Travel towels

Trying to reduce the weight and volume of kit I take with me on my travels and these travel towels made of micro fibre or similar look good, does anyone have any experience of them? are they any good? do they dry quickly like they state?

Looking at things like the Sea to Summit pocket towel or the Lifesystems trek or expedition towels.

They're pretty good, though as usual the case that the ones that do the best job drying you are the heaviest and bulkiest (that's both size and material).  We have Eagle Creek (heavier but nicer), Lifeventure and Karrimor ones.

Yes, they all dry quickly but as with all things if it's completely soaked it'll take a while.  And a larger (heavier, bulkier)  towel will dry quicker because the same water is spread thinner.  You choose, you lose...

Pete.

I've got a couple of Trekmates Microfibre Travel Towels, a L and a XL, and they are pretty good.  They are better at drying you than a normal towel, they do dry off pretty quickly and they are light weight.  The only down side is that they can get a bit smelly after a while but nothing a good wash doesn't sort out.  I was able to pick them up in TK Maxx for about £7.

Poundshop or your local cleaning supplies shop. I bought a pack of 10 drying cloths for £2, perfect.

microfibre towels are great but excessively overpriced with an outdoors label on them -like most things.

poundshop microfibre pet towels. same thing. much cheaper. clas ohlsen also stock them but for more than £1 but considerably cheaper than a "proper" branded one.

of course it can be even cheapr as addick says if you find a cloth will dry you instead (you can always take two!)

After checking out various travel towel options I got the sea to summit 'pocket' travel towel.  It's more expensive than some but it packs particularly small and dries out quickly. It also feels nicer than the 'micro fiber' ones I've tried. I've bought several more 'pocket' towels and havn't seen any other travel towel I  would use in preference.

Check the measurements carefully as size matters.  

I use a small microfibre cloth in the shower at home and use it to remove the excess water when I've finished. You can wring out pretty much all of the water and I find it dries most of the wetness off so that my main towel has little to do.

I use Aldi ones (other brands are available! )

Vileda squares. Or own brand from your local supermarket, usually 3 for 99p.

Dry yourself, rinse cloth, wring out, done. Mine have a 1" hole cut in the corner to hang up and dry off. I don't carry a towel. Also useful for mopping tent.

These things. They work better after first machine wash.

cathyc wrote:

Check the measurements carefully as size matters.  

I'm not rising to that one ...

I use the 'vileda' type cloths for mopping up the tent etc. -as you say they wring out really well.  

I probably wouldn't bother with a 'towel' on a one night camp, but for longer trips and when using hostels/bunkhouses/bothies + camping, I take a travel towel. 

I use the Sea to Summit towel all the time and am very pleased with it.  I take it when I'm wild camping and keep it in my rucksack on day walks too, just in case it's nice and I fancy a paddle if I'm walking by water. It is a bit more expensive but it packs up small, dries very quickly and feels nicer than others I have come across. 

I tried using a household style micro fibre towel, useless, takes ages to dry. 

I use a hankerchief sized one I got with a fitness style set, which I have to wring out in between to dry myself.

I also have a large Packtowl one. Good size and dries quick. Recommended

they're not as nice to use as proper cotton towels, but they dry so quick and are so much smaller that I nearly always have one in my travel bag, just in case

I already use for years and years the Rubytec towels. i even cut them smaller since I do not need much to rub myself dry with one of these. just wring them in between and go on rubbing. They dry rather quick if you wring them proper.