VacVacBag Compression Bags Review: The Beauty of Built In Vacuums
Evan Rally
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You know what I don’t like about motorcycle touring?
Packing.
There is never enough space, no matter the size of your bike. And overpacking a bike is not like overpacking a car – you end up with odds and ends flapping around, or even lose a thing or two (RIP my right glove, somewhere in Indianapolis).
I hate packing so much that on my first Ride of Passage, I brought a single backpack for the entire trip. I didn’t want to pack and repack a bunch of clothes every day, so I just wore the same polyester shirt every day. Needless to say, I went through a lot of deodorant.
I have used compression bags before (and I’ll be honest, a shop vac with a trash bags) for storing clothes and bedding, but not often for travel. And it never crossed my mind to use them for a motorcycle trip. Why? Because how do you vacuum all the air out when you’re on the road?
A friend of mine recently put me on to these compression bags from VacVacBag that answered the question for me.
Of course my brain had not comprehended that fan technology is pretty wild these days – Dyson now sells a full size vacuum with a fan that’s only a bit wider than a quarter. So compression bags with built in vacuums? Totally doable.
I wanted to see if VacVacBag really worked – because they’d allow me to pack a lot more on bike trips and flights.
Sturdy compression bags with a pump that's impossible to forget. Perfect for saving money on checked bag fees or packing a motorcycle.
- Perfect size for standard carry-on
- Sturdy build quality
- 60-day money back guarantee
- 1-year pump warranty
Not Sure What Size to Order? Get Our Gear Fit Guide.
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Anatomy of a VacVacBag
VacVacBag makes compression bags with a USB-C charged vacuum pump built into the bag itself, so there’s no separate pump to lose or leave on a charger at home. They’re designed to fit neatly in to standard carry on luggage.
The company calls it the first carry-on compression bag with the pump permanently integrated, and that integration is the reason I wanted to try it out.
The whole thing runs off battery power, and VacVacBag claims you get about 15 trips per charge. If that means ~30 total compressions, they’re already overperforming, since I’ve done that many so far on my bags and have seen no signs of the little jet slowing down.
In my experience each bag fits quite a lot – I’ve put 10 shirts in one and another I stuffed full of winter clothing – about 8 pieces, mostly jackets and sweats with a few pants.
Using them couldn’t be simpler – fill them up, pull the zipper closed (tight! It has to make it all the way to the end or air will get in), unscrew the cap, hold down the on button for 2 seconds. The fan will whir up and suck all the air out.
If you want a little extra space, sit on the bag at this point – especially helpful for me when I put heavier winter clothes in there. When it’s done, turn the fan off and don’t forget to screw the cap back on. Otherwise air will leak back in. And voila, you’re ready to roll.
I ride out of Bangkok and pack for trips where every liter counts, so these really come in handy. I bought them because squeezing a week of clothes below the seat of a scooter or in a top box (especially every day when you’re constantly on the move) is not my favorite part of a ride.
My verdict
The VacVac bag is perfect if your packing is space-limited and you hate carrying a separate pump or hunting for an outlet at a guesthouse. The built-in USB-C vacuum just works: pack, zip, press the button, and the bag pulls flat in 5-30 seconds (depending on how much you’ve jammed in there). You can squeeze a little extra space just by sitting on it while its doing its thing.
Pricing starts at $99 for one bag, $129 for a 2-pack, and $199 for a 4-pack at the time of writing. They also give a 60-day money-back guarantee, which is nice, and a one year warranty in case your fan fails. For motorcycle travel and flights with one carry-on (hello Asian budget airlines!), that’s genuinely useful.
The build of all four bags I received is solid – super strong nylon, sturdy zippers with taped seams and strong zipper bulls, and thick seams welding the front piece to the back.
Let me see the specs!
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Pump | Built in and permanently integrated, USB-C rechargeable |
| Battery life | ~15 trips per charge (brand claim); see my observed cycles-per-charge below |
| Compression time | 5-30 seconds – depends what you pack in there. |
| Space saved | Roughly 40% of the loose volume in my packing |
| Dimensions / pack sizes | Sized to fit a standard carry-on suitcase, one bag per half if it’s a clamshell. |
| Water handling | Water-resistant (I poured water over it – nothing got in) – that’s a boon on its own if you’ve ever thrown luggage on a ferry in Southeast Asia! |
| Guarantee | 60-day money-back, free return shipping, no restocking fee |
| Warranty | 1-year pump warranty (repair or replace) |
| Price | 1-pack $99, 2-pack $129, 4-pack $199 (at the time of writing) |
How much space you actually get back
The reason any of this mattered in my case is on a motorcycle, every bit of space counts. I took a Harley Ultra Limited across the USA in 2022, and when I bought the bike, I thought I’d have loads of space. I ended up leaving about half of what I thought I’d take with me at home, and then shed even more as I went on my way. Compression bags make bike packing a lot easier.
