How I Rated My Camping and Backpacking Towels

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This is a follow-up blog post on the 10 Best Camping Towels and the 5 Best Backpacking Towels review round-ups.

Disclaimer: This is not going to be a very interesting post, just some numbers and rating systems. So, feel free to hit the X button whenever you get bored.

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Control Towel

Before we go into the tests, I just want to mention that I added in a 100% cotton bath towel as a “control” towel.

But I don’t think it was the best choice as a cotton towel because the piles are very short and it’s not really fluffy, unlike most bath towels.

So my cotton towel might have performed better than you expected it to in some of the tests, especially in dirt repellence and portability, whereas fluffier cotton towels tend to perform much worse. On hindsight, I probably should have chosen a better control cotton towel.

Sizing of Towels

As for sizing, I got the shower size for each towel, but some are smaller than others.

The exception is the Nomadix towel, which is a beach size, because they didn’t seem to have shower towels at the time I bought it.

Absorbency

For absorbency, I measured and tested these 3 different things:

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

Here’s the rating for each of the sub-tests above, and how I rated them:

Total Amount of Water Absorbed

Camping Towel	Total Water Absorbed Ratings
PackTowl Luxe	10
REI Multi	10
Sea to Summit Tek	9
Cotton	9
Nomadix	9
PackTowl Personal	7
Wise Owl	6
Sea to Summit Drylite	6
REI Lite	6
Rainleaf	6
Matador NanoDry	5

• 1,250 and above: 10
• 1,000 to 1,249: 9
• 750 to 999: 8
• 500 to 749: 7
• 250 to 499: 6
• 150 to 249: 5
• 100 to 149: 4

Absorbency Ratio

Camping Towel	Absorbency Ratio Ratings
PackTowl Luxe	9
REI Multi	10
Sea to Summit Tek	9
Cotton	7
Nomadix	5
PackTowl Personal	7
Wise Owl	6
Sea to Summit Drylite	6
REI Lite	5
Rainleaf	6
Matador NanoDry	5

• 4.6 and above: 10
• 4.1 to 4.5: 9
• 3.6 to 4.0: 8
• 3.1 to 3.5: 7
• 2.6 to 3.0: 6
• 2.1 to 2.5: 5

After Shower Absorbency

Camping Towel	After Shower Absorbency Ratings
PackTowl Luxe	10
REI Multi	9
Sea to Summit Tek	9
Cotton	10
Nomadix	10
PackTowl Personal	8
Wise Owl	7
Sea to Summit Drylite	7
REI Lite	8
Rainleaf	7
Matador NanoDry	8

• Excellent/Almost: 10
• Very Good: 9
• Good: 8
• Fair: 7

With each of the 3 tests weighted equally, here are the final absorbency ratings for camping towels:

Wringing

For the wringing test, I wringed out, weighed, and did some calculations based on the weight of each towel to find out how much water was left in percentage. After that, I let each towel dry outdoors and indoors.

20% of the final ratings went to the wringing, and 80% of the final ratings went to drying after wringing. (Because if the towel wrings out well, but doesn’t dry quickly after, then that pretty much defeats the purpose.)

Wringing Only

This accounted for only 20% of the final rating.

Camping Towel	Wringing Only Ratings (20%)
Matador NanoDry	7 (1.4)
Sea to Summit DryLite	9 (1.8)
Rainleaf	8 (1.6)
Wise Owl	8 (1.6)
PackTowl Personal	8 (1.6)
REI Lite	6 (1.2)
PackTowl Luxe	10 (2.0)
Sea to Summit Tek	10 (2.0)
REI Multi	10 (2.0)
Nomadix	4 (0.8)
Cotton	6 (1.2)

• 26-30%: 10
• 31-35%: 9
• 36-40%: 8
• 41-45%: 7
• 46-50%: 6
• 51-55%: 5
• 56-60%: 4

Drying after Wringing

This accounted for 80% of the final rating.

