The Hide-a-Beard: a Sneaky Travel Storage Solution

This is a project intended to aid in hiding emergency cash, or other small valuables while one is out traveling or otherwise on the move. I started growing a proper beard back when I finished serving in the Army and many times I would find myself tucking my beard comb back behind my beard for storage. This got me thinking that other things would be easy to store as well and following a recent trip with my wife to Italy, I saw a need to hide emergency cash and phone numbers. I present to you the Hide-a-Beard!

The Hide-a-Beard requires minimal materials and nearly everything was acquired from around the house and from other projects. All told, the prototype took about an hour to produce.

You will need:

-Empty Chapstick container

-Bobby pins-I used metal ones but plastic clips would get you through a metal detector unnoticed

-Paint that resembles the color of your beard and works on plastic

-Paint brush

-5 minute epoxy that is compatible with plastic

-Superglue

-Razor knife

-A small piece of parchment paper

-The first step, once you have your materials, is to scrape out the leftover Chapstick. I used the handle of my small paintbrush.

-Next, carefully remove the height adjuster from the bottom of the container with the razor knife.

-Then, pull the remaining parts from inside the container.

-Finally, I chose to shorten the container by a quarter inch because my beard is only so large and I didn't need the extra volume.

If you chose not to shorten your container, congratulations on having a big beard! Also, you can probably skip this step. For those that have shortened theirs, you will need to cap the bottom end with epoxy.

-Stand your container on its end on some parchment or wax paper.

-Fill the bottom with epoxy. Approximately 1/8" deep.

-Once the epoxy is dry remove the paper.

-Next, use the superglue to attach the bobby pins to the side of the container being careful to not glue the lid on.

Now you can decorate your Hide-a-Beard with your best beard camo. I chose to use flat black paint because it's what I had on hand. My wife suggested glueing extra hair from my beard brush on the outside for even better camo. You take it as far as is appropriate for you.

My Hide-a-Beard is sized so that I can insert 4 folded bills that are rolled tightly. Now you know how to produce your very own Hide-a-Beard. You'd never know from the last photo that my beard is rolling in the dough. Take care and travel wisely.