The 5 Best Backpacking Towels (2024): I Bought & Tested Them All

This page contains affiliate links, and that means that I may earn a commission if you buy something, at no extra cost to you. You can find my full disclosure policy here.

For this review, I bought and tested these 5 best backpacking towels:

1. Matador NanoDry Shower Towel;
2. Matador NanoDry Trek Towel;
3. PackTowl UltraLite;
4. Sea to Summit AirLite Towel; and
5. Sea to Summit Pocket Towel.

Here are all the backpacking towels that I tested and recommend:

If you enjoyed the video, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel right here:

All the backpacking towels that I bought and tested:

Backpacking Towel	Full Review	Check Price
Matador (Shower)	Read Review	REI Co-Op, Backcountry, Moosejaw
PackTowl UltraLite	Read Review	Amazon, REI Co-Op, Backcountry, Moosejaw
Matador (Trek)	Read Review	Moosejaw
Sea to Summit AirLite	Read Review	Amazon, Moosejaw
Sea to Summit Pocket	Read Review	Amazon, Backcountry, Moosejaw

*These are my measured specifications of the 5 best backpacking towels, and may differ from the brand’s marketed specifications.

I spent over $130 buying, and 3 months testing and reviewing these 5 backpacking towels.

Over 3 months, I used these backpacking towels every single day while camping as well as at home. To test them, I dried them both indoors and outdoors, dipped them in seawater, dragged them along grass, dirt and sand, amongst other things. After all that, here’s how I scored each of the 5 backpacking towels (10 is the best, 1 is the worst).

Backpacking Towel	Overall Rating
Matador (Shower)	8.6
PackTowl UltraLite	8.5
Matador (Trek)	8.2
Sea to Summit AirLite	7.9
Sea to Summit Pocket	7.6
Cotton (Control)	5.8

Which backpacking towels are in my Top Picks?

Best Overall: Matador NanoDry Shower Towel

Key Info

• Absorbency: 2.2x
• Drying: Dries 100% faster than cotton
• Odor Resistance: Antimicrobial coating
• Weight: 2.4oz / 68g

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Matador NanoDry Shower Towel is a gem of a backpacking towel. It’s made of nanofiber, making it weigh 5x less than my regular cotton towel, and pack down 10x smaller. It’s also the lightest of all my backpacking shower towels, it dries faster than any other towel that I have, it never has a smell, and no grass, dirt or sand ever sticks to it. On top of all that, the quality is superb.

The primary drawback is that it’s very thin, and not the most comfortable. Also, the storage pouch really packs on the ounces, weighing slightly more than the towel itself. However, minus the storage pouch, the Matador NanoDry is an absolute steal for backpackers who want the best performing towel out there.

More info on the Matador NanoDry (Shower):

Most Absorbent and Most Comfortable: PackTowl UltraLite

Key Info

• Absorbency: 4.4x
• Drying: Dries 82% faster than cotton
• Odor Resistance: No antimicrobial coating
• Weight: 3.2oz / 90g

Pros and Cons

Summary

The PackTowl UltraLite is a lightweight backpacking towel that’s full of surprises. Boasting an absorbency of 4.4x (much higher than even my cotton towel’s!), it’s super absorbent and incredibly easy to dry off with. It’s also the softest, thickest and least sticky of all my backpacking towels, and the only one that is the perfect size for a shower towel.

However, this additional comfort and absorbency comes with a slightly heavier weight. At 3.2 ounces, the PackTowl UltraLite isn’t the lightest backpacking towel around. However, I think that this is a small price to pay, and the PackTowl UltraLite is still the obvious choice for backpackers who prioritize a little more comfort and absorbency.

More info on the PackTowl UltraLite:

Super Minimal: Matador NanoDry Trek Towel

Key Info

• Absorbency: 2.5x
• Odor Resistance: Gold-coat antimicrobial coating
• Weight: 0.6oz / 16g

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Matador NanoDry Trek Towel is the tiny counterpart to the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel that we discussed above. This is a face towel, not a shower towel. This small size gives the Trek Towel its negligible weight of 0.6 ounces and its packed size that’s not much bigger than a lip balm. I hardly even notice that it’s there when I carry it around.

However, because it’s so small, I need to wring it out once or twice while drying off after a shower. If you don’t mind doing this, the Trek Towel could be a possible option as your shower towel if you need to cut as many ounces as possible.

