September 14, 2022

Product Review – Packable Nomadix Towel from Active Threads

When traveling, I’ll typically bring along a packable towel. The ones I got 7+ years ago from Amazon fold up to be a tiny square (love that), except they don’t absorb well!! Haha, which is the point of a towel. Instead, they resist water until completely submerged. For this summer, I wanted to try out a towel I could bring on vacations and day hikes. I tried out the Original Nomadix Towel and was stoked to discover the National Parks designs, light packability, and absorbency. Yes, they absorb water – amazing! And now I’m here to tell you all about it.

In this post, I’ll break down my experience with the Nomadix Original Smoky Mountain National Park Towel – why I got it, where I used it, my favorite features, and discuss the possible downsides. Overall, it’s a great packable towel that is absorbent, with attractive color combinations. Plus, it’s made with recycled post-consumer plastic, so you can feel good about this purchase. It was a stretch to think of any downsides to this towel, and I think it would make an excellent gift for anyone who loves the National Parks! Keep reading for all the details.

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Who is Active Threads?

The towel I’ll be reviewing is from the brand Nomadix, but I received them from an online retailer called Active Threads to do an independent review. Active Threads is a woman-owned company that hand-picks women’s outdoor clothes and related items, so you can shop across the brands (think like REI or Backcountry). I like that they make sure that the brands they carry are eco-friendly or strive for sustainability, have ethical manufacturing, and give back.

For total transparency, I want to let you know that I received the Smoky Mountains towel at no cost. However, Nomadix is not aware I am writing this, and Active Threads does not know my thoughts about the towel. In short, all opinions are my own, and you can thank Active Threads for this review.

Where I’ve Taken the Nomadix Towel

I’ve popped the Nomadix Towel into my bag during the following trips and hikes:

Lake Tahoe Family Vacation – Taken on the boat rental with Action Watersports, beach day at Sand Harbor, and paddleboarding from D.L. Bliss State Park.
Waterfall Hikes in Oregon – This was nice to throw into a small day back when visiting waterfalls in Oregon. I mainly used it to sit on like a picnic blanket.

I almost brought the towel on the Rogue River multi-day rafting trip (blog post coming soon) but decided against it. This was a good call because I didn’t even use the lightweight sarong I brought. So I don’t think I would have used the towel either.

At a Glance:

Brand: Nomadix
Website: Active Threads Product Page
Other Websites: REI has the National Parks Map, but not the individual parks. The official Nomadix Website has more park options (not all parks, unfortunately).
Price at the time of writing: $44.95
Color: Great Smoky Mountains
Size: 30” x 72”
Weight: 16 oz.

Benefits:

Packable – packs down MUCH more than a regular cotton towel.
Still soft and absorbent – I’ve had other packable travel towels that are smaller, but they didn’t absorb anything – the Nomadix towel will actually dry you.
Made from 100% post-consumer plastic – how cool is that?!
It would be a fantastic gift for people who love national parks.

Drawbacks:

While it’s packable and soft, it still weighs 1 lb 3 oz, which is too much to bring backpacking – better for casual use.

woman using Nomadix Towel around her body

woman using Nomadix Towel near the waterfalls

Favorite Features of the Nomadix Towel

Packable: My favorite feature of the Nomadix Towel is that it still operates as a regular towel in absorbency and size but is WAY more packable than a typical cotton towel. The Nomadix towel takes up about one-quarter of the space of a cotton terry towel, meaning you can fit it into more bags. I’ve packed it into the bottom of my Gregory Maya 10 and still have plenty of room. Great for day hikes where you might go for a swim or want to sit/lay on something.

Absorbent and Stylish: Some of the other packable travel towels I’ve tried seem to be made to repel water instead of absorbing it. That is not the case with the Nomadix Towel – it absorbs like a standard towel! Yay! Great news if you plan to dry yourself. I also love the National Park designs and colors – adorable. I chose the Great Smoky Mountains for the coloring, but I also want to visit that park someday. Having this towel around will be extra motivation. The back side is a charcoal gray, which I like because so doesn’t show dirt easily.

Dry Time: The towel dries much faster than a standard cotton towel, but it’s not instantaneous. However, if you hang it up somewhere with a little breeze, that baby will be dry in what feels like no time.

Made from Recycled Plastic: The Original Towel is made up of 90% post-consumer recycled plastic, equivalent to 30 plastic water bottles. Read more about Nomadix’s sustainability practices here.

Downsides of the Nomadix Towel

Generally, I really like this towel and am stoked to have it. However, I wanted to highlight a few things I noticed while using it over the summer.

Weight: At 16 oz, the Original Nomadix Towel is heavier than other packable towels on the market (the PackTowel is 6.4 oz, and the Matador Nanodry is 5.6 oz). With that in mind, I would likely not take this towel backpacking or when I am tight on space/weight. An example is when I opted out of taking this towel on a multi-day rafting trip down the Rogue River. Instead, I threw a sarong into my pack. Nomadix does offer an ultralight towel at 8 oz, which would be better for those situations.

Picks up debris: Due to the micro-terry loops, the towel picks up little bits of debris like leaves and bark. Super similar to a standard cotton towel. Honestly, is any towel immune to little leaves? But I did want to point it out for when you use this on grass.

woman sitting on Nomadix Towel at the beach

Who’s this Towel For?

This towel would make such a wonderful gender-neutral gift!! Especially for people who love National Parks, go camping, have an RV, or even for other outdoorsy folks to stash in their car. It’s great to take up less space and weight in any beach bag or backpack. I would say it’s not as great for ultralight backpacking purposes, but even those people need to drive to the trailhead and might like a changing towel or something to set their gear on. The Nomadix Towel is a quality, simple gift that I believe anyone would utilize.

Overall Thoughts: Nomadix Towel

Overall, the Nomadix Towel is great. I’m stoked to see packable towel technology increase over the years to be absorbent, stylish, and eco-friendly. The fact that the towel is made with over 90% post-consumer recycled plastics is terrific and makes me feel great about using it. With very few downsides, this would make an excellent gift for anyone who is even a little bit outdoorsy. Maybe you get them the National Park you’ve been to together? Or perhaps choose a National Park you’ve always wanted to go to? I’ve never gone to Smoky Mountains National Park, but I hope to one day. This towel will be a good reminder to keep it at the top of my bucket list.