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Chair-man
10-29-2013, 19:29
I recently completed my first section hike and one item I carried was a packtowl (also know as a pack towel) but I never used it.
I read where a packtowl is good for wiping the condensation off your tent in the morning. I just shook my tent real good. Using a packtowl to wipe the condensation off a tent seems like it would just work the water into the fabric.
One other reason I brought it was because if your trying to set up your screen tent in the rain you could get a lot of water in it before you set up the fly and you could use your towel to sponge up the water. It didn't rain on my trip.
I'm thinking about not bringing one on my next hike. Am I missing something? Do you pack a packtowl and why?

Stink Bug
10-29-2013, 19:37
Yes, I carry a pack towel and I used mine pretty much every day on my recent AT thru hike; it's a true multi-use tool. I use it for wiping off my tarp-tent, use it for a washcloth (personal and cook pot), use it to wrap up my stove inside my cook pot, for drying out my gear after the days of rain we had this year....

Sarcasm the elf
10-29-2013, 19:55
I cut up a sham-wow and bring about a 12inch by 12inch piece, I use it all the time on the trail.

The part about wiping down tents is more important if you have a tent made out of silnylon or a singlewall tent (these are much lighter tents, but have more condensation). The more traditional nylon doublewall tents don't have as much if an issue.

Chair-man
10-29-2013, 20:04
use it for a washcloth (personal and cook pot)

I use paper towels (cut into small 6"x6" squares) for everything.
I actually brought 2 bandanas too and didn't use them either. I only use a bandana for when I'm sweating really bad and it was kinda cool.

Hot Flash
10-29-2013, 20:08
I carry one because I swim and bathe often.

Chair-man
10-29-2013, 20:26
I use paper towels (cut into small 6"x6" squares) for everything

I also bring wipes (wet ones singles (http://www.wetones.com/Singles.aspx)) for hygiene.

moldy
10-29-2013, 20:35
No towel for me. I never neededon3

Zipper
10-29-2013, 21:38
I didn't bring a pack towel on my thru. I used a bandanna for wiping off the condensation in my silnylon tent, and for everything else. I even used the bandanna to dry off in a campground shower since I didn't have a towel. It's not ideal, but it worked!

Some of the pack towels can really hold bad odor. I was hiking somewhere in PA I think and saw a blue pack towel in the trail. I picked it up thinking I would carry it to the next shelter to see if anyone lost it. It smelled so bad like horrible body odor that I had to put it back down on the trail, and I never leave stuff after I pick it up! Just something to consider, but sounds like others have done fine and haven't ended up with smelliness.

aficion
10-29-2013, 21:48
I carry a small one and use it all the time. I will happily swim and bathe cold if I can dry off quickly and get dressed.
Would not be without one, but am one of the few who relish my daily outdoor bath.

Marta
10-29-2013, 21:49
A bandana worked for me.

LIhikers
10-29-2013, 23:32
I carry a small pack towel.
Maybe the most important thing I use it for is to dry things on a rainey day. First I dry the inside of the tent, then I put my things into the tent, then I strip down and dry myself before putting on sleep clothes. I also carry a silnylon sack to put my rain soaked clothes into while I'm in the tent.

Dogwood
10-29-2013, 23:46
I don't carry a true "pack towel". I carry a pack towel that's the size of a wash cloth about 8" X 8"(10" X 10") that is either a cut down Sham wow or the smallest Sea to Summit or REI super absorbant pack towel made about that size and it usually stays wrapped up around my iso stove inside my cook pot when on the move. I'll often carry a bandanna as well but in one side mesh pocket of my pack in easy reach. Both are used in a multitude of ways. Ditto washing the super absorbant towels regularly. They can reek quickly.

rocketsocks
10-30-2013, 04:40
I bring a bandana for kitchen spills and clean-up, and a pack towel for personal hyjinx.

fredmugs
10-30-2013, 08:24
I used to carry a towel and now I just bring a bandana. I sweat a lot and need something to mop up the shaved head from time to time.

rusty bumper
10-30-2013, 09:00
I carry 2 small MSR Nano Micro towels. I use one for food and kitchen related stuff and the other for a nightly "sponge bath" and for wiping down my tent if necessary. I rinse out the second one every morning at the first stream crossing.

tarditi
10-30-2013, 09:16
I carry one but don't use it much - I see it as an item that is worth it's weight in multipurpose - when you need it it's hard to substitute. If you have a bandanna already or something it may be unnecessary.

Biggie Master
10-30-2013, 09:25
24666
Got this in the automotive section at Walmart several years ago, but never used it until recently. I took about one square foot on my last 8 day section hike. It worked great for all of the uses described above. I think the entire "towel" is approximately 3 sq ft. It folds small, and when it's dry it weighs almost nothing. Don't remember the cost, but it was very reasonable - perhaps in the $10 range.