These are the backpacking towels that didn’t really impress me, but you can still read on to find out more.

Sea to Summit AirLite Towel

Key Info

• Absorbency: 2.2x
• Drying: Dries 82% faster than cotton
• Odor Resistance: Antimicrobial odor protection
• Weight: 2.4oz / 69g

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Sea to Summit AirLite towel reminds me a lot of the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel (which is my “Best Overall” Top Pick), because both towels are almost identical in material, absorbency, comfort and even weight (with just a 0.04-ounce difference!).

However, the Sea to Summit AirLite towel is inferior to the Matador NanoDry Towel in all other aspects – it dries more slowly, picks up more odors, and is less dirt repellent. And the biggest flaw of all is that the AirLite towel’s quality isn’t the best. There are signs of fraying on the edges, and it also lost 1.4% of its original material after just 2-3 months of light usage.

In all fairness though, you do pay significantly less for the Sea to Summit AirLite towel than the Matador NanoDry Towel. So, if you’re on a really tight budget, you could consider the AirLite Towel.

More info on the Sea to Summit AirLite:

Sea to Summit Pocket Towel

Key Info

• Absorbency: 3.0x
• Drying: Dries 48% faster than cotton
• Odor Resistance: No antimicrobial finish
• Weight: 4.1oz / 115g

Pros and Cons

Summary

The Sea to Summit Pocket Towel is outstanding in only one feature – it’s incredibly silky soft, and I really love the way it feels.

However, there’s nothing else that’s really great about it, and it has some pretty massive flaws compared to the other backpacking towels that I bought and tested here – it’s my stickiest, heaviest and slowest-drying backpacking towel, and the quality isn’t the best with loose stitching and slight material loss after 2-3 months of light usage.

Because there are so many better options above, I’m unfortunately unable to recommend the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel as a good backpacking towel.

More info on the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel:

Here’s a summary of all the backpacking towels that I bought and tested:

Top Picks:

• Matador NanoDry (Shower): Best Overall
• PackTowl UltraLite: Most Absorbent + Most Comfortable
• Matador NanoDry (Trek): For the Minimalist

The Others:

• Sea to Summit AirLite: A more inexpensive and lower quality version of the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel, in my opinion.
• Sea to Summit Pocket: The worst performing backpacking towel, not recommended.

If you’d like to compare how each of the 5 best backpacking towels performed in each test, here’s a cool graphic where you can do so:

For more information on how I tested each backpacking towel and came up with these scores, I’ll explain all of it in detail in the next section.

I put each backpacking towel through these 9 different tests:

1. Absorbency
2. Wringing
3. Drying
4. Odor Resistance
5. Dirt Repellence
6. Sand Repellence
7. Portability
8. Comfort
9. Quality

At the end of all the tests, I compiled all the data and came to a decision in the Overall Performance section.

Sizing and Dimensions

Before we go into the tests, I just want to write a quick note here on the sizing of each of the 5 backpacking towels that I tested.

The PackTowl UltraLite, the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel, the Sea to Summit AirLite Towel and the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel are all shower-sized towels. However, the Matador NanoDry Trek Towel is a face towel, which is much smaller.

Here are the dimensions of each towel from the smallest to largest:

Towel	Dimensions
Matador NanoDry (Trek) Towel	15 x 14.75 inches
Sea to Summit AirLite Towel	51 x 20.25 inches
Sea to Summit Pocket Towel	46 x 22.5 inches
Matador NanoDry (Shower) Towel	46 x 23.5 inches
PackTowl UltraLite	54 x 23.5 inches

And with that out of the way, let’s get into the tests.

Absorbency

For absorbency, I measured and tested 3 different things.

• The total amount of water the backpacking towel can absorb;
• The backpacking towel’s absorbency ratio; and
• How well each backpacking towel dries you off after a shower.

For the total amount of water each backpacking towel can absorb (the first point), I soaked each towel entirely in water, while measuring the amount of water in the bucket before and after soaking. Here are my findings:

Towel	Total (mL)	Total (fl oz)
Cotton (Control)	1,100	37.2
PackTowl UltraLite	400	13.5
Sea to Summit Pocket	350	11.8
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	150	5.1
Sea to Summit AirLite	150	5.1
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	40	1.4

All these towels are backpacking towels, so nothing even comes close to the absorbency of a regular cotton towel, but I guess that’s to be expected.

