how to pack a hat in a carry-on.

flower tee. pants. hat. carry-on suitcase.

So this week I traveled from New England to Utah for my sister’s wedding.  It’s about a 5 hour flight, and I just wanted to bring a carry-on, which meant I was employing all my capsule packing skills, and all my little tricks, and I thought about one I haven’t shared with you all yet!  So today I thought it would be great to show you how to pack a hat in a carry on, so it doesn’t get damaged.

I think there is literally nothing my husband hates more than when I bring a big, delicate wide-brimmed straw hat with me when we travel.  I believe the words he uses are “high-maintenance.”  We actually have this long joke about how many trips I insisted I bring a hat on, and the enormous pain it was to get said hat to and from the destination undamaged.  But I understand the annoyance, there really is no good place to put a hat like this on a red-eye flight (and really who wants to sit in an airplane seat for 5-6 hours with a wide brimmed hat on their head?), so as you can imagine I spent many an uncomfortable flight awkwardly juggling this hat and wishing I had just left the hat at home.  A couple years ago I got to work figuring out a way that I could pack my beloved straw hat so I could relax during travel, and still have it get there in undamaged and in one-piece.

This is what I came up with, and it works incredibly well.  I’ve done it on multiple trips with this exact hat and it’s never let me down, the hat always arrives perfectly undamaged.  The trick is that you are creating a  little cocoon around the hat that reinforces and protects the shape.  Here’s how you do it:

Step one: Place some clothing items on the bottom of the suitcase to add padding. (I like to use pants because they’re heavier) This protects the top of the hat when you place it in the suitcase.

Step 2: Place hat face down on the padded area.

Step 3: Place delicates inside the hat. (this helps protect the shape) I like to put my underwear, etc. in a dust bag and then gently tuck them all inside the hat.

Step 4: Roll up the pieces you’ll be packing.

Step 5: Tuck rolled up items around the hat on all sides.  Filling in any empty area so the hat is supported on all sides.

(If you lift up the hat, you should basically see the shape of it in the middle, like here.)

Step 6: Place flap over the hat and gently zip it up.

That’s it!  That’s how I pack a hat in a carry-on suitcase!  Very simple and works every time.