Sea to Summit Tek Towel
OWNER REVIEW by Andrea Murland
February 3, 2010
Tester Information
Name: |
Andrea Murland |
Email: |
amurland AT
shaw DOT ca |
Age: |
24 |
Location: |
Rossland,
British Columbia, Canada |
Gender: |
Female |
Height: |
5 ft 2 in (1.57
m) |
Weight: |
125 lb (57 kg) |
I began hiking frequently in 2006 and have
since hiked in Western Canada, Australia, and spent 2 months
backpacking in the Alps. I spend most weekends either day-hiking or on
2-3 day backpacking trips, with some longer trips when I can manage
them. I also snowshoe and ski in the winter, but don’t have a lot of
experience with winter in the backcountry yet. Elevation is typically
500-3,000 m (1,600-10,000 ft), in the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirk,
Purcell, and Monashee ranges. I try for a light pack, but I don’t
consider myself a lightweight backpacker.
Product Information
Manufacturer: |
Sea to Summit |
Manufacturer's
URL: |
www.seatosummit.com
|
Year of
Manufacture: |
2007 |
Model: |
Tek Towel |
MSRP: |
Not Available |
Colour
Reviewed: |
Jade Green |
Other Colours
Available: |
Cobalt Blue,
Outback Red, Eucalyptus |
Size Reviewed: |
Large |
Listed
Dimensions: |
24 in x 48 in
(61 cm x 122 cm) |
Measured
Dimensions:
|
23 in x 47 in
(58 cm x 119 cm) spread out
|
|
8 in x 4.5 in x
3.5 in (20.3 cm x 11.4 cm
x 8.9 cm) in pouch |
Listed Weight: |
10.0 oz (283 g)
|
Measured
Weight: |
10.1 oz (286 g)
towel only, 11.0 oz (312 g) with pouch |
Description
Wearing the Tek Towel in
Karijini National Park
|
The Sea to Summit Tek Towel is a microfiber towel, intended to be very
absorbent, quick drying, and light-weight. Sea to Summit indicates that
the Tek Towel is “ideal for travel and all outdoor activities like
traveling, camping, boating, taking to the gym, pool or beach, or
drying the dogs off after a swim.” Unlike most microfiber towels that
I’ve seen, the Tek Towel has a rough surface which feels somewhat like
terrycloth. The towel comes with a zippered mesh and nylon pouch for
packing it, and is machine washable. There is a nylon hang loop on one
corner of the towel which says “Tek Towel” and has the Sea to Summit
logo on one side, and says something on the other side – I’ve sewn a
name tag onto the loop and covered the text on that side.
Field
Conditions
I purchased the Tek Towel in Australia in 2007 while hiking and
travelling, and since then it has been my travel towel as well as being
brought on some day hikes and backpacking trips. As a wild guess, I’d
say that I’ve used this towel about 200 times to dry off after
showering or swimming in lakes, rivers, or oceans. In Australia, it was
used extensively as a towel for hostel-based travel, both for showering
and for short day hikes that I knew were going to involve swimming
somewhere. It was also used periodically as a beach towel. In 2008, I
carried this towel on a 4.5 month trip which involved 2 months of
hiking-backpacking and another 2.5 months of hostel-backpacking. It got
used mostly for showering in hostels, but occasionally I’d find a lake
and jump in. It’s also been carried on isolated backpacking trips in
British Columbia and Alberta; I tend to carry the Tek Towel only on
hikes where I know there’s going to be a lot of
swimming and I’ll want something a little larger than a facecloth.
Review
Absorbency:
The large size Tek Towel is pretty big, so I’ve never had a problem
with how much water it could absorb. It doesn’t seem to matter how many
times in a day I jump in a lake or the ocean or how damp this towel is
when I start to dry off, I always end up dry at the end. It’s great.
Feel of the Towel:
The Tek Towel feels a little bit more like a regular towel than other
microfiber towels I’ve used. The terrycloth-like surface is kind of
fuzzy like a normal towel, but the material does catch and drag like a
microfiber towel. Although I’m not fussy about what my towel feels like
using it once in a while when hiking, it’s definitely nice to have an
almost-normal-towel when using it daily on long travels.
Odour & Washing:
I have a bad habit while travelling of showering in the morning and
then promptly packing up all my stuff to change locations. That means
that I use my towel, pack it up and shove it in my pack, and leave it
there all day. Over about a week (depending on humidity and how badly
I’m treating it), the towel develops a noticeable mouldy odour.
However, the odour comes out upon washing, assuming that it gets dried
after getting washed (yes, I’ve washed it and promptly packed it up
again still damp...).
Durability:
Over 2.5 years of use, I have to say that I have absolutely no concerns
about durability. The towel still absorbs water wonderfully. It is a
bit faded, but not a lot. I wash the towel in the machine and hang it
to dry, though it has gone through the dryer once or twice by accident.
Packing in the Pouch:
Naturally, once I unpacked the towel for the first time I couldn’t
figure out how to get it back in the pouch. I have found a procedure
that works nicely for me after a lot of trial and error. I fold the
towel in half end-to-end, then in thirds the other way, and then roll
it. It fits easily into the pouch with room to spare. I keep another
hand-towel-sized towel folded in the same pouch when at home or on a
trip where I’m carrying both.
Other Assorted Topics:
This towel makes a decent pillow in a sleeping bag. At least, it’s
better than nothing, and a nice addition to the pile of clothes that I
usually use.
I have to say that I avoid using the Tek Towel as a beach towel if I
have any other options. Although it works fine for drying off and
laying on, it doesn’t deal particularly well with salt and sand. Salt
makes the towel salty and a bit stiff. Sand just doesn’t come out. The
rough surface of the towel picks up and holds sand, and it takes
shaking, washing, beating, or all of the above to get it out. In
desperation, I used a lint picker once after washing to help get the
little grains of sand out. If the towel was a dedicated beach towel, it
would be fine, but trying to use it as a beach towel and then a normal
clean towel again after doesn’t work very well.
Summary
The Sea to Summit Tek Towel is a microfiber towel with a
terrycloth-like surface finish. It comes with a zippered
carrying pouch and is an excellent choice for a microfiber towel which
feels almost like a normal towel.
Thumbs Up:
Terrycloth-like surface
Absorbency
Comes with a packing pouch
Durability
Thumbs Down:
Collects sand
Smells mouldy if it gets packed damp
Read more reviews of Sea to Summit gear
Read more gear reviews by Andrea Murland
|