Packtowel vs. Sponge Cloth

When draped over the back of a chair, the sponge dried at about the same speed as a large MSR towel, and a little slower than a MSR nano towel.

My experience was that a fabric towel dries my skin a good bit better than the sponge. But the sponge is very good for wiping the inside of a tent down in the winter.

I thought the Aquis towels were pretty good, and the Wicker Warmup towels were very light. Some of the pseudo-chamois towels were hopeless.

Cheers

Ya,
some of the towels like MSR will actually shed water when they're dry! I'll have to look into some of the microfiber options.

I'm seriously unimpressed with the MSR packtowels for the dry hydrophobicity and their lack of holding capacity. I've wondered about chamois but never got around to picking some up.

I don't think I've ever used the word "hydrophobicity." I know what it means, just never used it!

I use the "Handi-Wipes" found in the cleaning supply section at local supermarkets.

Amazingly absorbent and dry many times faster than a pack towel. They do fall apart sooner but a set (1/2 sheet for dishes, 1 sheet for me, 2 sheets for dog and wiping moisture off tent) lasts a backpacking season. Even replacing yearly, they are cheaper than pack towels.

Thanks Mary. I think I read that on another thread, and others had mentioned they use the handi wipes also. I'll have to check them out next time I go grocery shopping. That reminds me….I'm out of beer.

I like these ones

light, cheap,don't need to wet them before they work, no hydrophobicity nor pseudo-non-hydrophobicity.
http://www.chux.com.au/content.aspx?id=2
Franco
I think that Mary beat me to it. But mine are the Australian size, that is big enough to wipe up a full glass of beer

psEudo-non-hydrophobicity. I'm going to make it a point to use that word this week.

> psudo-non-hydrophobicity. I'm going to make it a point to use that word this week.

Can I suggest it be spelt pseudo?

Cheers

>Can I suggest it be spelt pseudo?

Haha, whoops! You may indeed suggest that.

Glad you brought up the discussion. Had not given towels much thought before but now I'm going to consider making a change.

Thanks from an old dog still learning new tricks!

You're welcome! Now, I'm off to go write "pseudo-non-hydrophobicity" on a chalk board 500 times. :)