Dehydrated toothpaste

[Onestepmore]

Fun things to do on a Sunday morning....
I'm going to make some of this for next weekend's trip, to see how it goes. Not that carrying a small travel sized tube of toothpaste is going to make me break my back, but I was recently amused to see that a pack weight over 8 kg is classed as 'heavyweight' by some authors, and I have my first multi-day trips coming up in the next few months. (Spurred on by the fact a fun package from MLD finally arrived after 12 weeks)

It's not strictly 'bush tucker' but I thought a recipe/technique for dehydrated toothpaste belonged here rather than anywhere else

http://hrxxlight.com/?p=1343

[neilmny]

Brilliant idea, problem solved,thanks for posting.

[north-north-west]

What's wrong with good old bi-carb?

[neilmny]

Or sand on a wet finger?

[Strider]

I was recently amused to see that a pack weight over 8 kg is classed as 'heavyweight' by some authors

8kg pack weight is fairly lightweight. 8kg base weight is beyond heavyweight.

[Stibb]

I've done some dots myself and it's great stuff. Instead of trying to cut up a long string I would squeeze out blobs big enough to begin with and then let them dry. Sprinkle with bi-carb so they wont get so sticky and off you go. And yes, you also have to cut your toothbrush in half

[russell2pi]

Maybe you should get all your teeth pulled out - no need to carry toothpaste, toothbrush, or teeth! Imagine how many grams that would save!

[Tortoise]

[north-north-west]

Maybe you should get all your teeth pulled out - no need to carry toothpaste, toothbrush, or teeth! Imagine how many grams that would save!

No solid food, either. You'd have to live on soup. No need to carry lollies, or nuts, or chocolate, or . . . hmmmm, I knew there was a down side.

[Onestepmore]

I usually wear a retainer at night (I've been 'lucky' enough to have had braces three times in my life, and I'm not so keen on a fourth set!) but I do save weight by not taking them hiking - do I get brownie points please?
And, yes, I know that dental floss can double as thread to catch a fish with a safety pin, hang out washing, sew up a tent, or a ripped up human, but I'm slack about bringing that. More weight saved!
Oh, and has anyone seen 'Date Night' - the retainer scene is SO true!!

[taswegian]

I reckon you should get brownie points for actually cleaning your teeth whilst out in the scrub!
Wonder how many do or don't?

Wasn't the original all about stopping freezing? Not weight saving.
Maybe a bit of PEG rubbed in would work.

On a serious note I wouldn't want to be inspected and have to explain that strange little bag probably tucked away in a hidey in hole my pack. Definitely no overseas travel.

[north-north-west]

I reckon you should get brownie points for actually cleaning your teeth whilst out in the scrub!
Wonder how many do or don't?.

Depends on whether I can be bothered. It's more likely in the morning than the evening. But I still carry the brush and paste/bi carb.

[cdg]

While overseas i picked up a french army toothbrush, it breaks down, folds into itself and has replaceable heads. i use it for bushwalking these days, as i doubt i will ever find the heads again. Oddly, the heads are small about child toothbrush size. it works well though.

[madmacca]

I've done some dots myself and it's great stuff. Instead of trying to cut up a long string I would squeeze out blobs big enough to begin with and then let them dry. Sprinkle with bi-carb so they wont get so sticky and off you go. And yes, you also have to cut your toothbrush in half

I had tried toothpaste dots on my last hike, but they kinda congealed into a sticky mess (but still quite functional). will try the bi-carb trick next time, plus actively dehydrating them rather than drying them at room temperature.

[Orion]

Curious that there is no mention here about how much weight is saved with this trick that Mike Clelland (who is credited with the idea in that blog) called "more fun than true weight saver". According to one source drying the paste reduces the weight by about 30%. Is this right? Has anyone measured it?

I went without toothpaste for a week last year. It was okay and my teeth were clean enough but I missed the fresh taste of the toothpaste. Actually, the first couple of brushings were great as there was some tiny amount of toothpaste residue on the brush itself. So I think I could be quite happy with a relatively small amount of paste.

I squeezed out 10 little blobs and they weighed on average about 0.2g each. So 14 brushings (one week) would require less than 3 grams of paste at that rate. A small plastic bag (0.4g) could be used to contain it for a total package of under 3.5g. Drying the paste would save less than a gram, not enough to bother with in my opinion, and I am one to count grams at times.

If you use a lot of paste maybe it adds up? I know that at home I use about ten times as much as I need. There is about 20g of retrievable toothpaste in one of those little travel/sample tubes. So you could save about 7g by drying that much paste. Combined with replacing the 8g of tube and paste you can't squeeze out with a plastic baggie you'd shave off 15g total. That's starting to sound like real weight!

[neilmny]

Curious that there is no mention here about how much weight is saved with this trick that Mike Clelland (who is credited with the idea in that blog) called "more fun than true weight saver". According to one source drying the paste reduces the weight by about 30%. Is this right? Has anyone measured it?

I went without toothpaste for a week last year. It was okay and my teeth were clean enough but I missed the fresh taste of the toothpaste. Actually, the first couple of brushings were great as there was some tiny amount of toothpaste residue on the brush itself. So I think I could be quite happy with a relatively small amount of paste.

I squeezed out 10 little blobs and they weighed on average about 0.2g each.................

I thought dehydrating a good idea, not to save weight but to remove the goo factor that could end up squished somewhere inconvenient.
I tried dehydrating some but found that it just formed a skin and ended up like chewing gum. I didn't try rehydrating it I just binned it.
Having read your idea about blobs, it's a pity I did chuck it because I could have cut it to blobs and they would not be gooey just a little tacky.
Back to the drawing board.