For the second point, the absorbency ratio, which you can get by dividing the total amount of water absorbed (in mL) with the weight of the backpacking towel (in grams), here are my calculations:

Towel	Absorbency Ratio
PackTowl UltraLite	4.4x
Cotton (Control)	3.26x
Sea to Summit Pocket	3.0x
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	2.5x
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	2.2x
Sea to Summit AirLite	2.2x

The PackTowl UltraLite is the only towel to have a higher absorbency ratio than the cotton towel, and it’s really impressive at 4.4 times.

Third, how well does each backpacking towel dry me off after a shower? Some towels leave a thin layer of moisture on your skin, and you don’t feel completely dry, which can be unpleasant for some people.

This is really subjective, but I tried my best to come up with this list.

Towel	After Shower Absorbency
Cotton (Control)	Excellent
PackTowl UltraLite	Good!
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	Good
Sea to Summit AirLite	Good
Sea to Summit Pocket	Fair
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Fair

Again, nothing comes close to the regular cotton towel, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the absorbency of the PackTowl UltraLite. It’s the most absorbent and the easiest to towel off with, hands down.

The Matador NanoDry Shower Towel and the Sea to Summit AirLite Towel did not leave a thin layer of moisture on my skin, but it took more effort to towel off with these 2 towels than the PackTowl UltraLite, probably because of the lower absorbency.

The Sea to Summit Pocket Towel’s material left me feeling a bit damp, while the Matador NanoDry Trek Towel was really small and got soaked fast. But they are still pretty absorbent and I guess not too bad.

Based on all 3 absorbency tests above, here are the absorbency ratings (out of 10, with 10 being the most absorbent):

Backpacking Towel	Absorbency Rating
Cotton (Control)	8.7
PackTowl UltraLite	7.8
Sea to Summit Pocket	6.3
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	6.0
Sea to Summit AirLite	6.0
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	4.3

I was really surprised by the PackTowl UltraLite, which is easily the most absorbent of my backpacking towels. In last place, we have the Matador NanoDry Trek Towel, which scored the worst because of its small size.

Wringing

For the wringing test, I soaked each backpacking towel in water and then wringed out as much as possible. After, I weighed each towel and calculated how much water was left, in percentage.

Towel	% of Water Left
PackTowl UltraLite	27%
Sea to Summit Pocket	35%
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	38%
Sea to Summit AirLite	41%
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	43%
Cotton (Control)	46%

All the backpacking towels are lightweight and thin, so they were much easier to wring than the cotton towel.

After soaking and wringing each towel, I let them dry outdoors and indoors, to simulate conditions where you have to wash your towel and let it dry after. Here are the timings:

Towel	Outdoors	Indoors
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	13 minutes	1 hour 30 minutes
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	14 minutes	1 hour 45 minutes
Sea to Summit AirLite	14 minutes	2 hours
PackTowl UltraLite	23 minutes	3 hours
Sea to Summit Pocket	32 minutes	4 hours 30 minutes
Cotton (Control)	2 hours 15 minutes	27 hours

The Matador NanoDry and the Sea to Summit AirLite towels dried the fastest, and the cotton towel was the slowest.

Based on the wringing and drying time after wringing, I rated each backpacking towel and here are those ratings (out of 10, with 10 being the best at wringing out):

Backpacking Towel	Wringing Rating
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	9.6
Matador NanoDry (Shwer)	9.4
Sea to Summit AirLite	9.4
PackTowl UltraLite	9.2
Sea to Summit Pocket	8.2
Cotton (Control)	2.8

All the backpacking towels actually wring out pretty well and dry quite quickly, though some are better than others.

Drying

For this drying test, I measured 100mL (or 3.4 fl oz) of water to absorb with each backpacking towel, and let them dry outdoors and indoors. This is to simulate drying off after taking a shower.

Here are the timings, starting from the fastest drying:

Towel	Outdoors	Indoors
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	20 minutes	2 hours 30 minutes
Sea to Summit AirLite	22 minutes	2 hours 45 minutes
PackTowl UltraLite	22 minutes	2 hours 45 minutes
Sea to Summit Pocket	27 minutes	3 hours 45 minutes
Cotton (Control)	40 minutes	7 hours

The Matador NanoDry Shower Towel dried slightly faster than the Sea to Summit AirLite Towel and the PackTowl UltraLite. The Sea to Summit Pocket Towel dried the slowest of all the backpacking towels, but still dried much faster than the cotton towel.

