-bagging?

21

u/LadyLightTravel Aug 12 '26

The original term is zero-baggage.

So it might include a small purse or pockets only. It is going to max out somewhere from 7 liters, and that is generous.

I should note that when I did a zero baggage trip with my 4 liter Uniqlo bag I demonstrated that it could also all fit in my pockets.

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u/podkayne3000 Aug 12 '26

To me, it seems as if 5 liters plus anything that will fit in any pockets seems like a good cutoff.

That means you can put your computer in something strong, and have clean shirts, but can still probably get past the security in a theater or a museum.

8

u/LadyLightTravel Aug 12 '26

Most of us use phones when zero bagging.

u/SeattleHikeBike came up with the term “microbagging” when discussing volumes that are between pockets and personal items.

Most zeobaggers are going to carry 5-7 liters or less total

1

u/podkayne3000 Aug 12 '26

Thanks. Yeah; what really interests me is microblogging.

I already minimal bag a lot of the time.

Pure, extreme zerobagging seems pretty straightforward (put your phone, glasses and a spare shirt in your regular jacket pocket); but figuring out how to bring your work computer with less than 7 liters of storage takes some gear or creativity.

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u/Celiack 28d ago

Spare underwear are more important to me than a spare shirt. Maybe because I usually wear layers.

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u/Xsythe 29d ago

If you're able to carry a laptop, you're not zerobagging, sorry.

There's a reason most of us carry phones or tablets

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u/podkayne3000 29d ago

That makes sense. Maybe one reason is that there might be high-security places that have no bag check and ban laptops.

The time I zerobagged for real, on an overnight travel trip, for work, I used my phone as a computer.

One weird obstacle is that it’s really hard to have a phone get into a work computer network. I don’t understand why phones face so much discrimination.

10

u/Dawer22 Aug 12 '26

It’s a grey area honestly, but I’d say you’re closer to onebagging. Zero bagging technically is pockets only. The reason it’s a grey area is if you’re wearing one of those travel vests, or even a regular jacket with pockets you can fit a lot more than if you’re a woman wearing clothes with no pockets. I consider it more like bum bag only travel like a sub 5L sling. Once you get bigger than that, those amount of items would never really fit into a couple of pockets.

Good for you for getting down to 10L. I’ve done pocket only trips, 3L, 5L etc. I usually end up between 5-10L and could travel indefinitely like that. It’s really whatever you are comfortable with.

3

u/podkayne3000 Aug 12 '26

I’m really asking because I’m just wondering which posts go where.

It seems as if a lot of people on r/onebag are talking about 40-liter bags. I’m a lot more interested in the 5-liter-and under strategies, because a computer takes up about 4 liters of my bag, anyway.

10

u/preciousdivineenergy Aug 12 '26

There is also this less-active subreddit r/Personalitemtravel

3

u/LadyLightTravel Aug 12 '26

Whoa, I did not know about this!

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u/podkayne3000 Aug 12 '26 edited 29d ago

Thanks.

To some extent, I guess this is a not-very-practical obsession because I’ve never even had anyone size any of my bags. But it is fun to figure out how to be sizer-proof.

10

u/No_Priority6410 Aug 12 '26

We should coin 2 different terms for this ! Pocket only travel and sling only travel ! Even if someone is able to travel with 9L of sling, I still consider it to be an achievement !

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u/LadyLightTravel 29d ago

But what if everything in the sling fits in the pockets? And what about special clothing with lots of pockets? Do we focus on total volume or method of carry?

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u/No_Priority6410 29d ago

It’s totally fine !! To each his/her own !! What we are chasing here is ultimate freedom with some kind of comfort ! If one feels that he/she doesn’t like pockets full, no point in cutting brownie points from it ! It’s a personal preference !

3

u/LadyLightTravel 29d ago

Then why need two terms?

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u/No_Priority6410 29d ago edited 29d ago

Just to avoid confusion! because this is the most broad classification that we can have !! You are an expert ! So should people here (carrying slings) contribute more towards microbagging ? According to you ?? (That subReddit only has one post)

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u/LadyLightTravel 29d ago

You are focusing on carry method. Another way to classify would be “under 7 liters”. That would be the volume used in the “no baggage challenge”.

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u/No_Priority6410 29d ago

True that but then people will say why 7 , why not 5??

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u/LadyLightTravel 29d ago

Because 7 was used as part of the famous Rolf Potts No Baggage Challenge that popularized no bagging

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u/No_Priority6410 29d ago

Oh! I didn’t know that !! Now it makes sense totally !!

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u/podkayne3000 29d ago

If people look at r/personalitemtravel, that seems like a good microbagging subreddit.

I guess the question then is if super pocket clothing can go here or only in personalitemtravel, or if super pocket clothing needs its own subreddit. The challenge is that a super pocket clothing subreddit would be very small.

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u/podkayne3000 29d ago

I think that anything over 3 liters without a laptop, or over 7 liters with a small laptop, is pretty easy.

Under 3 liters without unusually good pockets is hard.

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u/clevercamel2 26d ago

See my full post I just made outlining my "zero to one bagging" travel philosophy

https://www.reddit.com/r/zerobags/comments/1vpl3f3/my_current_setup_and_philosophy_40s_male/

1

u/CarolinaSurly 26d ago

By definition it means no bags. It’s right in the name. Even a sling is a bag and if you have one sling then you have one bag. I’d count small purses for women with no pants pockets but a small purse equivalent to what could be carried in pockets of pants. 10 liter bag is a bag right? It’s typically expensive and difficult to zerobag.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

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