I have already reviewed a couple of 'must-buy' travel products and have encouraged you to put your paws in your pockets to make your suitcases more jolly and more organised. Today I'm going to tell you about another travel product that really is my 'number one - must buy - most useful' travel accessory. If you buy only one product to improve your holidays this year then this should be the one. Unless of course you already have this - then you can spend your money on the others.
Intrigued? You should be. If I was on commission I could pay for an extra holiday with the number of sales my husband and I have inspired with the Lifesystems 'Lifeventure' Soft Fibre Trek Towel just by taking these on trips with us. Turn your travel companions green with envy. We even bought these for my parents when they planned a 'round the world' tour.
Lifesystems? Who are they? ********************** Lifesystems started out as a specialist company that supplies advice and medical equipment for people travelling on expeditions to far-flung places. These products include such items as: small first aid kits; emergency dental repair kits (no, I don't want to think too much about DIY fillings either); mosquito nets; survival gear; water purification systems; eco-friendly soaps and other 'essentials' for the seriously hardy (or show off gimmicks for the rest of us). They have a website - www.lifesystems.co.uk - with lots of info about other products but nothing about the towel I'm going to describe.
So do I have to climb Everest to buy their products? ***************************************** A lot of the range won't appeal to the 'two-weeks on the beach' traveller but the trek towel is an exception and should be useful for most travellers whether they are off to conquer Kilimanjaro or drink cocktails in Marbella.
Do I need a holiday towel? ********************* Those old enough to remember Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy will recall that every traveller should know where his towel is. I believe this still holds true. He proposed a number of uses but unfortunately I can't lay my hand on a copy right now. They would have been things like swatting away swarms of bees, making a flag or an emergency landing pad for a space ship or stuff of that ilk. Here on Earth, you can use a towel to lie on the beach, as a sarong, to tie up as a bag to carry things, you can build a wind-break or a sun shade or perform daring feats of origami to fashion decorative items (not a joke - housekeeping in Egypt and Thailand do this). At a pinch, you can even use it to dry yourself.
***The Beach Holiday If you are off on a very short break where you don't need to wash (or a longer one with companions who have no sense of smell) - then hoorah! You may not need a towel.
If you are off to a nice hotel with a free supply of copious bath and beach towels then maybe you don't need your own. However, even in those circumstances you may not want soggy towels hanging around your hotel room and the aggro that some reviewers have described when hotels work a 'one in one out' exchange for your beach and pool towels.
You may need a towel if: You get frustrated by the tiny scratchy little tea towel-sized offerings you get in many hotels and B&Bs You have long hair and need one towel for your body and a second for your hair You like to take a towel with you to a public beach or on a snorkeling trip?
** Back packing / overlanding / roughing it a bit Last year we went spent two weeks on a truck and camping trip in South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. It rained nearly every day and all the other travellers who had regular cotton towels spent days trying to get them dry - moving them from one camp site to the next as the mouldy smells and strange fungal growths started to take hold. We were smug with our trek towels.
You should definitely consider a trek towel if: You are staying in youth hostels or budget accommodation where you can't be sure about towel availability or cleanliness You are moving from one place to the next and don't want to pack a soggy towel You are going somewhere where the weather can't be guaranteed to be good enough to dry out your regular towel
OK, so I'm going to need a towel, why can't I just buy one when I get there? ************************************************************* Yep, I've gone through that thought process too. I thought 'Why fill my case with a towel when I can nip down the bazaar and pick up a jazzy new one for a few pounds?' So I did just that - forgetting that any brand new towel is treated with special chemicals that make it feel soft, fluffy and bouncy but render it almost entirely water repellent. It's like trying to dry yourself on a mackintosh.
I can just take an old one with me and bin it if there's no space in my case *********************************************************** You can indeed but are you sure your new bikini and St Tropez self-tan will be set off nicely by your grubby old bath towel with the fraying edges? If you are going to just one location you may be fine but a lightweight fast drying towel that takes up almost no space will always be handy.
So, tell me about the Lifesystems Lifeventure Trek Towel ************************************* Trek towels are made from a soft, highly water-absorbent wonder-fabric. It feels a little like a very fine 'fleece' fabric. They can absorb up to eight times their own weight in water and when you wring them out, they release 90% of that water. I've not done any experiments to prove that - it's what the manufacturers claim and I have no reason to disbelieve them. This means that despite being extremely good at sucking the water off your hair and body, they dry really quickly even under cool conditions. It also means that if you do some hand washing on your holidays, you can roll the items in your towel and suck out lots of the excess water before you hang them (and the towel) up to dry.
They come with their own little mesh-fronted carry cases which mean that even if you fold it up and bag it straight after using it they won't go smelly and nasty or make everything in your bag damp. In fact, last year Lifesystems made a change to the fabric used by treating it with a special anti-bacterial coating to reduce any risk of smelliness even further. (We routinely use the carry case as a 'valuables bag' as it's just the right size to keep your tickets, passport, currency and other goodies in. It's easier to put a neat little bag in the hotel safe deposit and if you are really paranoid about security, you could use cable-ties to seal the bag.)
**Sizes The towels come in a variety of sizes: Hand 33 x 66 cm Large 62 x 110 cm XL 80 x 124 cm Giant 90 x 140
We have two XLs - but only because I've never seen the giant ones until now. My advice is buy the biggest you can afford.
** Colours Somewhat limited - blue or …… blue. I guess I'll take the blue one then. It's a shame really because as these catch on, different colours would help to avoid the risk that someone walks off with yours by mistake.
**Where can I get one? Many outdoors shops stock these towels - places like Milletts, Blacks, Mountain Warehouse etc. You can also find them on line by googling 'Lifesystems and Towel'. Stockists include www.gapyearshop.com and www.gear-zone.co.uk amonst many others.
**Prices These vary widely so be sure to shop around. Typical prices are: Hand £8.99 Large £17.99 (although I've seen as low as £11) XL £19.99 Giant £22.99
They aren't cheap - but actually, if you compare that against the price of a new fluffy bath towel, it's not at all bad.
** Weight The two towels in my photograph are approximately the same size. The Lifesystems towel weights 225g and the regular towel 630g. Both have been weighed dry. ** Volume When packed in its neat little case, the manufacturers estimate that the towel takes up only 1/8th of the space of a regular towel. Loads more space for all your shopping!
What about me, I never take a holiday? ****************************** If you don't travel then maybe you go to a swimming pool or to a gym - these towels are great for that as well. If you have kids who aren't always terribly hygiene conscious, why not get them a smaller one of these for the school showers? When I was at school we used to have 'smelliest kit bag' competitions - and towards the end of term some of those bags could move faster round the field than we could. The antibacterial treatment on these should help prevent your children from winning both smelliest kit back and mouldiest towel competitions.
That's it! What are you waiting for? Get to your piggy bank and get down the shops - you'll be glad you did. We've had ours for 5 years and they still look like new.
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
