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PackTowl Personal Travel Towel Review

August 20, 2015 By Thither Staff Leave a Comment

I’ve reviewed a lot of travel towels.

In fact, I’m kind of sick of travel towels. But I was pleasantly surprised by the PackTowl Personal.

Packtowl Personal Travel Towel Review
XXL in Ellipse next to the Large in Citrus

In my quest for the best travel towel, I’ve noticed that a lot of travel towels are essentially the same, except for different branding. Almost identical microfiber materials, similar stuff sacks and hanging hooks. The PackTowl Personal is not revolutionarily different, but has an upper hand over some other towels in terms of softness and absorbency.

PackTowl Personal Travel Towel Sizing:

PackTowl Personal Size Chart
PackTowl Personal Size Chart (Image Source)

PackTowl Sizing chart taken directly from the PackTowl website:

PackTowl Sizing Chart and weight
PackTowl Sizing Chart and weight (Image Source)

Specs from REI:

  • XXL: 36 x 59 in (91 x 150 cm), 10.5 ounces
  • XL: 25 x 55 in (64 x 137 cm), 8.5 ounces
  • L: 16.5 x 36 in (42 x 92 cm), 4 ounces
  • M: 12 x 22 in (31 x 57 cm), 2 ounces
  • S: 10 x 14 in (25 x 35 cm), 1 ounce

These specs from REI are slightly different from the ones found on the PackTowl website. I believe that the carrying pouch is included in the weight of the REI specs, but not in the specs from PackTowl’s website.

I’ve tested both the ‘Large’ personal towel and the ‘XXL’ personal towel. They are exactly the same, just different sizes.

Me holding the 'Large' PackTowl in the color 'Citrus'
Me holding the ‘Large’ PackTowl in the color ‘Citrus’

From my experiences, large is a good size to use as a towel to dry yourself after a shower, however it is quite small compared to other travel towels. The ‘large’ PackTowl (16.5″ X 36″) is smaller than the ‘large’ Eagle Creek towel (19.5″ X 39″), ‘large’ Sea to Summit towel (24″ X 48″) and ‘large’ Travelon towel. Large is lightweight, but felt kind of skimpy.

If you’re looking for something to cover your body and wear out of the shower, you will want to size up. With that said, the large PackTowl is still absorbent enough to dry yourself off completely.

Me holding the 'XXL' PackTowl in the color 'Ellipse'
Me holding the ‘XXL’ PackTowl in the color ‘Ellipse’

On the other hand, the XXL PackTowl is massive. I’ve tested the XXL towel in the color ‘ellipse’, and it’s like a really large beach towel and can even be used as a picnic floor mat. The XXL towel is larger than your standard bath towel.

During testing, I could dry myself off almost completely by simply wrapping the towel around my body. If you’re looking to travel light, you probably won’t want to take the XXL as it’s more suited to glamping than backpacking.

For someone who wants something they can wrap around their body, without being too large, the XL towel would be your best choice.

PackTowl Personal travel towels are made of a soft microfiber material
PackTowl Personal travel towels are made of a soft microfiber material

Pros:

  • More absorbent and softer than the Sea to Summit DryLite towel and Grand Trunk travel towel
  • Lightweight and compact, 10.5 oz for XXL and 4 oz for Large
  • Antimicrobial treated
  • Has a hang loop
  • Includes carrying pouch
  • Absorbent and quick drying

The PackTowl has all of the features other competing travel towels have: a hang loop for drying the towel, antimicrobial treatment and a carrying pouch.

PackTowl Personal Review Hook

Cons:

  • Size ‘large’ isn’t large enough to wrap around body

PackTowl Personal Review

The Verdict:

The PackTowl is one of the best travel towels currently available. It’s lightweight while maintaining absorbency and softness. I’d rank it as equal with the Eagle Creek towel and narrowly better than the Sea to Summit, Grand Trunk and Travelon towels.

You can find the large towel for retail $19.95 and XXL towel for retail $34.95. The prices are reasonable and comparable to the other towels which I’ve reviewed.

Read my comparison of all the best travel towels here.

PackTowl Personal Ratings
  • 8/10
    Design - 8/10
  • 9/10
    Portablitity - 9/10
  • 9/10
    Features - 9/10
  • 10/10
    Absorbency and Drying Speed - 10/10
  • 7/10
    Value - 7/10
8.6/10

PackTowl Personal Review

Where to Get the PackTowl:

  • You can find the PackTowl Personal on their offical website, PackTowl.com
  • Also on Amazon.com
  • And REI.com
Hanging the PackTowl Personal
Hanging the PackTowl Personal

Have any questions or comments about the PackTowl? Leave a comment below.

The PackTowl Personal travel towel was provided for this review. As always, this PackTowl review contains only my honest views and opinions. Some links found in this review are affiliate links, meaning that we get commission if you decide to make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. This helps to fund the site. 🙂 Find out more about me and this site.

Filed Under: Travel Towels Tagged With: accessories, Adventure Travel, sea to summit, travel towel

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