As conditions may vary when you’re doing the drying test, here’s a better representation of drying time, which is based on how fast the backpacking towel dries in comparison to a regular cotton towel. This is based on the outdoor timings above:

Towel	Drying (vs. Cotton) Outdoors
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	100% Faster than Cotton
Sea to Summit AirLite	82% Faster than Cotton
PackTowl UltraLite	82% Faster than Cotton
Sea to Summit Pocket	48% Faster than Cotton

I dried all the backpacking towels in a climate with super high temperatures (about 32 degrees Celsius or 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and fairly high humidity (about 70 to 80%), and I somehow happened to dry the towels in the hottest time of year (earlier in the year).

Based on the timings above, here are the ratings (out of 10, with 10 being the fastest drying):

Backpacking Towel	Drying Ratings
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	10
Sea to Summit AirLite	9
PackTowl UltraLite	9
Sea to Summit Pocket	8
Cotton (Control)	4
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Not Tested

Unfortunately, I was not able to test the small Matador NanoDry Trek Towel because it cannot absorb 100mL (3.4 fluid ounces) of water. The maximum amount of water it can absorb is only 40mL (1.4 fluid ounces) of water. But I did a similar drying test for it in the full review of the Trek Towel, which you can find by clicking here.

Odor Resistance

For odor resistance, I conducted these 3 different tests.

1. Seawater Test (4 Days);
2. Shower Test (4 Days); and
3. Continuous Use Test (7 Days).

The first test was to soak the backpacking towel in seawater, wring it out as best as I could and seal it in a plastic bag for 4 days. After 4 days, here’s what each towel smelled like, starting from the best:

Towel	Seawater (4 Days)
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	No Smell
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	No Smell
PackTowl UltraLite	Faint Smell
Sea to Summit AirLite	Faint Smell
Sea to Summit Pocket	Damp Sea Smell
Cotton (Control)	Strong Sour/Bad Food Smell

Only the Matador NanoDry towels had no smell, but the rest of the backpacking towels did not smell too bad. The cotton towel was by far the worst with a strong sour smell of food going bad.

The second test was to shower and dry off with the backpacking towel once, and then seal it in a plastic bag immediately, also for 4 days. After 4 days, here’s what each towel smelled like:

Towel	Shower (4 Days)
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	No Smell
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	No Smell
PackTowl UltraLite	No Smell
Sea to Summit AirLite	No Smell
Sea to Summit Pocket	Very Faint Smell
Cotton (Control)	Heavy Musky Smell

The Matador NanoDry, PackTowl UltraLite and Sea to Summit AirLite towels had no smell. Only the Sea to Summit Pocket towel had a smell, but to be fair, it was very faint. In contrast, the cotton towel had a heavy musky smell.

The third test was to use the backpacking towel every single day for 7 days without washing it. In between uses, the towel was left on a rack indoors. Here’s the breakdown:

Towel	Continuous Use (7 Days)
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	No Smell
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	No Smell
PackTowl UltraLite	No Smell
Sea to Summit AirLite	No Smell
Sea to Summit Pocket	No Smell
Cotton (Control)	Musky Smell

All the backpacking towels had no smell, which was great. On the other hand, the cotton towel smelled musky.

Based on all the odor tests above, here are the ratings (out of 10, with 10 being the most odor resistant):

Backpacking Towel	Odor Ratings
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	10.0
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	10.0
PackTowl UltraLite	9.7
Sea to Summit AirLite	9.7
Sea to Summit Pocket	9.0
Cotton (Control)	4.7

All my backpacking towels actually did really well, with the Matador NanoDry towels being slightly better than the rest.

Whether the towels are resistant against odors depends on whether there is an antimicrobial coating on each towel. For the backpacking towels I bought, only the Matador NanoDry Shower and Trek Towels, as well as the Sea to Summit AirLite towel, had some form of antimicrobial coating or odor protection. The PackTowl UltraLite and the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel had no such protection.

Generally, with an antimicrobial coating, there should be better protection against odors. However, I was surprised to find that the Sea to Summit AirLite towel did not perform as well as the Matador NanoDry Towels, and that the PackTowl UltraLite performed as well as the Sea to Summit AirLite towel even without an antimicrobial coating.

