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Type and size of towel?

grumpygit

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
May 2023
Really do not want to take a normal towel as they are too bulky, but I still have the space if they are the best option
 
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grumpygit said:
Really do not want to take a normal towel as they are too bulky, but I still have the space if they are the best option
Click to expand...
I always take a dedicated hiking towel with me. Easy-drying, light-weight. But I usually go for a larger hiking towel for longer trips as that makes life a bit more easier than those tiny stamp-sized ones
 
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I have a couple of those camping towels. I don't like the feel either of them, but have taken one or the other with me now for 7 years. Both very small/about the size of a bandana. Doesn't cover anything, but lightweight, easy to wash/dry. Works for the Camino. Sometimes I see people with a camp towel the size of a beach towel and I wonder "What is the point". They aren't saving any space or weight with a huge towel like that. I know some people use them as an extra blanket or to hang from the top bunk for some privacy, but I have a much lighter weight scarf for that purpose.
 
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I got a larger travel towel, about 30x40” for the showers and I appreciate the larger size - it’s not quite large enough to wrap all the way around my waist but that’s not necessary as I change in the shower cubicle. I ordered the sarong/shemagh type cotton towel and decided against bringing it as the weight and bulk was too much.
 
I purchased a lightweight travel towel for my first Camino in 2017 … it is still unopened in the original package after even after a second Camino I’m 2019. I am packing for my upcoming del Norte walk next week and again found myself packing that towel … which I have now removed to lighten my pack …
 
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In the warmer months of the year, you can be surprised how small a towel can be and still do it's job. As an experminent, i carried a ~30x50cm one, did the job, possibly could have been even smaller.
(the job being "getting dry enough to dress", not wrapping or covering anything)
 
Really a personal preference. A tiny "handtowel" sized camping towel will get the job done. But many of us prefer a full size towel that we can wrap around our body.

Microfiber towels are quick dry and light weight - but not as absorbent as other towels (which is why they are quick dry).
Regular cotton towels are often too thick and heavy. But a Turkish towel is thinner and still dries quicker than some other options. I used my Turkish towel 2 years ago.
Some people use a sarong.
This time I am not needing a towel EVERY day - but I will be staying in places with swimming pools (Via Francigena) - so I bought this polyester "wrap" that has little shoulder straps and it is advertised for a cover up, a towel, or a "beach blanket". I wouldn't use it for every day towel needs, but it is perfect since I can wear it next to the pool or dry off with it after the shower. It is also lighter in weight than most of my larger camping towels.
 
30x50 would be one of my mid-sized hiking towels .. my smallest ist 30x30 and it actually works! However I avoid using that one for longer trips ;-)
 
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grumpygit said:
Really do not want to take a normal towel as they are too bulky, but I still have the space if they are the best option
Click to expand...
I took a larger size travel towel as I am a big chap - there are some things that should be shared and some that shouldn’t . Doubled as a bunk curtain on the odd night. Always dry by morning. Weight wasn’t a problem in the bigger picture.
 
grumpygit said:
Really do not want to take a normal towel as they are too bulky, but I still have the space if they are the best option
Click to expand...
I love a 100% cotton Turkish Towel, used as a backup Blanket/cover/privacy tarp/dries fast/can wet to cool you down - etc. etc..
 
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When it comes to quick drying hiking/camping towels which most pilgrims carry on the Camino you can't have your cake and eat it too. There's always going to be a negative to go with the positive.
I've always just carried the standard synthetic quick drying camping towel, it does an adequate job drying me off and dries really fast on the line and after all it's just for a month or so.
Due to my middle age spread and tattoos I make a bad Dorothy Lamour image so I'll pass on wearing a sarong around the albergue.
 
I did bring a hairdressers terry-towel 40x80. Very lightweight, very absorbent and cheap, just 6€.
 
RJM said:
.
Due to my middle age spread and tattoos I make a bad Dorothy Lamour image so I'll pass on wearing a sarong around the albergue.
Click to expand...
The Road to Santiago ..instead of the Road to Bali ...

either that or maybe you could pass for Bob Hope or Bing Crosby ?

