Whether you enjoy open water swimming, surfing, or you are crazy enough to participate in triathlons, there comes a point when you have to jump out of the water and attempt to get dry and changed. A large, fluffy towel would be ideal, but it is bulky and heavy to carry around all day and it will take a long time to dry - foisty, damp-towel smell is not something you want to transfer to the rest of your gear!

The Luxe Towel from PackTowl aims to provide the luxury of a soft fluffy towel whilst making it travel and pack friendly. The Luxe Towel comes in five attractive colours: Deep Sea, Orchid, Rainforest, Bronze and Aquamarine, and in four different sizes: Face, Hand, Body and Beach, with the lightest (Face) weighing in at just 30g and measuring up as 25cm x 35cm and the largest (Beach) weighing 460g and measuring in at 91cm x 150cm.

The Luxe is made from a super-soft looped terry knit microfiber fabric (80% Polyester, 20% nylon), and claims to have the ablity to soak up 5 times its weight in water, which can easily be wrung out and will dry 30% faster than traditional cotton towels. All the Luxe Towels have been treated with Polygiene Odor Control - Polygiene is based on silver salt (silver chloride) produced from recycled silver and is integrated into the fabric to prevent the development of microbes like bacteria, fungus, and mildew, which is the most common cause of bad odors. Also, because the treatment is integrated into the fabric, it won’t wash out.

The Luxe packs down into a compact space much smaller than regular cotton towels. It comes with a hang-loop for drying and a zip storage pouch for packing. The Luxe towel dries quicker than cotton towels but not as fast as some other travel towels I’ve used in the past. The largest size comfortably allows you to get changed discreetly, however it is quite expensive. The travel case helps to protect the rest of your gear from getting damp but doesn’t allow the towel to breath.

Overall, the Luxe is lovely and soft, it looks good and the colour lasts multiple washes and could make a decent (odor free) travel companion. RRP £10.00 (Face), £19.00 (Hand), £25.00 (Body), £35.00 (Beach)

4 out of 5

Buy now

Pros

Ultrasoft looped terry knit microfiber fabric

5x Absorbency

Dries faster than cotton towels

Polygiene Odor Control

Compact

Zip storage pouch

Attractive colours

Cons

Beach size expensive

Dries slower than other travel towels