Dirt Repellence

For this dirt repellence test, I dragged each backpacking towel along some grass and stepped on them. After, I checked each towel. If there was any grass, leaves or dirt picked up, I shook the towel to see how easily the grass or dirt will shake off.

Here we have the amount of dirt picked up by each towel, before and after shaking:

Towel	Before Shaking	After Shaking
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	Nothing	Nothing
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Nothing	Nothing
Sea to Summit AirLite	Minimal	Nothing
PackTowl UltraLite	Minimal	Nothing
Sea to Summit Pocket	Minimal	Nothing
Cotton (Control)	Minimal	Minimal

Both the Matador NanoDry Shower and Trek towels picked up nothing at all, even before shaking. The Sea to Summit AirLite Towel picked up only a couple tiny pieces of dry grass, which were easy to shake off. The PackTowl UltraLite picked up a few pieces of dry grass, which shook off easily. The Sea to Summit Pocket Towel also picked up a few specks of dirt, which shook off easily.

On the other hand, the cotton towel picked up a few specks of dirt, but these could not be shaken off.

Here’s how I rated the towels based on my observations (out of 10, with 10 being the most dirt repellent):

Backpacking Towel	Dirt Repellence Ratings
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	10
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	10
Sea to Summit AirLite	9
PackTowl UltraLite	9
Sea to Summit Pocket	9
Cotton (Control)	5

All the backpacking towels are very dirt repellent, because they’re very thin and flat, although some are more repellent than others. The Matador NanoDry Towels seem to have the best dirt repellence of all the backpacking towels.

Sand Repellence

For the sand repellence test, I covered each backpacking towel with sand, and then picked it up to see how much sand would stick to it. If there was sand stuck to it, I shook each towel to see whether it could be shaken off easily.

Here’s the amount of sand picked up by each towel, before and after shaking:

Towel	Before Shaking	After Shaking
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	Minimal	Nothing
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Minimal	Nothing
Sea to Summit AirLite	Minimal	Nothing
Sea to Summit Pocket	Moderate	Nothing
PackTowl UltraLite	Moderate	Nothing
Cotton (Control)	Moderate	Nothing

The Matador NanoDry and the Sea to Summit AirLite towels performed equally well, picking up only a minimal amount of sand that could be shaken off super easily. The Sea to Summit Pocket Towel and the PackTowl UltraLite picked up more sand, but the sand could be shaken off easily as well.

Here’s how I rated the towels based on my observations (out of 10, with 10 being the most sand repellent):

Backpacking Towel	Sand Repellence Ratings
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	9
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	9
Sea to Summit AirLite	9
Sea to Summit Pocket	8
PackTowl UltraLite	8
Cotton (Control)	8

Although all the backpacking towels are sand repellent, I wouldn’t recommend using them as beach towels because they’re super lightweight and will fly away easily.

Portability

For portability, I looked at the weight and the packed size of each backpacking towel, without the storage pouch.

Here’s the weight of each towel starting from the lightest, in both ounces and grams.

Towel	Weight (Ounces)	Weight (Grams)
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	0.6oz	16g
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	2.4oz	68g
Sea to Summit AirLite	2.4oz	69g
PackTowl UltraLite	3.2oz	90g
Sea to Summit Pocket	4.1oz	115g
Cotton (Control)	11.9oz	337g

All the backpacking towels are significantly lighter than the cotton towel. The Matador NanoDry Trek Towel is the lightest of all the backpacking towels because it’s a face towel. But even the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel is still the lightest of all the backpacking towels, although there’s only a 0.04-ounce weight difference between that and the Sea to Summit AirLite towel.

Here’s the packed size of the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel, the PackTowl UltraLite, the Sea to Summit AirLite Towel, the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel, and the Matador NanoDry Trek Towel, in comparison with the cotton towel. The first photo is the side view, and the second photo is the top view.

Based on this, here’s how I rated the towels (out of 10, with 10 being the most portable):

Backpacking Towel	Portability Ratings
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	10
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	10
Sea to Summit AirLite	10
PackTowl UltraLite	9
Sea to Summit Pocket	9
Cotton (Control)	3

Comfort

For comfort, I looked at the softness, the thickness, and the sizing of each backpacking towel.

