Campack Towel
The common paper napkin found in every restaurant in the U.S. is a rarity in the rest of the world. When traveling, I’ve found cafes and cheap restaurants often offer only small squares of tissue that I could dab my lips with, but won’t do a thing to keep protect my lap from dropped food. My solution is the Campack towel. It’s a small (15x15 inch) very thin microfiber towel with a clip on one corner that keeps it attached to its little pouch even when you are using it. The pouch, in turn, has a small carabiner that clips to a belt loop. (Stuffed in its pouch, it measures about 3x2 ½ inches.) The Campack towel is just large enough that I can use it like a regular cloth napkin, keeping it in my lap and lifting it to wipe my hands and face, without detaching it. It seems very similar to the previously reviewed Aquis Microfiber towel, just smaller, less expensive and with the added small clip on the corner.
Because it's always at hand, I find a million uses for it. I can dry my hands with it in the many public toilets that don’t provide paper towels. Once it’s saturated, I can wring it out and it's ready to soak up more water. It's very soft, making it more pleasant to use than paper alternatives.
On a recent trip to Japan and Korea, I became so attached to it that I left it on my belt when I came home.
The Campack has a few more thoughtful features: One side of the pouch is made of mesh, allowing the towel to dry when it's not in use. It's bright orange, so you're not likely to leave it behind if you've hung it up to dry in your hotel room. The manufacturer also claims that it has an anti-microbial, anti-fungal layer. I can't say whether this is really necessary, as it takes only a minute to wash it in the sink and it dries quickly, so most of the time it's clean and dry. MSR makes a similar product, but it's slightly more expensive and doesn't come with the carabiner.
Available from REI
Favorite (15)
DiscomBob
According to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, one should never travel without a towel!
brad
Another good use for these is as a bandanna to mop the sweat off your face during hot summer bike rides. I used one of these on a week-long loaded bike tour this summer in Québec and Vermont, and appreciated its light weight, remarkable absorptive qualities, and the fact that I could wash it in each night and it would be dry the next morning.
rob
What about the ShamWOW?
David
Where in the world do you visit! No napkins! or maybe I should enquire as to the kind of restaurants you visit. Plus the excessive availability of napkins in the US leads to nothing more than excessive waste and little consideration to recycling.
Having said all that (no, really, tell us where you visit so we can avoid these places - or take issue), this is a fabulous idea.
Abacus
@David. Where in the world do you NOT visit. Yes, there's places unlike the USA where you don't get unlimited napkins. You get one napkin, a few one ply tissues, or if generous a whole roll of toilet paper to be used as napkins.
Where? Poorer parts of Asia. Street vendor stalls in parts of Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, etc. etc. etc. (which by the way services some of the freshest and tastiest foods.)
So David...stay away from these countries and stay in the Western World.
gollum
Just by way of comparison, you can buy a bag of 20 (I think, maybe a dozen) microfiber cloths at Autozone for like $15. Shamwipes are a ripoff. Supply your own carabiner.
StrawberryPie
@David, @Abacus: you don't have to travel to poor places to encounter the problem of no towels in the restrooms. Try practically anywhere in Tokyo _today_! I travel there almost yearly, and even in the restrooms of recently-built, high-end buildings of research labs, there are frequently no towels and no electric dryers. I gather it's a Japanese custom to carry handkerchiefs for such occasions, but it's a surprise to Westerners like me. I can't tell you how often I've been in a men's room, washed my hands, and only then realized I had no way to dry them....
Pieter
Americans are far messier when they eat; with food and fluids flying all over the place. The rest of the world is more refined and does not need drop-sheets to catch the debris.
dave9
If you go to a cafe in Spain, they will have napkins, but they are just these flat non-absorbent sheets of paper much like the food service pickup papers we have here.
I find that a viscose towel absorbs more water than a microfiber; the MSR packtowels came in both varieties. For a cheap alternative, both auto shops and Trader Joe's carry viscose towels.
fisherman
I tried one of these for fishing, because it was advertised as "anti-microbial".
Well, it was not "anti-bait smell", and the little plastic clip broke in about a week.
It was also extremely hard to get clean after any use.
I can see this for very light use, emergency or backup type of use...
But most definitely not for anything regular.
Lee
I love this little towel, and keep it in my travel kit. Where are there no paper towels in the US? Try any women's restroom. Or any restroom equipped with inadequate electric dryers. Of course, it's excellent if you're lunching on the fly (cheese and bread) or any in packed lunch instead of flimsy paper napkins.
It may surprise David, and others, to learn that some western hemisphere occupants prefer to avoid using paper napkins if there is a reusable alternative, but there are. I'm one, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Matt F
I picked up a couple of these (literally exactly this item, or very good fakes!) cheaply off ebay a while ago and they come in very useful.
I got caught in some really foul weather while in central london in november, so I took cover in a bookshop and used one to dry off my face, hair and glasses while I waited for the rain to stop. (I happened to have it clipped to my backpack.)
I'm not sure I would want to use it for directly cleaning my hands (i.e. shifting food-grease), but they're definitely handy to have for unexpected drying-off tasks.