Rasty
10-30-2013, 09:27
I use a small size pack towel. I cut the towel in half and use the half with the hanging loop as a towel. The othee half I cut into four pieces and only bring one piece. It's used as a pot holder, washcloth and I cut off tiny pieces to use as a scrub pad if I need one.

Biggie Master
10-30-2013, 09:28
Should have added that I will continue to carry/use on future hikes.

Whack-a-mole
10-30-2013, 09:32
I carry a small sham wow. I also use a bandana. I sweat a ton, so the bandana is for my head, and the towel is for everything else. Call me a weenie, but I don't care for the bandana to be on my head after it has been used to clean up a bunch of stuff. Also- and this is kind of important, if you sweat a bandana wet, and then use it for a hot pot holder, you are in for a rude surprise!

garlic08
10-30-2013, 09:35
A cotton bandanna is all I carry. It doubles as a pre-filter, something I don't think I'd do with a towel. It's more flame-retardant than a synthetic pack towel if you use it as a pot holder, which I used to do back when I carried a stove. As for wiping tent condensation, sometimes I'll do that and use the distilled water for a quick sponge bath. I've had some dewy desert mornings when that's pretty welcome.

nickgann
10-30-2013, 10:05
Definitely a pack towel kind of guy myself. An interesting thing about gear though is many times i see people finding uses for things simply because they have the item, so you could always experiment with your hiking style and see if you use it because it's there or if it serves an actual purpose for you.

Braveheart_SOBO13
10-30-2013, 11:18
I carried a small one, no bigger than a washcloth during my thru hike. I found that it came in handy, whether I used it for bathing or wiping down my wet tent while setting it up. Small ones dont weigh that much.

xokie
10-30-2013, 12:39
I did not carry a pack towel. One day I left my tent open and was blithely gabbing away with some people in the lean-to when I noticed that it had been raining hard for five minutes and simultaneously remembered my open tent. When I got to the tent about four inches of water had gathered in the downhill corner. A generous and smarter than me thru-hiker loaned me his sham chammy and the problem was cleared up in five minutes. Now I carry a pack towel.

Dogwood
10-30-2013, 14:29
A cotton bandanna is all I carry. It doubles as a pre-filter, something I don't think I'd do with a towel. It's more flame-retardant than a synthetic pack towel if you use it as a pot holder, which I used to do back when I carried a stove. As for wiping tent condensation, sometimes I'll do that and use the distilled water for a quick sponge bath. I've had some dewy desert mornings when that's pretty welcome.

No matter what you decide, to carry a pack towel or not, if U do decide to carry a synthetic pack towel YES they get burn holes in them rather easily and can melt like if picking up a hot pot by the handles with them or leaving near a campfire. Not that ever happened to me because something I absently minded did.:D What Garlic and others are saying in regard to possible pros/cons of a bandanna or pack towel is the reason why I carry both. It's not a critical piece of gear though. U shouldn't over anal-lyze this.....as uhh I'm doing.

slbirdnerd
10-30-2013, 14:49
I carry a couple Zpacks Lightload Towels: http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/towel.shtml. They are kinda like a semi-disposable shammy. A 3-pack is $5.45. Three different colors, all kinds of uses: dishes, foot washing, tent drying, sucking the water out of your shoes, when it's hot I keep a wet one on my pack strap to wipe my face or neck. And they are great for sending with my son to scout campouts because WHEN he loses them, it's not that big a deal...

Hikes in Rain
10-30-2013, 15:41
I carry the small one, and reserve it almost exclusively for the ablutions needed to insert and remove my contacts. I like the almost velvet softness when I blot the fluids from my eyes. Much nicer and generally cleaner than the bandana I use for almost everything else. And it dries faster than the bandana.

The Old Boot
10-30-2013, 15:45
Yes, I carry a pack towel but then I also carry a couple of bandanas. Each has come in handy more often than not. One piece of pack towel is in my kitchen kit and another is in my 'personals' kit for drying me off. The bandanas have been variously used (not the same one at the same time) for pee rag, snot rag and sweat rag.

I also have a couple of 'camp towel' thingies from the Dollar Store. They're like a compressed j-cloth, about 1 1/4" dia., weight next to nothing and have come in really handy at times, then can be disposed of. At 4 for a buck they're a deal!

Weefee
10-30-2013, 16:01
I found one at the Dollar Tree. It is 12x12 and like a sham wow. Works grat.

Sheriff Cougar
10-30-2013, 23:13
Biggie, I agree with you about this cloth. It works great for everything and can soak up a mass amount of water. Squeezed out it dries quickly and weighs almost nothing.