A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”
― The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Joan holding upone of our two new adventure towels by Laek.
While Joan and I do not find ourselves hitching across the galaxy, we have towels in our perma-camping kit.
On multi-day trips, a sponge bath proves essential. While my tolerance for sweat and grime may be higher (shocking?), it only goes so far, especially in hotter weather.
We’ll heat hot water, grab Dr B’s, and a washcloth to eliminate sweat, salt, and schmutz. We especially enjoy this bathing when we car camp between backpacking trips such as extended trips.
We feel better, our clothes and sleeping bags stay cleaner, and less likely to get rashes, blisters, and so on from walking in the sweat above, salt, and schmutz.
And a part of this kit is a camp towel. You know the type – a thin, smallish, quick-drying microfibre towel that works OK but not great.
As we lined up our permits and planned our camping for an upcoming Big Bend trip next month, we received an offer from Laek (land & aquatic equipment knowledge) to look at their adventure towels.
What are adventure towels?
They are like camp towels except larger, sturdier, backed up with a lifetime guarantee, come from a small company, and have attractive designs that Joan particularly enjoyed.
We received a constellation map and a topo map that she quickly commandeered.
We immediately appreciated the better quality of the adventure towel vs. the generic camp towel we used. And, at $34, a fair price for a better product we’ll use for many years.
How did we like it overall?
Post washing on a recent multi-day camping trip. Our venerable Stanley cook set pot has made many batches of hot water since 2018.