Thread: My DIY Travel Kit

Hello everyone.

As my username suggests, I like to make stuff (see earlier post here). I thought I’d share my latest project, a DIY travel kit. The impetus for this travel kit stemmed from my fear of having my primary gear lost or damaged when travelling. For travelling, I wanted a kit that was entirely serviceable (of course!), yet inexpensive, compact, and comprised of quality products given space and monetary constraints.

I just got back from a weeklong trip visiting the in-laws. Here’s what I brought with me:

1/ Brush – I started with a silvertip knot from WhippedDog.com. The handle was borrowed from an old cement trowel (of all things) that was hiding in my garage. My chop saw and belt sander made light work of the shaping process. I didn’t want to carry a bulky brush holder when traveling, but I still wanted to be able to dry my brush upside down. Accordingly, I opted for a two piece system with an eye screw that allows for upside down storage but can be removed to allow upright positioning while shaving. I didn’t like the idea of simply drilling a hole in the bottom of the brush for concerns about moisture attacking the exposed wood, so instead I bored a broader hole and Gorilla-glued a plastic dry wall hanger into the bottom of the brush. The metal screw then inserts into a plastic hole completely sealed with glue. Staining the wood, applying a coat of polyurethane, gluing in the knot, and adding a leather lanyard completed the project. Excluding incidentals (glue, sandpaper, etc.) and items I had on hand (handle, screw, and leather lanyard), the brush cost me $15 shipped.

2/ Brush Protector – I also wanted some sort of “sheath” to protect the brush from getting mangled during transport. An often proposed solution is put the brush in a prescription bottle. The challenges with this solution are a) the brush may slide around inside the bottle, and b) unless a series of holes are drilled in the bottle, moisture issues may surface. I did use a prescription bottle, but I opted for a solution that takes advantage of the two piece eye screw system. I first resized the bottle by cutting an inch or so off the top of the bottle (the end the brush bristles face). I then drilled a small hole in the bottom of the bottle (the end that accepts the brush handle). It’s this small hole through which the eye screw is inserted to lock the brush into place, solving a) above. In order to grip the brush to be able to screw in the eye screw, two larger holes were cut out of the side of the bottle. A drill press and rotary sanding discs were used to make all holes (a handheld rotary tool would work much better, I suppose, but I didn’t have one at the time). All rough cuts were hand sanded clean. The bristle end of the sheath was left completely open to allow for full drying, addressing item b) above. Despite this open design, the sheath provides good protection.

3/ Strop - I made the strop from a 30” by 3” piece of leather I purchased from WhippedDog. I eventually cut the strop down to 2” (click here to understand why). I used a heavy duty sheet metal punch (I don’t own a leather punch), a grommet stolen from another craft project, and a leather strip to create a lanyard. It ain’t pretty, but it works. The 30” by 3” piece of leather cost $15 delivered. If I was starting over and was committed to a completely DIY solution (as opposed to, say, finding a way to rig up the leather stropping surface from my SRD strop, sans components, thereby limiting the risk of lost/damage to the cost of replacement leather), I would probably purchase a 24” by 2” piece from WhippedDog, which would come to $10.80 shipped.

4/ Cream - I chose to travel with creams over soaps and I found it helpful to repackage the creams into small plastic containers. I found that the small McCormick spice containers work perfectly. I don’t recommend stealing the chili powder from your wife’s supply cabinet, but spices like cream of tartar can successfully be cleaned out with soap and water without leaving any residual odor. WD-40 works great for removing the sticky label residue.

5/ Razor Roll – I bought a 9-slot razor roll from WhippedDog (yet another WhippedDog product, I know. What can I say – Larry provides great products at reasonable prices). I found that the 9- slot roll was too large for this application. Accordingly, I sewed my own 3-slot roll using some scrap material and my daughter’s sewing machine. It’s awfully simple and lacks a closure mechanism, but it works well for this application.

6/ Packaging – Lastly, I packaged all of the above in a round plastic container I found at a yard sale a while back. I wanted a round container so I could safely line the insides with my strop without bending or creasing it. I chose plastic – as opposed to a metal tin – to eliminate any concerns about rust. I guess I could have used a paddle strop and eliminated the need for any dedicated container at all, but this option seemed to work just fine. (Notice in the photo that I also was able to fit my Swaty hone in the kit. I wouldn’t necessarily travel with a hone, but I wanted to show that it could fit in the container if for some reason I wanted to bring a hone along.).

Now I wouldn’t want to use this setup every day (I’d miss my SRD Premium I strop and AOS silvertip way too much), but the kit worked very well and it gave me peace of mind that if something happened to my equipment en route, I’d only be out about $30 (excluding, of course, the cost of the razors).

That about covers it. The week with the in-laws went perfectly (in the shaving category that is J).

Thanks for reading. Happy shaving! And have a great 4th of July!

Sweet. Necessity truly is the mother of invention.

Can I admit having a little bit of envy! I don't travel much. But, maybe I should get one of those kits and travel more! Clever...

Very nice!
Good thinking, and good execution on solving a problem quite a few of us most have pondered over!
Thanks for sharing from a fellow frequent flyer