Towel	Softness	Thickness	Sizing
PackTowl UltraLite	Very soft	Thickest	54 x 23.5 in
Sea to Summit Pocket	Very soft	Less thick	46 x 22.5 in
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	Soft	Thin	46 x 23.5 in
Sea to Summit AirLite	Soft	Thin	51 x 20.25 in
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Soft	Thin	15 x 14.75 in

For softness, the PackTowl UltraLite and the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel feel very soft and smooth against the skin. The Matador NanoDry and the Sea to Summit AirLite towels feel just a tiny bit less smooth and less soft, but honestly the difference is not that much.

As for thickness, the PackTowl UltraLite is the thickest and most comfortable of all the backpacking towels, followed by the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel. The Matador NanoDry and the Sea to Summit AirLite towels feel the thinnest.

This photo here shows that they’re all quite thin, and it may not seem like there’s a big difference in their thickness. But I personally felt that there was a huge difference in comfort between the feeling of the thin towels (like the Matador NanoDry) and the thickest one (the PackTowl UltraLite).

For sizing, only the PackTowl UltraLite has dimensions close to a regular shower towel. The dimensions of the Sea to Summit Pocket, Sea to Summit AirLite and the Matador NanoDry Shower towel are a bit smaller. And lastly, we have the Matador NanoDry Trek towel, which is extremely tiny.

Next, whether the backpacking towel sticks to your skin is important as well, and here’s my opinion on the stickiness of each towel:

Towel	Stickiness
PackTowl UltraLite	Least sticky
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	Quite sticky
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Quite sticky
Sea to Summit AirLite	Quite sticky
Sea to Summit Pocket	Very sticky

The PackTowl UltraLite is a bit sticky, but is the least sticky of all the backpacking towels. On the other hand, the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel is the stickiest. For all the backpacking towels, even the PackTowl UltraLite, I still recommend patting dry instead of wiping.

And with that, here are the comfort ratings:

Backpacking Towel	Comfort Ratings
Cotton (Control)	10.0
PackTowl UltraLite	6.5
Sea to Summit Pocket	4.5
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	4.0
Sea to Sumit AirLite	4.0
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	3.5

The PackTowl UltraLite is easily the most comfortable backpacking towel that I have, but even this doesn’t come close to feeling anything like your regular cotton towel, as it is still quite a bit thinner. Just something to keep in mind if this is important to you.

Quality

For quality, I looked at these factors:

1. Edges of each backpacking towel;
2. Whether there was any loss of material after a few months of usage;
3. Bleeding issues;
4. The quality of the hanging loop; and
5. The quality of the storage pouch.

After 2 to 3 months of usage, for the towel edges and loss of material, here’s how the backpacking towels are holding up:

Towel	Edges	Material
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	Good	No Change
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Good	No Change
PackTowl UltraLite	Good	No Change
Sea to Summit Pocket	Loose	0.9% Loss
Sea to Summit AirLite	Slight Fraying	1.4% Loss

The Matador NanoDry towels and the PackTowl UltraLite have edges that are not fraying and are still holding up well. There’s also no weight loss, so no material was lost over the last few months.

For the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel, the stitching isn’t very consistent, and it’s also kind of loose. It lost 1 gram of material, which is 0.9% of its original weight.

As for the Sea to Summit AirLite Towel, there are signs of fraying on the edges, and it also lost 1 gram of material, which is 1.4% of its original weight.

If you look carefully at the picture above, you might notice that the edges of the Sea to Summit AirLite (blue) isn’t the best quality and the cutting is rough.

As for bleeding of colors, here’s the list of towels from the least to the most severe bleeding:

Towel	Color	Bleeding
Sea to Summit AirLite	Pacific Blue	Slight (1 wash)
Sea to Summit Pocket	Lime	Slight (1 wash)
PackTowl UltraLite	Bloom Noir	Yes (3 washes)
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Charcoal	Yes (5 washes)
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	Rust	Yes (5 washes)

The Sea to Summit AirLite Towel and the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel had only a slight bleeding on the first wash, and not much after.

The PackTowl UltraLite bled for about 3 washes, and the Matador NanoDry towels bled for about 5 washes.

As for the quality of the hanging loops, here’s my list:

• PackTowl UltraLite: Best quality
• Sea to Summit Pocket: Good quality
• Matador NanoDry (Shower): Good quality
• Matador NanoDry (Trek): Good quality
• Sea to Summit AirLite: Not secure

The PackTowl UltraLite had the best quality hanging loop, which felt the most secure. As for the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel and the Matador NanoDry towels, they had good quality hanging loops, but less secure than the PackTowl UltraLite’s.

