towel
towel
If you carry one how big and is it just your a standard towel?
I carry two towels: a small blue ShamWow that is about half the size of a piece of paper that I use to clean my pot and spoon. And, an orange ShamWow that is about the size of a piece of paper I use for me.
They are great, as they dry fast.
I carry a couple of these 0.25 ounce gems on long hikes:
http://www.rei.com/product/802206/li...c:cse_PLA_GOOG
I use them to clean myself up with most days, rinse them out thoroughly, tie to pack strap, they dry very quickly.
towel
towel
I'm a pretty hairy guy, will those little towels really dry me off?
what are your thoughts on a big hand towel? or small house towel cut in half?
Just my own method, but I could care less about drying off when on the trail, the air will do that. All I care about is washing myself, hence a couple little UL towels, and a bit of camp-suds-type soap. Hands would work (for washing), but a small towel works better for me.
House and hand towels are cotton and take forever to dry and are heavy, especially when wet. The "camp towels" are light and dry fast. You would be better off taking a couple of them than a regular cotton towel. Buy one and try it at home after a shower.Originally Posted by AtWokman
The beauty of the camp towels or ShamWows are that they can be almost wrung dry. So, they hold a lot (probably not more than a good quality, dry, cotton towel), but more importantly, you can wring them out and dry off more. So no, the little postage stamp sized towel will not dry off your whole body in one drying, hairy or not, but it will dry you off completely and your tent, and your buddy and anything else that needs drying, you just need to wring it out a few times in the process. So, the smallest towel just means a few more pauses in the drying process to wring it out, you don't ever need a bigger towel.
One caveat: These synthetic towels don't leave your skin feeling as dry as a nice cotton towel, but, oh well, small sacrifice for big weight savings and drying convenience.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
The lightweight camp towels don't so much absorb the water off you, as wipe it off. Technique is slightly different but a big guy can get pretty dry on a small cloth. As others have stated, it won't be bone-dry like you would be with a cotton towel but close enough.
I started out with a Shammy cloth from the auto dept. While it worked well to keep my tent dry, that's all I used it for. Once I ditched it (gave it to another hiker who thought it was a great idea), I just used bandannas and air dried when I "trail showered". If anything I might consider a small hand towel next trip but not likely as most town stops are hostels/hotels/etc with a full bath.
dry one area wring it and go on - every thing is a compromise
One compromise might be one of those synthetic towels and the smallest cotton towel you can find (often advertised as a fingertip towel)? That wouldn't be a huge extra weight, and you would use the synthetic to get 98% dry with the other just for that final dry off so it wouldn't gain a lot of extra water weight.
I carry a small pack towel, one of the very absorbent synthetic ones. I'm very hairy too, and I can take a shower and dry off with it just fine. I wring it out every couple of minutes. Love it, one of the small luxury items in my pack. If we pass a car campground I can get a shower, which is great.
towel
towel
thank you all.
my towel is about the size of a bandana.
Your pack towel isn't for you, it's to wipe down your tent and footprint before you pack them away in the morning. You don't need to carry a bath towel because when you occasionally get to take a shower, you'll have to pay for it and a towel is part of the deal.
My pack towel is an MSR Ultralite Medium, 12x26, 1.1oz. A shamwow works better but weighs twice as much. I also carry a Clorox handi-wipe "disposable" towel for drying my cooking gear. It weighs .5 oz and costs about a buck for 3 of them at the grocery.
By the way, it's handy to have a couple of big safety pins to attach your wet towels and yesterday's dirty socks to your pack to dry while you're walking. Nothing is quite as irritating as stopping for lunch and discovering that something you hung on your pack that morning is no longer there.
Haven't found anything better than the Shamwow. Like Vince their pitchman says, "Beware of cheap imitations" - no really, there is a difference in their product. It really sucks (up water). Better than any of the synthetic "camp towels" I've tried and a lot cheaper. Not just me who has this opinion - see here http://tapirtantrum.com/2009/04/12/shamwow-vs-rei/
I carry a cut up one about 12 x 18. I've also made head/sweat bands out of strips of them that work really well.
Last edited by 4eyedbuzzard; 02-04-2016 at 20:21.
"That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett
Agreed, but I do like a small towel....
I use it for both. There is, on occasion, the opportunity to shower in places that don't have towels available. So I use my little bandana size pack towel, which I also use every day to wipe down my tent.
I never carry a towel, but do a hippie-style shower: Wear T-shirt while showering, soap&rinse well, strip, wring shirt very well and use as towel.
While not making the skin perfectly dry, it has the added benefit of a clean shirt.
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