Your mileage may vary depending on what you’re packing, but with these bags what I found is that plush type clothes (like sweats, t-shirts, even button down shirts) lose about half their size in these compression bags. Thicker materials like denim, about a third. Socks and underwear lost more than half their size – they got absolutely crushed, which is exactly what you want to see out of a compression bag!
VacVac vs the other ways to compress your kit
VacVac isn’t the only way to shrink a pile of clothes. Before you buy, it’s worth knowing what you’re choosing against. There are really three options any traveler weighs:
| VacVac (built-in pump) | Roll-up compression sack | Vacuum bag + separate pump | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pump location | Built into the bag | None — you roll the air out by hand | Separate pump you pack and charge |
| Setup hassle | Pack, zip, press the button | Pack, roll, push the air out, cinch straps | Pack, find the pump, attach it, run it |
| What you carry | Just the bag | Just the sack (lightest option) | The bag plus a pump and its cable |
| Compression you get | Vacuum-tight, repeatable | Decent, but limited by how hard you can press | Vacuum-tight, like VacVac |
| Price posture | Mid – you pay for the integrated pump | Cheapest | Mid-to-high depending on the quality you want |
| Best for | Riders/flyers who want vacuum compression with nothing extra to carry or forget | Budget packers who don’t mind manual effort and less squeeze | People who like crappy products |
A roll-up sack is the right call if you’re counting grams and pennies and you’re fine doing the work by hand. But the moment “one less thing to carry and one less thing to forget on the bike” matters to you – which, on a motorcycle, it usually does – the built-in pump becomes pretty valuable.
How it fits the rest of your kit
Compression bags solve the volume problem, but they don’t solve the system problem of how everything mounts and balances on the bike. If you’re still figuring out your luggage setup, our guide to adventure motorcycle luggage systems is the right place to start, and the best motorcycle backpacks roundup covers what to carry on your back versus on the bike. For flying to the start of a trip, the Sterling Pacific 80L case review is worth a look as a big, sturdy case to carry all your gear across continents.
Bottom line
The VacVac compression bag does the one thing I needed: it shrinks a pile of clothes into a fraction of the space without making me carry a pump, and each of the four I bought have survived 10+ cycles without any seal, zipper, or seam giving me trouble. For space-limited motorcycle and carry-on travel, it’s the most genuinely useful packing upgrade I’ve added in a while. Try it out if you’re dying for more space!
Sturdy compression bags with a pump that's impossible to forget. Perfect for saving money on checked bag fees or packing a motorcycle.
- Perfect size for standard carry-on
- Sturdy build quality
- 60-day money back guarantee
- 1-year pump warranty
Pricing and the guarantee
At the time of writing, VacVac runs $99 for a single bag, $129 for a 2-pack, and $199 for a 4-pack. The per-bag math obviously favors the multipacks if you’re outfitting a couple of trips’ worth of packing.
VacVacBag gives a nice money-back guarantee and warranty too. If you decide you don’t want them, they give you 60 days to get your money back; with free return shipping and no restocking fee. Then there is a one-year warranty on the pump that’s repair-or-replace.
Go nag them on Instagram @vacvacbag if you have more questions!
Quick answers
Are VacVac bags waterproof?
In my usage, they’re water-resistant. Water poured over a sealed bag didn’t reach the contents, but the shell wets out and I haven’t submerged one. Rain and splashes, yes; river crossings, maybe not.
Do you need a separate pump?
No, that’s the entire point. The pump is built into the bag and charges over USB-C. Nothing extra to carry.
Will they fit in a carry-on?
They’re sized to fit inside a standard 22″ carry-on, which is what I packed against. They’re meant to organize and shrink what goes in the case, not replace it.
How long do they hold vacuum?
I left one bag full of sweats, fully compressed, for about 7 days and the seal held beautifully – didn’t seem to reinflate at all. So these might also be good for long term storage of clothes, though the trash bag + shop vac (if you have one) is hard to beat for that purpose!
How many times can you compress per charge?
The brand quotes about 15 trips per charge. In my own usage, that seems true and likely undercounting. The fan still seems to be chugging along even though I’m ramming the bag up and down to test its limits.