I have a sarong somewhere, bet it's not lightweight enough for me to bring next time

A sarongigrino .. thats mine
 
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klimmo said:
I use one of these: https://www.ikea.com/ch/de/p/rinnig...F0qfjQG6A3vOaKdmEKIgq9udLJknU7oBoCLa0QAvD_BwE

a run of the mill tea towel, light, nice texture and dries super fast
Click to expand...
klimmo said:
I use one of these: https://www.ikea.com/ch/de/p/rinnig...F0qfjQG6A3vOaKdmEKIgq9udLJknU7oBoCLa0QAvD_BwE

a run of the mill tea towel, light, nice texture and dries super fast
Click to expand...
Great idea. Thanks klimmo, I’m going to try it. Love this forum for these sorts of tips!
Seems like the towel is a highly personal choice. Guess it comes down to the old weight vs comfort consideration. Dave Bugg’s mantra “ounces lead to pounds, pounds to pain” is my guide, so have got used to very small polyester pack towel. A bit approximate but damp skin dries pretty fast I find.
Towel and clothing time depends a bit on the humidity. Nothing dries fast on the del Norte in my experience.
 
I'm a fastpacker more than a traditional hiker (my pack is the Ultimate Direction Fastpack 30) and try to be very frugal at what I'm bringing. I hate (sorry for the strong word) the typical lightweight mircofibre towel thingies, they just don't feel nice on the skin and just don't seem to dry me. With one of these tea towels I can comfortably dry myself and it's still big enough to wrap around my head (longish hair). When I then hang it on my bunk, 9 times out of 10 it's dry in the morning.
 
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grumpygit said:
Really do not want to take a normal towel as they are too bulky, but I still have the space if they are the best option
Click to expand...
Get a small microfiber camp towel to keep weight down. Consider carrying a sarong as a wrap which can do other duties: picnic blanket, improvised sac, etc.
 
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ouroboros said:
Consider carrying a sarong as a wrap which can do other duties: picnic blanket, improvised sac, etc.
Click to expand...
“A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
 
I practice what I learned in my scout days. I have a flannel and a small-ish towel. After my shower I 'dry' myself down with my flannel and wring it out tight a couple of times in the process. After this performance I then dry myself with the small towel. My towel remains reasonably dry and my flannel is damp for use during the day should I need it to perhaps wipe the red wine and food from around my mouth... hahaha
 
Observations and preference (FWIW).
If you're caminoing in the hot months it doesn't much matter which bit of cloth you bring with you - you'll dry quickly anyway, and so will your cloth/towel.
If you're caminoing in the cooler wetter months and staying in albergue dormitories it's a bit more nuanced. The smaller the cloth the smaller the surface area. So a smaller cloth will get damper, and take longer to dry.
Personally, I gave up on dry towels more than 20 years ago. I now use what they call a diver's chamois/chammy, or a squeegee. It stays permanently damp in an airsealed bag. It is super-absorbent so you just run it over you and wring it out, one or two times and put it back in its bag. I believe they are also popular for drying pets.
Advantages - include not having to hang it on the end of your bed along with 10 other damp towels in the albergue dormitory after a wet day. Not needing to find a dry place for it in the shower cubicle etc. It's also incredibly useful for camping, in removing the moisture/dew from flysheets - or from anything else.
Main disadvantage is that it's not big enough to wrap around you. I use a half of one and all bagged up it weighs under 100g.
 
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Whatever gets you dry...?

Can be a lightweight old dish towel, an extra expensive ultralight microfiber towel from the hiking store, or the t-shirt you've worn before taking the shower.

It's not that complicated.
 
I am not small, and prefer to have a little extra coverage. I brought a about 1.5 yds of lightweight linen and used that. Lightweight, provided coverage, always dried quickly, and bonus points - it made a passable coverup when things went wrong, everything got soaked and I was waiting on clean clothes. I also used it when I bought a ticket for the opera in Verona and didn't realize I was in a section that had a dress requirement. I plan on bringing it this year too.
 
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