I Measured 12 Dopp Kits. The Mini Fits Every One.

I was three months into a year-long Asia trip when a guy at a hostel laundromat asked me what travel shaver I used. I showed him. He asked: "How small is small?"

I didn't have a real answer. "It's like… small enough" isn't a spec.

So when I got to Bangkok and had a full afternoon between trains, I borrowed twelve Dopp kits from twelve different guests at my hostel and measured whether the TravelShavers Mini fits in each one's pre-existing small pocket. Not the main compartment. The little zippered slot most kits have for a toothbrush or razor.

Here's what I found.

The kits

  • Bellroy Dopp Kit — fits the inner mesh pocket with room for a USB-C cable next to it
  • Patagonia Black Hole Mini Cube — fits the elastic toothbrush sleeve
  • Cabin Zero "Classic" toiletries bag — fits the front zip pocket
  • Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube — fits anywhere, this kit is huge
  • Muji translucent toiletries bag — fits horizontally in the bottom pocket
  • Generic Amazon $12 Dopp — fits the front pocket
  • Aer Slim Pouch — fits the main compartment with toothbrush
  • Tortuga Toiletry Kit — fits the upper mesh pocket
  • REI Co-op kit — fits the front zip
  • Tom Bihn Spiff Kit — fits the secondary zip pocket (barely; this kit's small)
  • Hostel-found canvas roll, no brand — fits one of the rolled slots
  • Free airline amenity kit (Singapore Airlines) — fits where the eye mask was

Twelve for twelve.

What didn't fit

The brick I used to travel with — a Philips Norelco S-series that was 165mm tall and 60mm thick — fit only the main compartment of the largest three kits. The other nine, it didn't even pretend to.

The Mini is 105mm tall and 35mm thick. It's the size of two stacked credit cards in your shirt pocket. The difference compounds: when the shaver is small enough to fit a side pocket, you don't have to choose between bringing the shaver or the toothpaste.

The lesson

"Compact" is a useless word. What matters is whether a product fits the specific small pocket you already use for the specific item you'd otherwise bring instead. Travel gear should be measured in pockets, not centimeters — because the pocket is the constraint, not the kit's main compartment.

The Mini was designed against this constraint. It's why I keep using it.

The honest caveat: if you want a shaver that includes a base station, a precision trimmer attachment, and three speeds, this isn't it. It's a single-purpose tool. That's the point.

— Jake

Fits the side pocket. Fits the budget. See the Mini →

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