The 5 Best Backpacking Towels (Bought & Tested!)

Absorbency

For absorbency, I measured the total amount of water each towel can absorb (soaked entirely in a bucket, measuring the water before and after), the absorbency ratio, and how well each towel dries you off after a shower:

*Absorbency ratio = total water absorbed divided by the towel’s own weight.

• Nothing comes close to a regular cotton towel, but that’s to be expected from backpacking towels
• The PackTowl UltraLite absorbed the most (now discontinued). It’s the only towel with a higher absorbency ratio than cotton (4.4x), and the easiest to towel off with, hands down
• The Matador Shower and AirLite left no layer of moisture on my skin, but took a little more effort than the UltraLite
• The Pocket left me feeling a bit damp, and the tiny Trek got soaked fast

Wringing

For wringing, I soaked each towel, wrung out as much as possible, weighed it to calculate the water left, then let it dry outdoors and indoors. This matters if you plan to wash your towel and need it dry fast. Here are my findings, from the best wringers to the worst:

*Water left = % of the soaked weight still in the towel after wringing.

• All 5 towels wring far better than cotton, because they’re lightweight and thin
• The PackTowl UltraLite leaves the least water behind at 27%
• The Matadors and the AirLite dry the fastest after a wash

Drying

For drying, which simulates drying off after a shower, I had each towel absorb the same 100mL/3.4 fl oz of water, then dried them outdoors and indoors. Here are the timings, starting from the fastest:

*The tiny Matador NanoDry Trek can only absorb 1.4 fl oz, so it couldn’t run this test. But I did a similar drying test in my full Trek Towel review.

• The Matador Shower Towel dried the fastest at 20 minutes outdoors, slightly ahead of the AirLite and the UltraLite
• Even the slowest backpacking towel (the Pocket) still dried much faster than cotton

Odor Resistance

For odor resistance, I ran 3 tests on each towel: soaked in seawater and sealed in a plastic bag for 4 days, used once after a shower and sealed for 4 days, and used every day for 7 days without washing. Here’s what each towel smelled like, starting from the freshest:

• Only the Matador NanoDry towels had no smell at all through all 3 tests, and the seawater test was the toughest
• Antimicrobial coatings: Both Matadors and the AirLite have one; the UltraLite and Pocket don’t
• The surprises: The AirLite underperformed the Matadors despite its coating, while the uncoated UltraLite matched the AirLite

Dirt Repellence

For dirt repellence, I dragged each towel along some grass and stepped on it, checked what it picked up, then shook it to see what would come off. Here we have the amount of dirt picked up by each towel, before and after shaking:

• The Matador NanoDry towels picked up nothing at all, even before shaking
• Everything else picked up a few pieces of dry grass or specks of dirt that shook right off
• Only the cotton towel held onto its dirt after shaking

Sand Repellence

For sand repellence, I covered each towel with sand, picked it up to see how much stuck, and shook it:

• The Matadors and the AirLite tied for the win, picking up only a minimal amount of sand that shook off super easily
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• Don’t use these as beach towels though, because they’re so lightweight they’ll fly away easily

Portability

For portability, I looked at the weight and the packed size of each towel without its storage pouch (packed sizes are in the specs table above). Here’s the weight of each towel, starting from the lightest:

• The Trek is the lightest by far because it’s a face towel, which is the whole trick behind its 0.6oz
• Among the shower-sized towels, the Matador Shower wins by a hair (just 0.04oz lighter than the AirLite
)
• All 5 are significantly lighter than the cotton towel

Comfort

For comfort, I looked at the softness, thickness and sizing of each towel, plus how sticky it feels against the skin. And with that, here’s how each towel compares:

• Nothing here feels like your regular cotton towel: cotton’s comfort score of 10 was untouchable
• The PackTowl UltraLite was the most comfortable I tested (now discontinued). It’s the thickest and least sticky, and the only one sized like a real shower towel; the felt difference between it and the thin towels is huge

• Whatever you pick, pat dry instead of wiping

Quality

For quality, I checked the edges, material loss and color bleeding of each towel after 2 to 3 months of usage. Here’s how they’re holding up:

*Bleeding = how many washes the colors kept bleeding for.

The hanging loops and storage pouches matter day to day, so here’s how those compare:

• The PackTowl UltraLite has the best hanging loop, which felt the most secure of the bunch
• The Matadors’ silicone pouches are awesome quality but heavy, and both weigh more than their towel
• My personal favorite pouch is the AirLite’s. It’s super strong and incredibly lightweight
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• The AirLite has no hanging loop on the towel itself, and its press-stud fastener comes apart with minimal tension