Camping Towel	Drying after Wringing Ratings (80%)
Matador NanoDry	10 (8.0)
Sea to Summit DryLite	8 (6.4)
Rainleaf	8 (6.4)
Wise Owl	8 (6.4)
PackTowl Personal	7 (5.6)
REI Lite	7 (5.6)
PackTowl Luxe	5 (4.0)
Sea to Summit Tek	4 (3.2)
REI Multi	4 (3.2)
Nomadix	4 (3.2)
Cotton	2 (1.6)

• 1-15 mins: 10
• 16-30 mins: 9
• 31-45 mins: 8
• 46-60 mins: 7
• 61-75 mins: 6
• 76-90 mins : 5
• 91-105 mins: 4
• 106-120 mins: 3
• 121-135 mins: 2

With 20% of the final rating going to wringing only, and 80% of the score going to the drying after wringing portion, here are the final wringing ratings for camping towels:

Drying

Camping Towel	Drying Rating
Matador NanoDry	10
PackTowl Personal	9
Nomadix	8
Rainleaf	8
Wise Owl	7
REI Lite	7
Sea to Summit DryLite	7
PackTowl Luxe	7
REI Multi	5
Cotton	4
Sea to Summit Tek	2

• 20-22 mins: 10
• 23-25 mins: 9
• 26-28 mins: 8
• 29-31 mins: 7
• 32-34 mins: 6
• 35-37 mins: 5
• 38-40 mins: 4
• 41-43 mins: 3
• 44-46 mins: 2

One thing to note here is that the drying test was scored based only on outdoor readings, because the indoor readings are quite proportional, and also I found the outdoor readings to be a little more accurate.

As this was the only test in the drying section, these were also the final ratings for drying, and here are the bar charts (in case you prefer charts over tables):

Odor Resistance

For odor resistance, I conducted these 3 different tests on each towel:

1. Seawater test (4 days);
2. Shower test (4 days); and
3. Continuous use test (7 days).

Here’s the rating for each of the sub-tests above, and how I rated them:

Seawater (4 Days)

Camping Towel	Seawater Ratings
PackTowl Luxe	10
PackTowl Personal	10
Matador NanoDry	10
Nomadix	8
Rainleaf	8
REI Lite	8
Sea to Summit DryLite	6
Wise Owl	4
Sea to Summit Tek	4
REI Multi	2
Cotton	2

• No smell: 10
• Faint sea smell: 9
• Sea smell: 8
• Faint musky smell: 7
• Musky smell: 6
• Faint sour smell: 5
• Sour smell: 4
• Stronger sour: 3
• Stronger sour + bad food: 2

Shower (4 Days)

Camping Towel	Shower Ratings
PackTowl Luxe	10
PackTowl Personal	10
Matador NanoDry	10
Nomadix	10
Rainleaf	9
REI Lite	9
Sea to Summit DryLite	7
Wise Owl	7
Sea to Summit Tek	7
REI Multi	6
Cotton	6

• No smell: 10
• Very faint smell (but not musky): 9
• Faint smell (but not musky): 8
• Faint musky: 7
• Heavier musky: 6
• Heavy musky: 5

Continuous Use (7 Days)

Camping Towel	Shower Ratings
PackTowl Luxe	10
PackTowl Personal	10
Matador NanoDry	10
Nomadix	10
Rainleaf	10
REI Lite	10
Sea to Summit DryLite	10
Wise Owl	10
Sea to Summit Tek	9
REI Multi	7
Cotton	6

• No smell: 10
• Very faint smell (but not musky): 9
• Faint smell (but not musky): 8
• Faint musky: 7
• Heavier musky: 6
• Heavy musky: 5

With each of the 3 tests weighted equally, here are the final odor resistance ratings for camping towels:

Grass and Dirt Repellence

Camping Towel	Grass and Dirt Repellence Ratings
Matador NanoDry	10
Sea to Summit DryLite	9
PackTowl Personal	9
Wise Owl	9
Rainleaf	9
Nomadix	9
PackTowl Luxe	8
REI Lite	5
Cotton	5
Sea to Summit Tek	3
REI Multi	2

