The best travel towel you can find should be one of the first things that you pack.
It's going to save your life in more ways than you'll ever know. If you don't have a regular towel where you're staying, you'll sink to a new low drying your special places with a fresh shirt.
If you don't have a sheet on your bed or a blanket on air conditioned transportation, a microfiber travel towel will stop you from nearly freezing to death.
There are so many other reasons why quick dry towels will come in handy on backpacking, camping, hiking, or even business travel adventures.
But at the end of the day, they're just quick dry bath towels. They have the same job as regular towels, but let's look at some of the reasons they're special:
- They're Very Fast Drying Towels
- Best Travel Towels Are Very Absorbent
- You'll Save So Much Space In Backpack
- A Microfiber Beach Towel Is Soft
- They'll Last You A Very Long Time
- It Will Have Anti-Bacterial Protection
They're Very Fast Drying Towels
We've already alluded to this a few times, so let's just get it out the way first. It doesn't take long for the water to completely disappear. Quick dry towels for travel are absolutely essential.
Do you want to be the traveler with the soaking wet towel tied to the top of their backpack when leaving a hotel? To make it even worse, it doesn't even help when you have a shower the night before.
Or the alternative. Do you stuff a wet towel into your backpack so everything smells like rotten eggs when you arrive at your next destination? You need a thin microfiber drying towel to save the day.
Best Travel Towels Are Very Absorbent
‘Drying' yourself with a shirt is really a myth, because you're technically not even dry. The same is true of most old hotel towels that have been on the receiving end of a complete stranger's bottom.
For the size of a travel towel they're actually very absorbent. When you come out of the shower or sea dripping wet they'll dry your skin until it's fossil-like.
And do you want to know the best part? If you're absolutely sweating and need to take more than one shower before your microfiber travel or camping towel is dry, you'll be able to use it again.
You'll Save So Much Space In Backpack
If you were to squash these microfiber bath towels into a ball it would resemble an apple. A normal bath towel would look like a melon, and even though you'll see lots of melons on the beach you don't want them in your backpack.
You already have little space to spare because of dress shoes, diving fins, and other stuff you insist on taking with you. While most items can be left at home, you never want to be left without a towel.
Also, buy the largest backpacking towel possible. They're still absolutely tiny when squashed up. Nobody in your dorm room wants to see your bits hanging out when you saunter into the room after a shower.
A Microfiber Beach Towel Is Soft
Drying yourself with some towels is like using sandpaper. Your suntan will disappear because you'll knock a hundred layers of skin off. A lightweight travel towel is surprisingly soft.
Even after you've been lying on the beach. Your towel might get softer as your adventure progresses. In fact, your micro towel won't need fabric softener to keep that ‘tickled by a marshmallow' feel.
If you've been camping on hard ground a soft towel is a breath of fresh air in the morning. If you have a huge hangover after a massive party on a beach in Thailand it's the same. Wrapping a large microfiber towel around you rocks.
They'll Last You A Very Long Time
Thin towels for travel purposes look like they'll last a few showers at the most, but they're surprisingly durable and will last you a long time. Sadly, it will only last a week or two if a smelly backpacker steals it.
They make great lightweight beach towels for travel due to the fabric letting you wipe the sand off easily. It's the same with dirt and other debris too. They won't start to go all fluffy on you either.
The best travel towel really can last for close to a decade. This will obviously depend on how much you use it, plus they're so cheap you'll replace it by then anyway. Still, at least they're built to last.
It Will Have Anti-Bacterial Protection
We mentioned smelly backpackers earlier on, but do you want to know the truth? Unless you're staying in 5-star hotels you'll sometimes be a little smelly too. It's nice to live on the rough side of the tracks.
Companies know the best backpacking towel will take a good beating, so they'll add antibacterial protection. You'll smell like roses even though you might look like you live under a bridge. Those long bus journeys do that to you.
Mold will be taken out of the equation too. It's one thing to spend a night staying in a mold-infested $5 room, but you wouldn't want it growing in your backpack. Antibacterial travel towels will eliminate the threat.
The Best Travel Towel Contenders
Hopefully you now realize you can't go anywhere without a lightweight travel towel because they're so handy. They might all achieve the same end result, but they're all slightly different.
The only thing you have to figure out now is which one is the best microfiber travel towel for you. You can click on any of the links to read unbiased reviews from Amazon customers, but let's take a closer look at the best ones available.
