Best Camping Towels

The PackTowl Luxe XL earns the best overall spot by hitting every mark that matters: fast absorbency, quick dry time, and a plush texture that actually feels good on skin rather than scratching like cheaper microfiber. At an XL size of 30 by 60 inches it provides genuine full-body coverage — the same footprint as a standard bath towel — while folding down into a compact roll secured by a snap strap.

The waffle-weave microfiber construction is noticeably denser than budget alternatives. In testing it dried our hands and face in a single pass, and after a full body dry it was visibly moist but never soaking — ready to hang and dry within an hour in moving air. The snap wrap and hanging loop are thoughtful details that make camp use genuinely convenient.

PackTowl backs the Luxe with a lifetime guarantee, which matters for a product that will see heavy use over many trips. If you only buy one camp towel, the Luxe XL gives you the best balance of performance, comfort, and longevity across every outdoor use case.

The Matador NanoDry is the most impressive towel we've tested from a pure weight-to-performance ratio. One ounce. That's it. The nanofiber fabric — finer than standard microfiber — packs into a silicone sleeve about the size of a deck of cards, yet unfolds into a full 20 by 40 inch towel. For ultralight backpackers counting every gram, this changes the math entirely.

Nanofiber's drying advantage over microfiber is real. In warm, breezy conditions the NanoDry was touch-dry in under 15 minutes hanging from a pack strap — a meaningful edge when you're moving camp daily and can't afford to start the day with a wet towel. Absorbency is excellent for its weight, though the thinner fabric means multiple passes for full-body drying.

The trade-off is feel. Nanofiber is noticeably more tissue-like against skin than the plush PackTowl. For face and hand drying it's fine; for full-body post-swim use you'll notice the difference. For hikers who prioritize packability over luxury, the NanoDry has no real competition.

REI's in-house Multi Towel Lite punches well above its $20 price point. The microfiber quality is noticeably better than other budget options we've tested — it absorbs well, dries without leaving lint, and has held up through repeated machine washes without the degraded texture that cheaper microfiber develops after a season of use.

At 24 by 48 inches it sits between medium and large sizing — large enough for full body use, compact enough to roll into a pack pocket. The included mesh bag is a nice touch for stashing the towel while it dries without losing it in a pack. REI offers this in multiple colors and sizes, making it easy to color-code for different uses (face, body, camp dishes).

For new campers building a kit on a budget, the REI Multi Towel Lite is the obvious starting point. You won't get the premium feel of the PackTowl Luxe or the extreme packability of the Matador NanoDry, but for $20 you get a genuinely capable towel that will handle years of regular use.

At $12, the Stoneland Microfiber Backpacking Towel sets the floor for what a competent camp towel can cost. For entry-level use — occasional camping, festivals, gym bags — it delivers the core functionality: faster drying than cotton, reasonable absorbency, and a packable form factor with a drawstring mesh bag.

Compared to the REI option the microfiber is thinner and has less initial absorbency per pass. It also takes slightly longer to dry out completely, which matters on multi-day trips where you're packing up while gear is still damp. That said, for the price it's difficult to complain. Multiple color options make it easy to dedicate individual towels to different tasks without confusion.

The Stoneland is the right call for someone who wants to try a microfiber camp towel before committing to a premium option, for a backup towel, or for use cases where loss or damage is a real risk — rafting, festivals, hostel travel. Buy two for the price of one PackTowl.

Sea to Summit's Tek Towel uses a viscose-polyester blend rather than pure microfiber, and the result is a noticeably silkier texture that feels genuinely good against skin — closer to a conventional towel than any other camp option we've tested. For swimmers, kayakers, and anyone who'll be toweling off frequently in a single day, the comfort difference is meaningful.

The viscose blend also handles large amounts of water exceptionally well. Where microfiber can reach a saturation point after a full-body drying session, the Tek Towel wrings out easily and recovers its absorbency quickly — useful when you're swimming multiple times per day. The wring-out behavior is one of its strongest practical advantages.

Sea to Summit has been making technical camp towels for decades and the quality control is consistent. The Tek Towel comes in a wide range of sizes from XS to XL and in a large color selection. At $28 in the large size it sits between budget and premium. For anyone whose primary use is water activities, it's the towel to buy.