• No dirt/leaves/grass: 10
• Minimal dirt/leaves/grass, but clean after shaking: 9
• Moderate dirt/leaves/grass, but clean after shaking: 8
• Heavy dirt/leaves/grass, but clean after shaking: 7
• Extremely heavy dirt/leaves/grass, but clean after shaking: 6
• Minimal dirt/leaves/grass, and not clean after shaking: 5
• Moderate dirt/leaves/grass, and not clean after shaking: 4
• Heavy dirt/leaves/grass, and not clean after shaking: 3
• Extremely heavy dirt/leaves/grass, and not clean after shaking: 2

As this was the only test in the grass and dirt repellence section, these were also the final ratings for this test, and here are the bar charts (in case you prefer charts over tables):

Sand Repellence

Camping Towel	Sand Repellence Ratings
Matador NanoDry	9
PackTowl Luxe	8
PackTowl Personal	8
Nomadix	8
Sea to Summit DryLite	8
Wise Owl	8
REI Multi	8
REI Lite	8
Cotton	8
Rainleaf	4
Sea to Summit Tek	4

• No sand: 10
• Minimal, but clean after shaking: 9
• Moderate, but clean after shaking: 8
• Heavy, but clean after shaking: 7
• Extremely heavy, but clean after shaking: 6
• Minimal, and not clean after shaking: 5
• Moderate, and not clean after shaking: 4
• Heavy, and not clean after shaking: 3
• Extremely heavy, and not clean after shaking: 2

As this was the only test in the sand repellence section, these were also the final ratings for this test, and here are the bar charts (in case you prefer charts over tables):

Portability

For portability, although I looked at weight and packed size of the towel without the storage pouch, I scored based only on weight. This is because packed size is quite proportional, and also harder to measure.

Camping Towel	Portability Ratings
Matador NanoDry	10
Wise Owl	8
Sea to Summit DryLite	8
Rainleaf	8
PackTowl Personal	7
REI Lite	7
Sea to Summit Tek	5
REI Multi	5
PackTowl Luxe	4
Cotton	3
Nomadix	2

• 90g or less: 10
• 91-130g: 9
• 131-170g: 8
• 171-210g: 7
• 211-250g: 6
• 251-290g: 5
• 291-330g: 4
• 331-370g: 3
• Above 371g: 2

As this was the only test in the portability section, these were also the final ratings for this test, and here are the bar charts (in case you prefer charts over tables):

Comfort

For comfort, I scored based on these 2 main tests:

1. General comfort (fluffiness, soft, smooth, thick, thin, sizing); and
2. Stickiness.

Here’s the rating for each of the sub-tests above, and how I rated them:

General Comfort

Camping Towel	General Comfort Ratings (50%)
Cotton	10
PackTowl Luxe	9
REI Multi	8
Nomadix	7
Sea to Summit Tek	8
PackTowl Personal	6
REI Lite	6
Rainleaf	4
Sea to Summit DryLite	4
Wise Owl	4
Matador NanoDry	2

• Feels like a cotton towel: 10
• Fluffy, soft, good sizing: 9
• Fluffy, good sizing, staticky: 8
• Fluffy, soft, smaller sizing: 8
• Thin, smooth, generous sizing: 7
• Thin, smooth, good sizing: 6
• Very thin, smooth, good sizing: 5
• Very thin, smooth, smaller sizing: 4
• Extremely thin, good sizing: 3
• Extremely thin, smaller sizing: 2

Stickiness

Camping Towel	Stickiness Ratings (50%)
Cotton	10
PackTowl Luxe	9
REI Multi	8
Nomadix	9
Sea to Summit Tek	8
PackTowl Personal	7
REI Lite	7
Rainleaf	6
Sea to Summit DryLite	5
Wise Owl	5
Matador NanoDry	6

• Feels like a cotton towel non-stickiness: 10
• Close to cotton towel non-stickiness: 9
• Less close to cotton towel non-stickiness: 8
• A bit sticky: 7
• Quite sticky: 6
• Very sticky: 5

With both tests weighted equally (50% each), here are the final comfort ratings for camping towels:

Quality

For quality, I looked at 6 different things:

1. Stitching of the towel (25%);
2. Body material of the towel (25%);
3. Any weight change after 4 months of usage (20%);
4. Bleeding (10%);
5. Hanging loop quality (10%); and
6. Storage pouch quality (10%).