[taswegian]

I'm curious how you actually use this stuff.
I came to the end of a tube of toothpaste so cut it open and let it dry naturally.
But it was tedious to use. I had little lumps of dry leathery paste that wouldn't stick to the brush, instead transferred itself to a tooth where it hung on like a limpet. Well almost.
Is there a secret to getting it to work as toothpaste?

[Stibb]

Put the dot in your mouth...chew on it a bit...then start brushing. Spit aaaand...done. No rinse needed!

[taswegian]

thanks Stibb
Mmm - forgot to say there are a few gaps between teeth so there isnt a continuity between them which probably doesn't help (in my case)
I thought this idea sounded plausible, just wanted to see the results

[madmacca]

Curious that there is no mention here about how much weight is saved with this trick that Mike Clelland (who is credited with the idea in that blog) called "more fun than true weight saver". According to one source drying the paste reduces the weight by about 30%. Is this right? Has anyone measured it?

I went without toothpaste for a week last year. It was okay and my teeth were clean enough but I missed the fresh taste of the toothpaste. Actually, the first couple of brushings were great as there was some tiny amount of toothpaste residue on the brush itself. So I think I could be quite happy with a relatively small amount of paste.

I squeezed out 10 little blobs and they weighed on average about 0.2g each. So 14 brushings (one week) would require less than 3 grams of paste at that rate. A small plastic bag (0.4g) could be used to contain it for a total package of under 3.5g. Drying the paste would save less than a gram, not enough to bother with in my opinion, and I am one to count grams at times.

If you use a lot of paste maybe it adds up? I know that at home I use about ten times as much as I need. There is about 20g of retrievable toothpaste in one of those little travel/sample tubes. So you could save about 7g by drying that much paste. Combined with replacing the 8g of tube and paste you can't squeeze out with a plastic baggie you'd shave off 15g total. That's starting to sound like real weight!

OK, so I was curious about this.

I got the smallest available tube from the supermarket. 45g net. Weighs 50 g with the tube.

If the toothpaste dot strategy comes up with 3.5 g for a week's worth of brushing, that is a significant weight saving. Even if you assume you take a half-full tube an average, that is still over 20 grams saved.

The weight saving from drying the toothpaste is pretty small in the scheme of things - only 3g based on the figures above. The main saving is taking along only as much toothpaste as you need, and to some extent from ditching the packaging. The point of drying is just to remove the splodge factor, and perhaps to ensure you are properly metering the toothpaste used.

Now, can anyone tell me how much I save from sawing off the handle of my toothbrush?

[wayno]

20g is a significant weight saving?
how much do you weigh? how much gear are you carrying?
thats the thing about ultralighters they like to obsess over every last gram. save 20 grams..
you could easily have put on a kilo or more in weight between walks your footwear gets wet and takes on another hundred or more grams, etc etc....
some things are just a waste of time obsessing about... i've got better things to do than agonise over saving an extra 20 grams in toothpaste

[Stibb]

Now, can anyone tell me how much I save from sawing off the handle of my toothbrush?

About 46% (you might need to cut the bristles a bit shorter to get that value...)
More importantly, it's 87% more packable

[Onestepmore]

I've got a couple of these coming http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/personal/LA112.html
28g
Not super light but less than a small tube of toothpaste and a brush.

I'll actually have a go at the drying blobs of toothpaste thing next time I have the dehydrator out (glut of small tomatoes in the garden so probably one of my days off this week). Then use that and a z-packs 'breaks in half' brush
Not 'cause I care about 50g or whatever, but beacuse it's fun and I like fiddling. Lol as Wayno points out I would save more weight if I lost 5kg of human blubber! (or didn't take a Platy of red with us)

[wayno]

kathmandu have two piece toothbrushes, one part fits inside the other part and you can assemble together so one part adds to the length
also found a better one at auckland airport pharmacy... has a stunted shaft and a mini 5gm tube of toothpaste that fits inside the cover...
the cover is stronger than the kathmandu one which cracked on me...
this was the one i got at the airport,. had colgate on it..
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/75714 ... image.html

[wayno]

well well . look at this, this is kathmandu's toothbrush set, bought from themanufacturer for 5 to ten cents depending on volumes
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/48848 ... brush.html

, and kathmandu sell them for between 6 and ten dollars !!!

http://www.kathmandu.co.nz/catalogsearc ... toothbrush

[neilmny]

Looks bad but don't forget that they pay someone to sell them to you, plus buidlign rental, power, water, blah blah blah.
(No affiliation here by the way)

[Orion]

Wayno, you're missing the point. It isn't 20g that matters, it's N*20g, where N>>1.

My toothbrush went from 16g to 8g when I cut it in half.
And shortened like that it packs a lot better.

[wayno]

still a small item in the scale of things. i can save massive amount more paying attention to items like clothing, sleeping bag. food.

[Orion]

still a small item in the scale of things. i can save massive amount more paying attention to items like clothing, sleeping bag. food.

Obviously, but most people cutting their toothbrushes in half have already gone through that exercise.

I find that it adds up to weight that is significant for certain types of trips. Not all trips though.

[frenchy_84]

I find that it adds up to weight that is significant for certain types of trips. Not all trips though.

Are you serious or just taking the *&^%$#!? we are talking about 20grams. It might be a weight saving of 50% but 50% of stuff all is still stuff all. There is no may possible that your body can notice any difference by caring an extra 20 grams.