Anyone have suggestions as to a good travel towel? I am going away for a month traveling, more between locations quickly (3 nights or less), so I want a nice compact travel towel if possible? Maybe microfiber or something that will dry relatively fast.

thanks

There are oodles to choose from with decidedly mixed reports on whether the synthetic ones are the cat's meow or the dog's breakfast. (Good God! I am beginning to sound like Gonorth!)

I am too cheap to pay big bucks for a synthetic towel, so I just use any old random hand towel that I have kicking around the house. In my travels, I have found that even the skankiest guesthouse provides clean towels but they never provide a washcloth to wash my face with. Bring one of those too.

Oh, and check out the synthetic towels sold at auto parts places. Same stuff, less money.

yea sounds good rub down for the car and out of the shower...

and yes a little gonorthesque

Five years ago. I was staying at a joint that jacked the price of my room up from one day to the next for no discernible reason. It was a good spot, so I paid. But stole four towels(I couldn't fit the tv in my bag) I use one of those now to travel. I know a lot of folks take beach towel like things with them cause they fold up nice, but they are just not absorbent for their real job. No, a good thick absorbent towel. Arthur Dent style, man.

I have a Packtowl UltraLite and it's just great! It's extremly absorbent and super light (the extra large towl only weighs 3.6 oz.). It also dries in about two hours.

Some people find the material to be a bit rough on the skin and that's why there's also a fluffy "Personal" towl version. Personally, I have have no problem with the material and I really appreciate the small packing size and the light weight of the UltraLite towl.

I have one of those MSR Packtowls and it's great. Dries quickly so I can repack into my backpack without getting everything else wet when I'm on the go.

static is on point, finding towels isn't nearly as tough as finding a washcloth! i didn't realize this until i got to a bathhouse in mexico :-O

i think i have one of those microfiber things, but i've carried a regular towel, rolled up in a piece of plastic when its clean and dry, or hung up when not, on the back of my pack and its been great, b/c you can wrap it around your waist etc from bathroom to hostel room or whatever. this is one area that i don't think you HAVE to have the high tech option. good luck and keep us posted!

quote:

Originally posted by FUNCHILDE:
b/c you can wrap it around your waist etc from bathroom to hostel room...

Perhaps that not so much of a benefit if you're a woman... (well, the male guests may disagree!)!!!

I took a microfibre-quick-drying towel when I went on my trip but wouldn't take one away again. My god do they smell if you pack 'em wet and don't unpack for 12 hours, bleurrgh!

I think my plan next time would be to take a small, normal hand towel to dry off with and a sarong to wear wandering from bathroom to my room.

You can get a good travel towel on Amazon for about US$20 just say away from the one by Rick Steves its just too damn expensive and the same towel with hadles basically.

I've been traveling with 2 washcloths and a hand towel. I always dry off with a washcloth including my hair, then wring it out good. Then I use the hand towel to finish drying and to wrap my hair. This way the hand towel doesn't get very wet and take too long to dry and I can hang the wash cloth on the back of my pack until its finished drying.
People I've talked to with the micro fibre towels didn't seem to like them much.

I like the microfiber (viscose and some other synthetic fiber) car cleaning towels I picked up at a discount store here in the states. Very light & absorbent, a little bigger than a washcloth, and they came 3-to-a-pack for $7. Only caveat: don't wash with any gear that has sawdust/splinters on it, because microfiber is a magnet for itchy stuff. One could, if one was handy or had the time, sew a ribbon loop to it or put a grommet in it, golf towel-style, for hanging.

when looking at these towels what the difference between a personal body towel and a bath towel?

Honestly, I'm not that tight on money for a towel, so I might go all out, if that is the case any other suggestions?

I don't think there's much difference - personal body towel is just what Packtowel calls their towel. You can find a lot of them on Amazon for varying prices - just search for "microfiber towel."

Hey. I went to a store to look at one of these "Pack Towels". Scratched my head. Went to another store to look at another. Stroked my chin thoughtfully. Went to Canadian Tire to look at another item....

What keeps these fancy "Pack Towels" from being big chamois like the kind that I wash my car with? Cuz I shore couldn't see the difference.

quote:

Originally posted by Piecar:
What keeps these fancy "Pack Towels" from being big chamois like the kind that I wash my car with? Cuz I shore couldn't see the difference.

I think the old-style pack towels are exactly the same as chamois. I never liked using them because they have a weird feel to them. There are some new pack towels that are textured and feel much better to me. My wife and I usually take one of the smallest size to share between us. It doesn't get me totally dry, but it's dry enough, and I can wring it out so that it dries out really quickly.

- Mike