My dad was a pilot in the Air Force, and referred to his toiletry bag as a “dop kit”. As an adult I was quite surprised to be in a luggage store and see the same sort of bag with a “Dopp” label on it. That’s when I found out where the name came from (and how it was spelled). I bought one, but I’m not sure if I still have it.
Since the company was around a few years ago, I assumed they still would be. It’s hard to find them, though. According to Wikipedia, someone let the trademark on “Dopp kit” expire, so lots of companies seem to be using it for their small bags. This is as close to the original as I can find.
64 year old female and have known the phrase Dopp kit forever. In my world it’s just for men and it’s a very specific style as described above. My dad had one and now I’m sad because this thread reminds me of him. I guess the female equivalent is makeup bag. Anyway, I do not have one always packed.
I, too, keep my overnight kit ready to go. I probably need to refresh some of the items which have now been sitting through a long pandemic. But in addition to a toothbrush and brush, i keep enough OTC meds that if i come down with some minor bug while traveling I have a side of two of treatment, tiny scissors in case i get an annoying hangnail, a needle and thread in case my cloths need emergency repair, some liquid soap i can use to wash an item in the hotel sink…
I had never heard this term until this thread! I do not have one, but when we lived in prime hurricane territory I did keep a bug-out bag packed and ready to go.
I have one, and I call it a dopp kit, because that’s what my dad has always called his. Definitely they’re for men.
My dad always kept his packed and ready, refreshing sometimes right before a trip, and I do the same. I remember many times, whether at home or on vacation, needing something like a fingernail clippers and having my dad say “there’s one in my dopp kit,” or my mom saying “did you look in dad’s dopp kit?”
My dad travelled a lot and always had a dopp kit. His was leather and opened at the top like a doctor’s bag. I still call a men’s toiletry case/bag a “dopp kit” but my Aussie husband just uses “wet pack” for any toiletry or makeup cases.
I’d heard the Dopp kit term, and I’d seen original Dopp kits without realizing that’s what they were. The leather ones are pricy, so that’s probably why my dad never had a “real” Dopp kit.
I have what I call a train case (because my mom called it that) – much bigger than a Dopp case – but most people would probably call it a makeup case. I like a hard-sided container for more protection for the contents.
We keep a bug out bag always packed ready to go with 3 days of clothes, undergarments, socks, swim suit, etc… Included is a Dopp kit with travel sized toiletries and such.
I always thought Dopp kit referred to a particular kind of toiletry bag that men used that had metal edging around the top and opened wide. Women, OTOH, used makeup kits and toiletry bags that were shaped differently and often came with little plastic containers for cosmetics.
For many years, I had a duplicate of my bathroom kit in such a bag that I could grab and go camping at a racetrack with. Now, I find myself having to pack the bag before each trip due to the need to have certain pills, prescription creams, etc., whenever I take a trip. So, though I have a Dopp kit, it’s not ready to go.
My grandfather gave me a very similar one before he passed in 1987… I was 6 years old. I still have it. The zipper is rusty and the whole thing is a bit dirty but it still lives in my bathroom as a repository for razors and bar soap. I just went and looked, it has no brand mark, simply a stamp on the bottom that says “4oz top grain cowhide.”