I felt that the quality of the stitching, material and any weight changes were the most important, so they made up 25%, 25%, and 20% respectively, or 70% in total. As for bleeding, the hanging loop and the storage pouch, they’re kind of secondary to me so I rated them just 10% each.

Stitching

Camping Towel	Stitching Ratings (25%)
Nomadix	10
PackTowl Luxe	9
REI Lite	9
PackTowl Personal	9
Matador NanoDry	9
Wise Owl	9
Rainleaf	6
REI Multi	8
Sea to Summit Tek	3
Sea to Summit DryLite	5

• Excellent: 10
• Good: 8-9
• Average: 6-7
• Poor: 5 and below
• Fraying/Loose: Deduct points depending on severity

Material

Camping Towel	Material Ratings (25%)
Nomadix	10
PackTowl Luxe	10
REI Lite	9
PackTowl Personal	9
Matador NanoDry	9
Wise Owl	8
Rainleaf	8
REI Multi	5
Sea to Summit Tek	5
Sea to Summit DryLite	6

• Excellent: 10
• Good: 8-9
• Average: 6-7
• Poor: 5 and below
• Loose threads: Deduct points depending on severity

Weight Change

Camping Towel	Weight Change Ratings (20%)
Nomadix	10
PackTowl Luxe	10
REI Lite	10
PackTowl Personal	10
Matador NanoDry	10
Wise Owl	10
Rainleaf	10
REI Multi	6
Sea to Summit Tek	6
Sea to Summit DryLite	2

• No weight change: 10
• Less than 1% loss: 6
• 1-2% loss: 2

Bleeding

Camping Towel	Bleeding Ratings (10%)
Nomadix	10
PackTowl Luxe	8
REI Lite	10
PackTowl Personal	6
Matador NanoDry	4
Wise Owl	5
Rainleaf	8
REI Multi	9
Sea to Summit Tek	9
Sea to Summit DryLite	3

• None: 10
• Slight (1 wash): 9
• Yes (1 wash): 8
• Yes (2 washes): 7
• Yes (3 washes): 6
• Yes (4 washes): 5
• Yes (5 washes): 4
• Yes (6 washes): 3

Hanging Loop Quality

Camping Towel	Loop Ratings (10%)
Nomadix	10
PackTowl Luxe	9
REI Lite	7
PackTowl Personal	9
Matador NanoDry	8
Wise Owl	8
Rainleaf	6
REI Multi	7
Sea to Summit Tek	9
Sea to Summit DryLite	9

• Excellent: 10
• Good: 8-9
• Not bad, but stiff/cheap catch: 6-7

Storage Pouch Quality

Camping Towel	Pouch Ratings (10%)
Nomadix	N.A.
PackTowl Luxe	6
REI Lite	7
PackTowl Personal	8
Matador NanoDry	10
Wise Owl	8
Rainleaf	5
REI Multi	7
Sea to Summit Tek	9
Sea to Summit DryLite	3

• High: 10
• Very Good: 9
• Good: 7-8
• Average: 5-6
• Poor: 4 and below

With the scoring for each of the category explained above, here are the final quality ratings for camping towels:

Overall Performance

With all the ratings for all the tests above, I weighted each test equally to get the overall performance scores. I just added up all the scores and divided by 9, because I had 9 categories or 9 tests.

If a test is more important to you, feel free to weight is more heavily and to calculate your own scores. Here’s the graphic with all the scores:

And here’s the graphic with only the overall scores (without the individual test scores):

And that’s about it. Feel free to let me know if you disagree and how I can improve my scoring for future product reviews. Thanks!