Nomadix Original Towel Review

When it comes to outdoor activities, towels often get overlooked when packing. Traditional cotton towels can take up a lot of space inevitably leading you to question if they’re really needed.  But when you do have the space, having a towel along on a camping, kayaking, or hiking trip can be a welcome luxury.  The Nomadix towel is a packable towel that might just make it into your bag on your next outdoor excursion.

The Original Towel from Nomadix isn’t a traditional towel. Nomadix’s tagline is that it’s the “Only Towel You Need” and they claim it’s perfect for the beach, pool, travel, camping, yoga, and more.  We brought along a Nomadix Original Towel on all of our summer adventures.  This towel accompanied us while we kayaked the Colorado River, camped in Southwestern Colorado, and sailed to Catalina Island with a number of summer pool days in between.

The Nomadix Original Towel Specs

• Dimensions: 72.5″ x 30″
• Made with post-consumer recycled plastics
• Available in a ton of colorful designs
• Super absorbent
• Quick-drying
• Odor-resistant
• Packs small
• Lightweight
• Sand-resistant
• Cost: $39.95

Nomadix Original Towel

Perfect for Beach, Pool, Travel, Camping, Yoga – Made with Recycled Materials – Super Absorbent – Sand Resistant – 72.5×30

$39.99

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A Little Background

At Outward Spaces, we’re big on outdoor products that are responsibly made and environmentally thoughtful.  We started our company to help more people fall in love with the outdoors – believing that when we connect deeply with nature we also will work harder to protect it. Nomadix towels first caught our attention as a product made of recycled materials.  We spend a lot of time on the ocean and are particularly concerned about the abundance of plastics that end up floating around in it.  We’ve been on sailing trips without land or other boats in sight and have run across more plastic there than we care to remember.  Needless to say, we’re interested in outdoor products that reduce our reliance on plastics – especially those that use recycled plastics for something new.

As we spend a lot of time outdoors, we have also grown tired of grabbing our towels from home for camping, paddling, or sailing trips.  These traditional cotton towels from home do the job, but they are usually bulky, take a long time to dry, and don’t add much to our outdoor experience. We liked the idea of picking up some dedicated towels for our outdoor adventures. So we purchased a Nomadix Original Towel (in the Stripes Retro design) for an upcoming kayaking trip.  The packability and quick drying features were ideal for our time on the water and they gave us the opportunity to see how they performed in the wild and if they added enough value to justify the $40 price tag.

Kayaking with the Nomadix Towel

The first challenge of our kayaking trip was to fit all of our gear into a small 10L dry bag that would keep it all safe and dry during our journey.  Fortunately, the Nomadix towel is lightweight and highly packable.  It took up much less room than a traditional towel would have leaving plenty of room for all of our gear. The original towel is made of micro-fibers that are 4x more absorbent than cotton towels.  This means that less (towel bulk) is more (absorbency).

During our trip down the Colorado, we faced 100+ degree temperatures.  The only relief from the heat was to constantly splash ourselves with the 50-degree water.  We were soaked and when it was time to stop (for lunch or to head back to our car), the towel quickly and easily wicked the water from our clothes. An added benefit of having the Nomadix towel on our trip was using it to drape over our bare legs to keep us from getting sunburnt.  Our this trip in the Arizona desert, the sun was relentless, and using the towel to cover our legs was a lifesaver.  Like the rest of our clothes, we would wet the towel to keep it cool as we paddled.  Even when soaking wet, the Nomadix original towel didn’t feel overly heavy or bulky.  And though, as advertised, it dried more quickly than the rest of our clothes, a quick splash would cool it again.

Camping with the Nomadix Towel

We prefer to boondock when we camp and love to use the outdoor shower of our overland trailer. Our roof rack-mounted OVS shower room is perfect for extending our camping trips by taking showers as long as our water will last. The Nomadix towel was an awesome addition to our shower setup.  The hanging loop in the middle edge of the towel made it easy to hang the towel directly on our shower room for easy access.  After we showered, the original towel dried us off quickly, and when hung back up it dried quickly.  With two of us showering almost daily (a nice luxury) we never grabbed a cold wet towel.  The Nomadix towel was always dry and ready to dry us off again.

