Sea to Summit Drylite Towel, Lightweight Camping and Travel Towel

I like the performance of Sea to Summit goods for backpacking, including this towel!

Jen

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2016

I purchased the Large Sea to Summit DryLite Towel in Cobalt Blue back in 2011. My main interest in purchasing the towel was for emergency preparedness and, more importantly, backpacking trips. This towel has come in rather handy for backpacking and camping trips.

In looking for quality and low weight options for backpacking, I came across Sea to Summit and went down the rabbit hole of pack gear on offer. I knew I would be hitting the trail into Havasu Pai and knew this trip would require an easy to lug around towel. If you are not aware, Havasu Pai is an oasis 10 miles from the North rim of the Grand Canyon. There are waterfalls, rivers for wading and stunning blue natural pools to soak in after a long day of the trails. It is only accessible by trail (or helicopter for part of the way) so you have to be prepared to pack everything in that you want to use. I was not looking for a full size, luxury hotel towel, I was looking for a fit-for-purpose towel for a quick dry after a day in the water. This towel fit the bill.

Things to note, microfiber towels are most effective if you pat down the area you want to dry. This is how I dry off regardless of what type of towel I use, so it was not a big change for me. If you are used to rubbing your towels across your body to dry off, you might find this towel dragging more than gliding. For me, this towel has been effective in drying skin and hair. I have a lot of hair, so I need something to bundle the whole of it and help grip the drips.

A "large" backpacking towel is a far cry from a large bath towel, and this is a fine detail to note. I was not looking for a towel to wrap around my body, or to use as a shield for changing. If you need this, look carefully at the dimensions to find a towel that will fit your needs. This "large" towel will probably not be it.

After use, this towel dries incredibly fast. I aid in the quick dry process by laying the towel out as flat as possible in places where the air flows freely. I am often camping or hiking in warm climates, so the warm air and sun also help. I've also looped this through a belt or pack loop and let dry while I keep hiking and it dries pretty quickly.

This towel has held up pretty well against the elements, including multiple trips to Havasu Pai and hitting the lap swim pools at home (which I believe have mostly been saltwater chlorination systems). I have not experienced any mold or mildew growth. I have not experienced any funk or lingering smell on the towel. I have not experience any other mineral buildup, which is great. I was a bit worried about that, with the heavy concentration of calcium carbonate in the waters at Havasu Pai. This is the mineral that gives the waters their amazing color, but the sediment also builds up in your hair, in your clothing and in everything it touches while you swim these waters. It is great while you are there, but a beast to remove from everything when you get home (think travertine, think limestone, now you get the picture). This towel has not retained the mineral build-up. Phew.

One thing I do to help minimize retention of smells and limit static is to add vinegar when I wash my clothes. The vinegar smell does not stay with the clothes. This may have helped to keep my towel smell free, but it all in all I am pleased with the retained freshness of this towel. I usually air dry this towel, but I think it made it into the machine dryer a time or two without issue.

The structure of this towel is still intact. There are no holes or no tears in the fabric. I have not experienced any fading, bleeding, pilling or fraying. I store the towel in my hiking pack, so I know where it is. It is lightweight and takes up very little room. I like the performance of Sea to Summit goods so far, including this towel. I would recommend and will look to Sea to Summit again if I need to replace this towel.

40 people found this helpful

Awesome for bike commute or gym

AnnaC

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2012

I've used this towel a few times so far and it is working great for what I wanted it for. I wanted to start riding my bike to/from work. I have showers at my workplace, so I planned to take a shower once I got to work. The first time I tried my bike commute, I packed a regular towel in my backpack. That thing took up so much space it was ridiculous. So I wanted to find something that I could put in my pack that wouldn't take up the entire bag. This DryLite towel is awesome. I got the medium and it takes up the space of a t-shirt rolled up in my bag. It is also awesome because it dries me off a lot quicker and better than a regular towel, which is nice when you are trying to out of shower and into your work clothes quickly. I also used this towel in the gym showers, which again was nice when I was trying to hurry back to work I could dry off fast.

It dries pretty quickly, so I'm going to experiment with leaving it my locker and see how it does in there. I think it would be a good candidate for a towel that you could leave in a gym locker for a couple of days (if you have a rented one or something) so that wouldn't have to bring one everyday. This towel has a little loop with a snap on it so that you can hang it on a hook without it bunching up, and also snap it on to any kind of loop, bar, etc. for hanging. I imagine that would be handy for backpacking or traveling.

The only thing you can't use this for is covering yourself up. I see that some people bought XLs for that purpose. I got a medium, because I wanted something to take up the least room and still soak up plenty of water. I can not use this towel to cover my shame outside the shower, which is mostly fine because the shower I usually use at work has a little changing area inside the door. The medium is not even long enough to wear around your body, top or bottom half. So depending on your situation, you might want to consider the right size for you.

And as others have said, it is not a soft fluffy towel that you can rub around on your body like you do with a bath towel. You kind of do more of a blotting kind of action. But it sucks up water so well, you pretty much just press it on and you are dry.

If you are looking for a thirsty little towel that won't take up space in a bag, I highly recommend this one.

14 people found this helpful

Light, big, dries quickly, but not warm

Hugh

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2023

Color: Baltic BlueSize: Small (16 x 32 inches)Verified Purchase

Review 1:
So, this does what it says on the can: it dries you, it's soft, and it dries quickly. On the other hand, drying quickly has a bad side: the water evaporating mean it gets cold quickly. Sooo... I haven't yet decided if this is better than using a smaller classic towel instead. They both weigh the same. The classic towel takes longer to dry. On the other hand it stays warm whilst I'm using it...

Review 2:
Ok I had an idea/epiphany. If I fold this up when I'm using it, into something about twice the size of one hand, then this stays warm whilst I'm drying off, whilst absorbing water effectively. Then, when Ive finished drying myself, I unfold it, so it can dry quickly.

Cake, and eat it.

Still testing this approach. Just tried it once so far :)

One person found this helpful

Faye Huston

excellent product

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2024

Color: Baltic BlueSize: X-Large (30 x 60 inches)Verified Purchase

This beach towel is light weight & dries quickly. Also rolls up tightly so easy to pack.

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Top reviews from other countries

Hal

Taille parfaite, grande capacité d'absorption

Reviewed in France on July 19, 2021

Utilisé sur le GR10. Attention au premier lavage, ne pas mélanger avec d'autres vêtements (décoloration) !

Client d'Amazon

Super

Reviewed in France on March 4, 2020

A recommander

laurence

Très bonne qualite

Reviewed in France on August 22, 2019

Une toute petite serviette pour un grand effet absorbant, tres bien. Juste la pression pour fermer, j’ai pas vraiment compris.

Anna Handler

31 Tage am Stück (fast) tgl verwendet

Reviewed in Germany on November 2, 2018

Bei einer mehrwöchigen Wanderung in den Alpen in Verwendung gehabt, so klein aber so saugstark

Julian

Sehr gut

Reviewed in Germany on September 15, 2017

Habe das Handtuch als Reisehandtuch in Afrika auf einer Overlandtour benutzt.
Als große Variante gutes Duschhandtuch , absolut reisetauglich und leistet gute Dienste