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Quick answer: For most people the best camping towel is a medium microfibre one with a hanging loop and a carry case — a PackTowl Personal or a Sea to Summit DryLite dries you off, wrings out and is ready again within the hour, at a fraction of a cotton towel’s weight and bulk. Go large if you travel by vehicle and want a proper post-shower wrap, compact if every gram counts, and add an antibacterial finish for long trips.
A microfibre towel is one of the cheapest, most useful things you can throw in a pack. It weighs almost nothing, dries you off after a swim or a wash, then wrings out and dries itself in a fraction of the time a cotton towel takes to stop being a soggy brick. For anyone counting grams or short on space, it is a small upgrade that pays off on every single trip.
The catch is that microfibre towels are not all the same. Some are barely bigger than a face cloth; others wrap right around you. A few feel slick and plasticky against the skin, while the better ones are soft, genuinely absorbent, and treated to hold off the sour, musty smell that plagues a damp towel by day three. Here is how the types differ, and how to match one to the way you travel.
Quick Picks
- Best overall: a medium towel that balances coverage, weight and dry time
- Best for backpacks: a compact towel that packs to the size of a fist
- Best for a family or base camp: a large bath-size towel with a case
- Best for odour resistance: a towel with an antibacterial finish
- Best budget pick: a simple towel with a snap loop for hanging
How to Choose a Microfibre Camping Towel
Start with size. Towels sell in rough tiers from small (about face-cloth size, for a quick hand and face wipe) up to extra-large (big enough to wrap around you after a shower). A medium is the sweet spot for most people: enough to dry off properly without the bulk of a full bath sheet. If in doubt, one medium plus a small pack towel covers almost every job between them.
Then look at the weight and weave, because this is the real fork in the road. A denser, plusher towel (the suede-feel type, like PackTowl Luxe) feels far nicer on the skin and soaks up more, but it packs a little larger and takes longer to dry. A thin, waffle-weave towel dries almost instantly and packs tiny, at the cost of that soft feel and a slightly squeaky drag across the skin. Neither is wrong — pick plush for comfort at base camp, waffle for a fast-drying towel in a light pack.
Two features are worth chasing. An antibacterial or odour-resistant finish (often a silver-ion treatment) matters on longer trips where the towel rarely gets a proper wash, and a hanging loop or clip plus a mesh or zip case keeps a damp towel from soaking the rest of your gear. One myth to bin: microfibre is not less absorbent than cotton — quality microfibre holds several times its weight in water. It just works best with a wipe-and-wring action rather than a single pass, so use it that way and it dries you fine.
The Microfibre Towels
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Large Microfibre Bath Towel
The full-size option, big enough to wrap around you or dry off completely after a shower. It is the closest a microfibre towel comes to feeling like the one on your rail at home, and it still packs far smaller and dries far faster than cotton. A PackTowl Luxe or a large Sea to Summit Tek in the plush finish is the pick here. The trade-off is a bit more weight and bulk, which barely matters if you travel by vehicle but counts against you if you carry everything on your back. Have a quick look at the current and most recent options on Amazon for the large microfibre towel.
Compact Pack Towel
Sized for people who count every gram, this style packs down to roughly the size of your fist and weighs next to nothing — a PackTowl Nano or Ultralite, or a Matador NanoDry, is the classic. It will not wrap around you, and the thin waffle feel is not luxurious, but it dries you off and then dries itself remarkably fast. It is the natural choice for a light pack where space, not comfort, is the thing you are protecting. Have a quick look at the current and most recent options on Amazon for the compact microfibre towel.
Microfibre Towel and Case Set
These sets bundle a couple of towel sizes with a zip or mesh carry case that keeps a damp towel contained and away from your dry kit. Buying a set — the Sea to Summit and Rainleaf sets are good value — usually costs less than buying towels one at a time, and having both a large and a small on hand covers everything from a full wash to a quick hand wipe. The case is the quiet hero: it stops a wet towel turning your pack into a swamp. Have a quick look at the current and most recent options on Amazon for the microfibre towel set.
Antibacterial Microfibre Towel
Treated with a silver-ion or similar antimicrobial finish, this style resists the sour, mildewy smell that damp towels pick up after a few days without a wash. If you are out for a week or more, or rarely get the chance to fully dry and launder a towel, the odour resistance is genuinely worth paying a little extra for. It does not make the towel self-cleaning — you still need to dry it out — but it buys you several more days before it starts to turn. Have a quick look at the current and most recent options on Amazon for the antibacterial microfibre towel.
Towel with Snap Loop or Clip
The simplest, most affordable option, with a press-stud loop or a carabiner clip so the towel can hang from a pack, a branch or a guy line to air between uses. Being able to hang it up is the single biggest factor in keeping a microfibre towel fresh, because trapped damp is what makes it smell. For that reason this cheap little feature earns its place even on the tightest budget, and it is the first thing I look for on any towel. Have a quick look at the current and most recent options on Amazon for the microfibre towel with clip.
Comparison
| Type | Size | Feel | Dry time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large bath towel | Large | Plush | Fast | Vehicle trips and base camp |
| Compact pack towel | Small | Waffle, slick | Very fast | Light packs |
| Towel and case set | Mixed | Varies | Fast | All-round value |
| Antibacterial towel | Small to medium | Soft | Fast | Long trips without a wash |
| Snap-loop towel | Small to medium | Soft | Fast | Budget and easy drying |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why choose a microfibre towel over a cotton one?
Microfibre is far lighter, packs down much smaller and dries in a fraction of the time cotton takes, which is exactly what you want when space and drying time matter. It also soaks up several times its own weight in water. Cotton still feels plusher, but it stays heavy and damp for hours, which is a real liability on a trip.
What size should I get?
A small towel is fine for hands, face and a quick freshen-up; a medium suits a full-body dry for most people; a large is best if you want a proper post-shower wrap or a towel that doubles as a mat. Plenty of people carry one medium and one small to cover both jobs without much weight.
How do I stop it smelling musty?
Rinse it after use, wring it out hard and let it dry fully before it goes back in the pack, since trapped damp is what causes the smell. Every so often wash it without fabric softener — softener clogs the fibres and kills both the absorbency and the fast drying — and it will stay fresh for years.
Are microfibre towels actually absorbent enough?
Yes. Good microfibre holds several times its weight in water; it just feels different to plush cotton and works best with a wipe-and-wring technique rather than one long drag. Give it a squeeze halfway through and carry on. For travel, the fast drying easily outweighs the slightly different feel against the skin.
The Bottom Line
For most people a medium microfibre towel with a hanging loop and a carry case is all they will ever need: light, quick to dry and easy to keep fresh. Go larger if you travel by vehicle and want a proper post-shower wrap, or smaller if every gram is precious. Whatever the size, the ability to hang it up and an odour-resistant finish are the two features that keep a towel pleasant to use trip after trip — chase those over a fancy colour or a big-name logo.
Round out your wash kit with the rest of your camp comfort gear: see our guides to camping wash basins, camp shower systems, and insulated flasks and bottles.