- Sea to Summit DryLite Towel
- Dock & Bay Microfiber Beach Towel
- Wise Owl Outfitters Quick Dry Travel Towel
- ECOdept Large Microfiber Travel Towel
- WildHorn Outfitters Microfiber Travel Towel
1 – Sea to Summit DryLite Towel
Sea to Summit are definitely one of the leaders in the quick dry travel towels industry, so it's no surprise you won't have to wait long before packing it into your backpack. Squeeze the water out and it will dry even quicker.
The newest version of the DryLite travel towel has been given a permanent coating of silver ions, which is a powerful antibacterial treatment. It's impossible for your towel to smell or carry around any germs.
It's the microfiber towel travel, hiking, and camping enthusiasts love most because of the super soft texture. The ultra-suede finish will feel fantastic on your skin even once it's absorbed a ton of water.
Pros:
- Lots of beautiful and bright colors
- 5 different sizes you can choose from
- Has a hook in the corner to hang it up
Cons:
- Some don't like the suede leather feeling
- Needs washed a few times to stop color running
2 – Dock & Bay Microfiber Beach Towel
If you love to stand out in a crowd you'll love these microfiber beach towels. Their retro cabana design will not only help you light up any beach, but you'll have a choice of 6 vivid colors to do it with.
Dock & Bay claim to have some of the largest travel beach towel options available, and the extra large measures 78 x 35 inches. You could lay it down on the beach and not one single part of your body would be covered in a grain of sand.
It comes with a pouch like most other quick dry beach towel brands, except this one is extra special. There will also be enough space to carry things like your wallet, sunglasses, and sunscreen. It has its own hook too.
Pros:
- Sand will shake off easily at the beach
- Lightweight but still super absorbent
- Travel towel is one hundred percent microfiber
Cons:
- Not great if you're not a fan of attention
- Extra large size might be too big for you
3 – Wise Owl Outfitters Quick Dry Travel Towel
Why choose the best microfiber towel for travel when you can have two instead? This Wise Owl Outfitters travel towel set will give you a large towel for showering and visiting the beach, plus a very useful smaller hand towel.
These towels are coated in zinc oxide, which is perfectly safe for your skin. It means the antibacterial properties will stop your towel from smelling rotten after you've used it a few times.
Most microfiber towels can feel like they're sticking to your skin when you dry yourself, but these ones will feel like they glide across your skin even if they're wet and ready to be dried out.
Pros:
- Both towels have hooks for hanging them up
- Will absorb 8X more water than regular towel
- Antibacterial microfiber towels are better
Cons:
- You might not necessarily want to carry two towels
- Tiny hand towel means a touch less space in backpack
4 – ECOdept Large Travel Towel
A lot of people don't appreciate how fast microfiber travel towels can dry, but this large travel towel by ECOdept will be 50 percent quicker than a regular towel. So will the small travel towel that also comes with it.
There are lots of cool features like a hook for hanging it up on anything, a corner pocket for small items, plus the breathable waterproof bag to help you pack it into your backpack in the smallest of spaces.
This is also an antibacterial microfiber towel to make travel less smelly and germ free. The lightweight fabric used will feel soft on your skin even after it's soaking wet when you're in the middle of drying yourself.
Pros:
- Corner zip pocket is great when you're using outside
- Comes in a variety of different colors
- The free small travel hand towel adds nice touch
Cons:
- Watch color bleeding in first couple of washes
- Zipper will corrode after years of being damp
5 – WildHorn Outfitters Microfiber Travel Towel
If you want a selection of lightweight towels for traveling the WildHorn Outfitters pack is perfect because it contains 3 different travel sizes. A large fast dry towel for bathing, one for carrying around, and another for your hands.
All of the towels mentioned will be able to hold 3-4 times their weight in water, plus the quick dry technology has been designed to let you use them multiple times throughout the day.
They dry around 10X quicker than cotton towels. You'll be able to dry them from lots of different places like tree branches, because each travel towel has a hook on the corner.
Pros:
- Each towel has its own individual mesh case
- XL = 8.8 oz | Large = 5.6 oz | Small = 1.5 oz
- Takes as little as 20 minutes to dry out
Cons:
- You don't get to choose the color of the towels
- Stitching is made to last but not laser cut
You Need The Best Travel Towel With You
If you're into anything that requires the use of a towel and getting wet, you need the best travel towel by your side. It will make your life a hundred times easier than lugging around a conventional towel. The ones made specifically for travel and camping are lightweight, durable, fast drying, and so much more.
Hopefully we've covered enough varieties to get you thinking today, because even though each one is very similar they all have their little differences. If you want to know the thoughts of people who use each individual travel towel all the time, click on one of the links to read their unbiased reviews on Amazon.