Lifeventure Hydrofibre Travel Towel Review

Lifeventure offers a variety of travel towels, each with its own list of pros and cons. Nearly every outdoor store or travel site will offer a range of Lifeventure products. However I found the difference in materials confusing, so I decided to buy a few towels across their range so that I could compare and review. This is the Hydrofibre towel and Lifeventure claims it to be the quickest drying and lightest towel in their range. It’s designed for backpackers, athletes, and for anyone where every gram matters. They also offer their original softfibre towels, or microfibre towels for a cosier experience.

With travel towels it’s very hard to replicate the softness of your traditional bath towels. The Lifeventure Hydrofibre Travel Towel does feel nice to use. But It doesnt feel as nice as the fluffy towel your used to at home. Due to the material, it does feel slick when wet and lacks the softness of traditional bath towels.

Included with the Lifeventure Hydrofibre towel is a bag made from an open mesh material. It seems to It can be hung up by a loop. What this means is that towel can be packed away and hung outside on your backpack so that it’s drying in the sun as you walk around, rather than hanging around in the hostel for a few hours. The bag is also rip-stop making it much harder to tear, and any tears that do happen will be far less likely to spread, limiting the size of the repair.

If you get the XL-size towel, it’s still only going to way 130g. I think that’s a really impressive weight for a towel this size. Its thinness allows it to pack down into a tiny carry case. The case is pretty flexible too so can be crammed into tiny spaces of your pack.

Like the other towels in the Lifeventure range, the Hydrofibre towel material has had a Polygiene treatment. This formula prevents the buildup of odour, ensuring that it won’t stink up your bag as quickly if you have been on the road too long. Features like this are perfect for backpacking, as you just never know when you will come across a washing machine. I usually carry a little bottle of all-purpose cleaner so that worse case I can wash it in the sink or bath of my accommodation, but having Polygiene will ensure I feel cleaner for longer.

At the moment they provide the Lifeventure Hydrofibre in one colour and that is a slate grey. Not ideal for the fashion-conscious traveller but if your focus is on how well it performs (or just like slate grey) then you won’t mind anyway. Personally, I think it’s ok in how it looks, I don’t love it but I don’t hate it either. I just think it looks pretty bland. When I am just backpacking then I would go for something that looks good on the beach, like the towels by Dock & Bay.

The Lifeventure Hydrofibre is a great towel if you are looking for ultimate packability and minimal weight. It is more designed as a sports towel, and its main focus is efficiency. If thats what you want then perfect, and it was great for ultralightweight trips like Peru. However if you are backpacking and have a little extra space like I did with Australia, then I would encourage you to take a look the options from Dock & Bay.