Now having used the original towel on two trips, we enjoyed the pop of color that our retro-striped Nomadix towel added to our outdoor activities.  It sounds ridiculous, but it really did add some fun to our time on the water and in the mountains.  The design options that Nomadix offers are too numerous to list and they are constantly coming out with new designs.  With so many available designs, anyone should be able to find a Nomadix towel that fits their unique style and adds a little color joy to their adventures.

Sailing with the Nomadix Towel

For our final trip of the summer, we sailed our 46-foot sailboat from San Diego to Catalina Island. Again our Nomadix towel dried us off (and dried itself) quickly after getting out of the ocean or showering.  The hanging hook let us hang it anywhere we needed quick and easy access to it and allowed it to dry quickly.  Some in our group used the towel to lay on while sunbathing as well.

What We Love About the Nomadix Original Towel

It’s fun! – The bright colors and creative designs add some character to your adventures. Because the designs are printed and not dyed, the colors won’t bleed when washed – meaning the bright colors will last.

It’s packable – We love how compact the Nomadix towel is when folded.  It easily packed away in our bags and saved room for other gear.

The hanging loop – While not necessarily revolutionary, we love the built-in hanging loop of the Nomadix towel.  The small nylon cord of the loop is reinforced with extra stitching and fabric to ensure it lasts.  To aid its quick-drying, this towel is meant to be hung up and Nomadix does a great job of reinforcing this by making it easy.

It’s made of recycled materials – As we mentioned above, we LOVE that this towel is made of post-consumer recycled plastics.  According to Nomadix, each original towel uses 30 plastic bottles in its production.  We’d rather have used plastic water bottles used to make these towels than see them bob around the oceans.

What We Don’t Love About the Nomadix Original Towel

It’s pricey – A traditional cotton towel costs between $10-$15.  At $40, this towel costs 3x more. We understand why it’s more expensive, but the higher cost may not make sense for some.

The fabric takes some time to get used to – Its microterry fabric feels less soft and more rubbery than traditional cotton towels.  The feel of the towel took us some time to warm up to, but the super-absorbent, quick-drying, odor-resistant, and lightweight features make up for it.  You don’t buy this towel because it’s the softest – you buy it because it performs in ways traditional towels can’t.

The Bottom Line

There’s a lot to love about the Nomadix Original Towel.  In our tests, it did what it claims to do.  It absorbs water well and dries more quickly than cotton towels. It’s made of 30 recycled plastic water bottles which would otherwise be in landfills or the oceans. The attached hanging loop makes it easy to hang up this towel just about anywhere ensuring it dries thoroughly and quickly.

The packability of this towel is arguably its best feature.  It takes up about half the space of a traditional towel when packed making it ideal for outdoor activities where space is a premium.  We love it for camping, hiking, paddling, and watersports.

The cheery on top is the awesome and colorful designs.  With so many designs to choose from, you can find one that fits your style.  It will add some fun and a splash of color to your adventures.

As far as value, we don’t think everyone will find the $40 cost worth it.  For those exploring the outdoors on a budget, a towel from home will get the job done, it is just not as high-tech or as much fun as the Nomdaix Original Towel.  But for those who spend a lot of time outdoors, we think the Nomadix Original Towel is the perfect dedicated adventure towel.  If you spend a lot of time in or near the water, you’ll appreciate the advanced features of this towel.  For many adventurers, the lightweight and packable qualities alone are worth the $40 expense. Even if you’re not a hardcore outdoorsmen, the bright and stylish designs make anything a bit more fun and you’ll get a high-performing towel out of the deal.

While it may not be for everyone, we’re glad Nomadix is around.  Their commitment to the environment is encouraging and they are consistently coming out with new products that fit their recycled, high-performing, outdoors-focused niche – which we happen to love.

Happy Exploring.

Nomadix Original Towel

Perfect for Beach, Pool, Travel, Camping, Yoga – Made with Recycled Materials – Super Absorbent – Sand Resistant – 72.5×30

$39.99

See It

Looking for more outdoor gear to pickup?  Check out our list of the 10 Must-Have Camping Essentials