Search |
Topics |
| Home |
| How To |
| Reviews |
| About |
 Subscribe in a reader
|
Other IzziDs |
| IzziDassorted |
| IzziDcode |
| IzziDwetlab |
| IzziD |
| Site Map -- Disclaimer |
A review of the PackTowl® - a unique towel for travel and home use
Article created: May 12, 2007 Article by: Jeremiah Faith Bacteria and fungi are everywhere. And for the most part they are beneficial to us, or at least they don't cause us any harm. Most people would guess that the most bacteria rich part of their house is the toilet. But if you clean your toilet regularly with a strong disinfectant like bleach, your toilet is likely to have fewer bacteria than most areas of your house (your phone is probably much dirtier). One bacterial haven that people often ignore is their towels. People often reuse their towels many times before washing them, and for good reasons: reusing your towel saves time (i.e. less time spent on the laundry) and the environment (i.e. less soap, water, and electricity usage). But a towel is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and fungi; towels are full of skin cells, which provide bacteria a good food source. And most importantly, towels remain wet for a long time, and water is essential for the growth of almost all living organisms (this is why NASA and astronomers always look for water on planets they think may have once had life). These bacterial and yeast microbes are why towels become musty and grow mildew after awhile. If you use a musty towel, you are spreading potentially harmful amounts of bacteria all over your body. By harmful, I don't mean you're likely to die, rather you might have a case of diarrhea or a stomach ache and just never find out why - not to mention you spend your day smelling like a musty towel. So if you want to help the environment, lessen your own workload, and not coat yourself with musty bacteria, what can you do? Buy a towel that dries faster. Fast drying towels are primarily marketed to outdoorsy, camping types. They are extremely lightweight towels and they dry in a couple of hours rather than 12-24 hrs like you have with a cotton towel (outside in the wind you can cut those times by a fourth). The fast drying towel I'm going to discuss here is the PackTowl® from MSR (Mountain Safety Research). I bought the towel from the Walkabout Travel Gear website (a cool website for travelers). Neither MSR or Walkabout give me any money or free stuff, so I should be an unbiased reviewer as far as that goes. I bought the towel as a birthday present for my girlfriend, who likes to travel a lot. Sometimes we rough-it a little when we travel, and we need to bring our own towel. Sticking a wet cotton towel in a suitcase is one of my least favorite things to do in the world - instant stink. I tried out the PackTowl® the day it arrived, and I've been using it as my only towel ever since. Using the PackTowl®, first impressionsI was initially surprised at how different the material of this towel feels. It is extremely porous and lightweight; it is more like a smooth new fleece blanket than a fluffy cotton towel. I bought the large towel. If I had it to do over again, I'd buy the extra large.I got out of the shower excited to try this thing out for the first time, but my first impression was "hmm, this thing doesn't make me warm, and it isn't taking the water off of me" (I live in Boston, and the towel arrived in the middle of winter). But after a longer than normal towel drying process, I was dry enough to call it quits, and I figured I'd bought a piece of junk. Next Page Skip to page: 1 | 2 |