Post date: August 11, 2023 | Adventure
The #1 Best Way To Pack A Dopp-Kit/Toiletry Bag for Men
Whether you call it a dopp-kit, toiletry bag, GoPack, or anything else, having a storage space for all of your grooming accessories while you’re on the road is important. Without one, chances are you’ll waste time fishing in and out of the bag for things you need, or worse, have forgotten on your travels. And why waste any time when you have the opportunity to explore somewhere new?
The answer is organization. More specifically, knowing exactly what you’ve packed and where.
But, what are the essentials that a man should pack while on the road? And how can you do so? After all, you can’t possibly pack everything. So, today we’re going to talk about what you should and shouldn’t pack and how to do so!
Now, despite the fact that every man’s toiletry bag is going to be different and consist of different things, there are certainly some tips we can give that are absolutely universal. Let’s dive into the first of these tips now.
Tip #1: No Pouches
Most dopp kits are just a big zipper pouch that you can toss in your luggage. These suck, no offense, but it’s true. How can you organize the essentials when you’re dealing with one literal large zippered pocket. It’s very difficult to do so.
What you want to choose is a dopp kit/toiletry bag that has storage OPTIONS. This way, things are easier to categorize, organize, and see from the get-go.
Instead of a pouch, what you want is a shaped bag at the very minimum, or a fold-out dopp kit if you want to get REALLY fancy with it. Bags are larger than pouches and more easily organized since they’re typically box-shaped and can be viewed top-down to see the contents, but fold-out dopp kits are where it’s really at.
Fold-out dopp kits and toiletry bags are the creme de la creme of the toiletry bag world. Here’s why:
Because of their fold-out design, they typically always come with multiple storage options. Things like elastic straps for toothbrushes, lip balm, nail clippers, and more. Mesh pouches for any travel-size bottles, and large clear pouches for larger grooming necessities like colognes, deodorants, and more. some of them, like Volt’s GoPack, can also be hung with a carabiner on your shower curtain, towel rack, tree branch, etc. for easy access while bathing or in the bathroom.
Take a look at the image below and imagine how much easier it would be to spot everything you need in a jiffy instead of having to dig through a pouch, just saying.
Tip #2: Smaller is Better
This one is obvious, but you do NOT need to bring your full shampoo or conditioner bottle if you’re traveling for a week or two. In fact, unless you’re traveling for months at a time, it doesn’t make much sense to pack all that stuff, especially if you’re staying in hotels with complimentary toiletries that often include body wash and shampoo.
However, we understand if you are part and partial to a specific shampoo that you love, we feel that way about Volt’s shampoo after all, so here’s what we suggest.
Instead of bringing the full bottle, you can find smaller vial-sized travel bottles that you can fill with your shampoo that is much better for traveling. But it doesn’t stop there, use them for your shampoo, conditioner, body wash, even beard wash if you’re into that, and you’ll notice how much more space you have overall. And, they’re not expensive in the slightest.
The other option is to find out if the maker of your favorite shampoo sells them in travel-sized bottles, they likely do. Volt sells a refillable aluminum travel sized bottle of almost every product, and being aluminum, they’re eco-friendly so no environmental guilt there.
Here’s the point, smaller is always better for traveling, and there are ways to do it that mean that you don’t have to sacrifice your favorite products either. Here are some examples.
- Collapsible toothbrushes exist
- Tie a handful of cotton swabs with a rubber band or wire tie.
- Spray some cologne into a smaller bottle while on the go.
- Buy mini-toothpaste bottles at ANY drugstore or convenience store.
- Use a safety razor instead of a plastic one (helps the environment, works better, is cheaper over time, and you can carry more shaves with a pack of razor blade replacements than per plastic cartridge head for space)
- Deodorants often come in travel-size as well.
- use travel sized combs and brushes like a beard comb or beard brush.
All of these tips help save space in your bag, and yes, it may require a minimal amount of upfront cost, but guess what, that’s far less expensive than having to buy new things whenever you travel, and saves you the peace of mind of being able to keep a packed dopp kit that is ready for the road at any time while you use your larger products at home.
Tip #3: Categorize Your Items
If you’re anything like me, you want to just toss all your products into a bag and call it done. Here’s the problem: things get lost, broken, spilled, etc. And I can tell you from experience that having your toiletries at least SLIGHTLY organized can make all the difference, and all you need are some ziplock bags.
This way, you can separate products by bags and know exactly what product is where at all times.
Here’s how I would organize my products:
- Hair
- Body
- Teeth
- Hardware
- Misc.
HAIR:
This obviously includes a bag of your travel-sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, beard wash, beard oil, combs/brushes etc. Anything you use for your hair.
BODY:
Here, I like to include things like body wash, soap bars, deodorant, shave gel/cream, and after shave.
TEETH/MOUTH:
Obviously toothbrush, toothpaste, tongue scraper (if you know, you know), lip balm, and floss. YES, FLOSS. Don’t forget that.
HARDWARE:
Hardware is anything like razors/shavers, extra razor blades, tweezers, nail clippers, tiny scissors, etc.
MISC:
Your miscellaneous items include things like cotton swabs, contact lens case, saline solution, spare toilet paper, wet wipes, Even Volt Beard Color if you’re feeling cool.
When you organize things like this, you can grab the bag you need and go. About to take a shower? Grab the hair and body bag. About to do some deep grooming? Grab your hardware/misc. bag, etc.
Bonus Tip: Set Yourself Up For Success
For better or worse, we’ve obviously done a lot of thinking about dopp kits and toiletry bags here at Volt. That much is obvious, and we’re personally tired of a lot of the options on the market that consist of a single large pocket or pouch with no organizational capabilities. So, we wanted to make things easy.
Just check this out for a second.
This is Volt’s GoPack dopp kit/toiletry bag. A fold-out toiletry bag with multiple storage options that makes it easy to spot and organize EVERYTHING.
Use the elastic straps for toothbrushes, lip balm, tweezers, nail clippers etc. Use the mesh stretch pockets for all of your travel bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and everything else. Use the clear pockets for toothpaste, deodorant, hardware, miscellaneous items, or whatever else you need. It’s that easy, and all of it can be seen the moment you open the bag.
The GoPack can also be hung just about anywhere with the included carabiner clip, making it easy to have everything available in or out of the shower, bathroom, or anywhere the road takes you.
Overall, it’s our solution for anyone who travels with the goal of being the most convenient and durable pack possible. After all, it’s made of military-grade Cordura, the same material they make motorcycle pants out of due to it’s durability.
Volt also makes a litany of travel-sized bottles, perfectly sized to fit in the GoPacks mesh pockets. These bottles are aluminum and refillable, Volt’s answer to eliminating plastic waste and reducing the amount of bottles that are thrown away or discarded after use.
Oh, and the refill pack saves you money too! Refill packs are a much lower cost/volume, meaning the more you use, the more you save over buying a brand new bottle every time.
Overall, a toiletry bag no longer has to be a daunting task every time you travel. With these tips, you’ll know how to fill your dopp kit/toiletry bag quickly and easily in a way that makes sense to you and with sensible items!
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