It looks like any regular dopp kit, with a boxy rectangular profile that makes it easy to grip in your hand for those treks to the wash room you carry out several times a day. Open the zipper closure, though, and the Step22 Tortoise Toiletry Bag reveals a style uniquely its own.
At this point, we all know how dopp kits work. You open it, then either place it on the counter or hang it on a hook, then you reach inside and grab what you need. It’s simple enough. Apparently, though, not simple enough for the outfit, so this one looks to make things even easier.
The Step22 Tortoise Toiletry Bag has a unique zipper that goes diagonally across the edges of the bag. As such, when you open it, the whole thing spreads wide open without laying all your gear flat on the counter like a suitcase. Sporting a clever design, it combines the all-in-the-open accessibility of a clamshell bag while maintaining upright compartments like a semi-rigid tool bag, making for a truly unique option in the category. It’s spacious, too, with 3.5 liters of capacity and multiple pouches for neatly organizing all your toiletries, hygiene, and grooming supplies.
There is a smaller zippered pouch inside, which can hold small bottles and tubes of all sorts, that is removable, so you can move it anywhere in the bathroom, making it easy to find room even in cramped sinks and counters. No clean place to set down your razor, toothbrush, or floss, such as those times you’re cleaning up in a dirty gas station bathroom or a river in the backcountry? Not a problem, as opposite the pouch sits a workspace area that you can use it to set all those stuff down with no worries about getting them dirty. The workspace area also has a mesh pouch underneath, designed for any smaller stuff you carry as part of your on-the-go toiletry stash.
The Step22 Tortoise Toiletry Bag comes with a total of 12 pockets and pouches inside, so you can be as anal about your organization without running out of dedicated slots, as well as a removable mirror, so you don’t end up shaving blindly when you decide to clean up during a hike on the trail. It has a hanging hook just like many dopp kits today, so you can mount it on the wall for those times when the facility is short in counter space, although you do lose access to the built-in workspace whenever it’s hanging open.
Dimensions are 10 x 7 x 4.75 inches (width x height x depth), so it’s big enough to hold a good load of toiletries while still being compact enough to squeeze into your backpack. Construction is 1,000-denier nylon with a rugged all-weather coating for the rear, multi-level TreadWeave nylon for the front, and IllumiClean Antron with carbonate coating for the interior. All exterior panels get padded foam for protection.
Want one? The Step22 Tortoise Toiletry Bag is available now, priced at $65.