Towel Day

Lightload or just a normal car shammy cut smaller.

is all you need!

Lightload is not that durable. Bandana doesn't do enough to dry my 6'5" 230# self. But thank you all. Will have to look at the shammy.

I air dry, even in the 50's. Buurrrrrr!
Duane

I only take it for longer trips, but I sometimes use the lighter MSR towel. Absorbent and pretty quick drying.

I have the "UL" MSR towel. A big one. It's about 2 or 3 oz. I know there's an aversion to pack towels, but I don't really know why. Here's my logic:

1. Go Swimming in an Alpine lake. It's cold. You could air dry but this ensures you're not damp before getting back into clothes.

2. Wash hands / face / body, dry off.

3. Need to dry something before you put it in your pack? Want to get your feet nice and dry as fast as possible after a day of crossings?

4. I wrap my camera in mine (if it's dry) at night to keep condensation out, and to keep from having a big metal object kicking around in the tent.

Granted, I know you don't NEED a towel for any of these tasks. You could just air dry. But I find I use one on almost every trip for at least something. You guys saying to just use a bandana… have you ever actually tried this? A bandana gets sopping wet very easily, and just pushes water around.

The MSR towel dries so fast, and you can just tap it on any wet surface and boom, it's dry.

The things is a few years ago I did have an MSR towel but it just never absorbed that much water.

I carry a small REI synthetic fiber towel that has a knitted texture. Works very well so far. I like it better than synthetic "chamois" towels or the thin microfiber woven cloths.

I use part of a MSR ultralite (of course it's not UL).

Happy Towel Day.

You may be rougher with your towels than I am.

But using a bandanna or trimmed car shammy is easy, regardless of your size. You just have to ring it out as you use it.

I tried using a bandana again but it doesn't absorb as much and I couldn't ring it out enough to get it to still be useful. I tried my MSR towel again but it still doesn't absorb that much. It is a bit too hydrophobic. I am going to call MSR today and see what they can do about it. I do have a Discovery Trekkers Outfitters towel that absorbs well and dries quick but smells after awhile.

I just tested my MSR towel. It is like it has coat of DWR on it. If I spray it with water the water mainly just beads up on the outside with little of it being absorbed. Weird, neh?

MSR makes their Pack Towls in 4 different thickness/textures & various sizes of each of these thickness/textures. I have several & find them to have different properties as far as how well they absorb, how quickly they dry, how durable they are & how much they weigh.

I also use one for all the previous uses. I also clip it to my pack and use it to "mop my brow" when necessary. Wouldn't go without it. Used multiple times a day.

The most recent issue of BP Light features a honeymoon on Isle Royale story, and the authors swear by a Speedo swim towel.
They look great on line, but I'm confused by the variety of choices. Anyone know which is best?

REI has some nice waffle knit synthetic towels. It the smallest is still too large just cut it down.