The only one that I did not like was the Sea to Summit AirLite’s. It actually doesn’t come with a hanging loop. Instead, it has a fastener that you can attach to a press stud on the inside of the storage pouch, and then use the pouch’s hanging loop to hang your towel. But the problem here is that this doesn’t feel secure to me, and comes apart with minimal tension.

And lastly, here’s the quality of the storage pouches, the material that they’re made of, and also the weight:

Towel	Quality	Material	Weight
Matador (Shower)	Excellent	Silicone	2.6oz / 74g
Matador (Trek)	Excellent	Silicone	0.6oz / 17g
Sea to Summit AirLite	Very Good	15D Nylon	0.1oz / 4g
Sea to Summit Pocket	Very Good	EVA	0.9oz / 26g

I felt that all the storage pouches were of really good quality.

The Matador NanoDry Shower and Trek Towels had really awesome-looking and high-quality storage pouches that are made of silicone. However, my only issue is that they’re really heavy, and they’re both heavier than the towel itself.

My personal favorite storage pouch is the Sea to Summit AirLite’s. It’s made of 15D nylon, it’s super strong, and also incredibly lightweight.

The storage pouch of the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel is of good quality too, made of EVA, but isn’t the most compressible.

As for the PackTowl UltraLite, it doesn’t come with a storage pouch.

Based on everything above, here are my ratings for quality:

Backpacking Towel	Quality Ratings
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	8.9
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	8.9
PackTowl UltraLite	8.7
Sea to Summit Pocket	6.8
Sea to Summit AirLite	5.2

The Matador NanoDry Towels and the PackTowl UltraLite are of much higher quality than the Sea to Summit Pocket and AirLite towels.

Overall Performance

Based on all 9 tests above (absorbency, wringing, drying, odor resistance, grass and dirt repellence, sand repellence, portability, comfort and quality) and the scoring in each test, here’s all the scores of each backpacking towel side by side for easier comparison:

I color-coded the ratings to make it easier to look at. Green is for good, yellow is average, and red is pretty bad. The overall performance scores are in the last column. I got to these scores by weighing each test equally.

In case you just want the overall scores without the individual tests, here you go:

Backpacking Towel	Overall Ratings
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	8.6
PackTowl UltraLite	8.5
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	8.2
Sea to Summit AirLite	7.9
Sea to Summit Pocket	7.6
Cotton (Control)	5.8

The Matador NanoDry Shower Towel and the PackTowl UltraLite were basically neck and neck, and I felt that they performed almost equally well.

The Matador NanoDry Trek Towel came after, because I scored it kind of badly for comfort.

The Sea to Summit AirLite Towel and the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel did not do too badly either.

In case you want to know how I actually came up with the ratings in each test, you can check out how I did so in this blog post right here.

There are quite a few considerations to keep in mind when choosing the best backpacking towel for your needs. Here are a few:

Weight of Towel

Easily one of the most important factors in a backpacking towel, all the towels that I chose and tested for this review are at most around 3.5 ounces, which is about 100 grams, or much less. Preferably, the lighter the better.

That’s why my 2 best picks are the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel, weighing 2.4 ounces or 68 grams, and the PackTowl UltraLite, weighing 3.2 ounces or 90 grams. That’s also why I’m not recommending the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel, because it’s the heaviest towel on this list, at 4.1 ounces or 115 grams.

In case you want to refer to the weight of each backpacking towel in this review, here you go:

Towel	Weight (Ounces)	Weight (Grams)
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	0.6oz	16g
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	2.4oz	68g
Sea to Summit AirLite	2.4oz	69g
PackTowl UltraLite	3.2oz	90g
Sea to Summit Pocket	4.1oz	115g
Cotton (Control)	11.9oz	337g

Packed Size of Towel

Generally, the lighter the towel, the smaller the packed size. All the backpacking towels that I bought for this review pack down very small compared to a regular cotton towel.

I noticed that the PackTowl UltraLite doesn’t pack down as small as the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel despite being much lighter, but I suspect this is due to the way I folded it. The difference is not that much though, so I don’t think it’s a big issue.

