I needed a towel while I was traveling, and another of the items that I prepared myself with before I went to South America was this. I can’t remember why I settled on this little towel, which is only 40 x 40 cm (15.7 x 15.7 in.), but I did. Okay, maybe it’s really just a hand towel, but I had purchased it for drying myself off after showers…

That being said, it still worked all right, considering the size. It soaked up a bit at first, but then it quickly got waterlogged. I would have to often stop and wring it out, but once it was wet, wringing it out didn’t do too much to make it absorbent again until it naturally dried out. That left me with just rubbing a wet hand towel over my body, which didn’t end up drying me off much more. It helped a bit, but it just wasn’t up to the task of drying off an entire person.

Once, while I was Puno, Peru, the place I was at didn’t have any warm water. I took an ice-cold shower and then had to dry off. The air was frigid, and so was my skin. I tried my best to dry myself off, but it just wasn’t happening and I had to jump into my clothes and dry off with them.

Another time while I was couchsurfing in South America, I moved to take a shower. My host spotted my towel and was pretty surprised at the size and asked me if all towels were like that in the USA. I mumbled that no, it was just what I had purchased because it was “hyper efficient,” although I was full of it and sheepishly went into the bathroom.

His intuition was right, though, and it is just a bit too small for a post-shower towel. I still used it for many years when no other towel was at the hostel I went to, but I have since replaced it with a more suitable travel towel.

It’s still a pretty efficient hand towel if you need it, so if you want one, I would still recommend it.

Pros:

Packs small

Hanging to dry is convenient with the carabiner and clip

Dries quickly

Cons:

Doesn’t absorb all too much water

Doesn’t wring out very well

Doesn’t dry off an entire person after a shower