Grain bag size

I was just about to put my grain bag in my water last weekend and I noticed the grain bag had a slit in it. Luckily I was able to rig it and not let the grain fall out. The grain ended up being a little more compacted than I would have cared for. Will this change the steeping? Also I am going to do another batch this weekend and am going to buy a new grain bag tomorrow. LHBS has a 24x24 grain bag said to hold 15-20# easy for $12, a 9.5x16 for $5 and disposible ones for $0.80. I do 5gal batches and my grain does not get anywhere near 15-20#, but is it better to have a larger bag so the grains are not so packed? Maybe get 2 of the smaller bags and split the grains into 2 bags for better absorption? How often do your bags rip and tear? If they tear often I will just buy 2 normal ones and save one as a back up. If it's better to have the bigger one even with 5gal batches I will get the bigger one.

Small edit...
Noticed they sell a hop bag also. I thought I saw a video where one guy was telling begging brewers to use a strainer when pouring from the kettle into the fermentor in order to strain the hops? Either way why would you use a hop bag?

Well if you can get a nylon bag and reuse it, do it. You can tie off the bag (I use ty-wraps) anywhere you want and yes its good to have a little room for the grain to swell in the bag and when you rinse the grain with hot water the water can flow through the grain.
As for the "hop" bag. A lot of brewers use a bag for the hops so they don't have to separate them when going into the fermenter. There are other options but cost wise a bag works good. Some will argue that bagging the hops will lower their efficiency or extraction rate, and maybe their correct. I used to bag hops all the time with great results, and found the ease of using them greatly outweighed the headaches of trying to separate hops going into my fermenter. But that's just me.
Cheers
Jay

I used the pain strainer bags from Lowes or home depot. Worked for me. I think people also use it when making their hop strainers

mjmac85, I'd buy two of the larger bags, just in case. It's better to have too much room than not enough. I usually use sanitized butcher's string to tie it shut.