Weight of Storage Pouch

Not all backpacking towels come with storage pouches, but if they do, do be mindful of their weight. Here’s the weight of all the storage pouches in this review:

Towel	Material	Weight
Matador NanoDry (Shower)	Silicone	2.6oz / 74g
Matador NanoDry (Trek)	Silicone	0.6oz / 17g
Sea to Summit AirLite	15D Nylon	0.1oz / 4g
Sea to Summit Pocket	EVA	0.9oz / 26g

For example, the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel comes with a high-quality silicone storage pouch that looks super cool, but is quite heavy, weighing more than the towel itself. That’s one of my few gripes about this excellent backpacking towel. Here’s the weight of the towel and the weight of the storage pouch:

• Weight of Matador NanoDry Shower Towel: 2.4oz / 68g
• Weight of Matador NanoDry storage pouch: 2.6oz / 74g

If the storage pouch is too heavy, you can ditch it and go backpacking without it. As an alternative, you can use your own pouch or even a zip-lock bag (this has negligible weight!) to hold your backpacking towel.

Sizing of Towel

The size of your backpacking towel will affect its weight as well. For example, the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel (46 x 23.5 inches) weighs 68 grams or 2.4 ounces, while the Matador NanoDry Trek Towel (15 x 14.75 inches) weighs 16 grams or 0.6 ounces, or 4x less. The former is a shower towel, while the latter is a face towel.

As such, if possible, don’t pick a size that’s unnecessarily large, as that will add unnecessary ounces to your pack.

Towel Hanging Loop

Having a hanging loop on the backpacking towel itself is important if you need to dry your towel on the go. You can easily clip the towel to your pack while you’re hiking, and it won’t take up space in your pack either.

Some towel hanging loops are more secure than others. I found that the hanging loop on my PackTowl UltraLite is a lot more secure than the hanging loops of the Matador NanoDry and the Sea to Summit Towels.

Also, some hanging loops allow the towel to drag on the ground (not a good thing when you’re not tall like me – 5’3″). For example, my PackTowl UltraLite (pictured below) drags on the ground when I hang it on my pack, while the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel (pictured above) does not.

Storage Pouch Loop

Another way that you can hang your backpacking towel outside your pack while hiking or backpacking is with the storage pouch hanging loop.

The Matador NanoDry towels, the Sea to Summit Pocket towel, and the Sea to Summit AirLite towel all have good quality hanging loops on the storage pouches. However, the PackTowl UltraLite doesn’t come with a storage pouch (and of course, not the loop as well).

Price

After buying a whole bunch of camping and backpacking towels, I realized that backpacking towels are generally more expensive, and it’s hard to find a cheap one. Nevertheless, all my more expensive backpacking towels are of incredible quality, and I believe that the long-term durability will give you more bang for your buck.

You could go for those on the cheaper end of the spectrum if you’re new to backpacking and you’re not sure how often you want to backpack, but do be mindful that they tend to be of lower quality and may not last as long as you expect.

Full Guide

The above is a short guide on some of the most important factors that you might want to consider when buying a backpacking towel.

If you want to read more, or watch a personalized YouTube video, you can click this link right here: Full Guide to Choosing the Best Backpacking Towel for Yourself.

I spent over $130 buying, and hundreds of hours testing and reviewing these 5 best backpacking towels. I don’t accept free products from manufacturers, and don’t accept sponsored posts or YouTube videos. Each and every product is bought by me with my savings, and all opinions are my own, from months of real-world testing and usage.

Over 3 months, I used these backpacking towels every single day while camping and at home. To test them, I dried them both indoors and outdoors, dipped them in seawater, and ran them over grass, dirt and sand, amongst other things.

I looked at and examined every important aspect of each backpacking towel, including but not limited to absorbency, drying, odor resistance, dirt repellence, portability, comfort and quality. I also cover all features, specifications and even unboxings. Hopefully this comprehensive review has helped you to find the best backpacking towel that suits your needs.

Ultimately, of all the 5 best backpacking towels that I bought and tested, I think there’s one that will best suit your needs, and here’s quick summary of all of them:

Top Picks:

• Matador NanoDry (Shower): Best Overall
• PackTowl UltraLite: Most Absorbent + Most Comfortable
• Matador NanoDry (Trek): For the Absolute Minimalist

The Others:

• Sea to Summit AirLite: If you’re on a really tight budget, and can’t afford the Matador NanoDry.
• Sea to Summit Pocket: Not recommended as a backpacking towel. As a camping towel, it probably rates about average.