Granted, it won't perform in the same fashion as your dedicated shave bowl at home, but it will work up a super creamy and thick lather! The agitator verts work far better than using your opposite hand and even better than your average, on the go face lather, if you ask me...and once again, it's designed to be compact! I should also point out after many experimentations over the last 24 months, we settled on a truly unique "hollow" agitator innovation that collects water aiding in lather production while keeping the lid weight down! This design tweak was actually inspired by our DOC razor head and my experience with Ultra-Light backpacking.
Instructions: Add water, (preferably hot) to the lid. Just enough to fill the channels in the agitators. Load a wet synthetic brush and then proceed to whip up lather in a circle or figure 8 pattern adding any water as needed. Lather will escape the lid but with very little practice you will get a feel for how to catch it on the brush. Note: If the channels are not your thing and weight is not an issue for you, they can always be filled with epoxy too! ;) Happy Shaving & Happy Travels!