toob travelbrush review

Are you constantly buying those mini travel tubes of toothpaste and then losing them or worrying that there isn't enough toothpaste left in the tiny tube to last you for the entire weekend?  I find myself buying them all the time and after a while, I realized that it was getting rather expensive since each tiny tube usually ranged from $0.99 to $1.29, while a full sized tube of toothpaste was usually less than $4.

On a recent trip to Adventure 16 in West Los Angeles, I saw this toob travelbrush which is a travel toothbrush with a plastic case (more hygienic) and a refillable mini toothpaste holder that fits in the toothbrush handle.  Apparently you can use part of the plastic case as a makeshift "cup" when you are camping or something but I doubt I would ever need that.  Generally, it seemed like a good concept to be able to refill your own toothpaste so I decided to get it.  It was $5.95 so I figured I'd have to use it on at least 6 short trips to make it worthwhile.  It wold also be nice to use my own toothpaste which I often can't find in the travel-sized version.  (Note: I found the same thing on amazon.com for $7.16 so it was actually cheaper at Adventure 16.)



Filling the tube:  The instructions for filling the toothpaste are pretty straightforward.  Just unscrew the top and bottom caps, then insert your own toothpaste and fill up the tube.  However, one of the caps was near impossible for me to unscrew.  I'm not sure if I got a defective one - but after almost fifteen minutes of struggling with it and using pliers, I managed to get the cap off. 

Actual use:  I brought the toob travelbrush with me on a short trip to San Francisco.  It lasted for more than 7 brushings (and there's still some toothpaste left).  I tend to brush at least 3 times a day so for me, that means it would last for 3 full days before I would need to refill the tube.

Conclusion:  I'm not certain that this is for everyone.  While the concept is nice, the actual toothbrush seems rather basic and cheap so I doubt it would last very long - which then defeats any savings you would get from not having to purchase the travel-sized toothpastes.  As I noted above, if it lasts me for at least 6 trips, I will consider the purchase worthwhile, but I'm not sure I would repurchase after the tooth brush gives out.