Swim towels

declanobrennan

Hi there,

I'm increasingly getting into the swimming and visiting the pool a few times a week now. I was wondering if anyone here knows where I could get those compact and super absorbent towels I've seen other swimmers using?
I'd like to pick one up in a Dublin city shop (Champion and Elverys don't stock them) but would settle for the internet.

Thanks!
Declan

2old4dacold

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056728067

declanobrennan

Brilliant. Thanks. Sorry I didn't know they were called that!

Ben D Bus

Are you sure Elverys don't stock them? I've bought them there before.

leeomurchu

I reckon you'll find one here if it's close to ya

http://www.base2race.ie/stores/b2r-swim/

augustus gloop

elverys have them in blanch i bought 1 today!

luap_42

Just an FYI for anyone coming across this thread. I've tried quite a few brands of compact towels (chamois). I swim 3-5 times a week and have been trying these compact towels since the early 1990s. Some of these are virtually useless; some (the super compact ones) are like a piece of waterproof coat material and absorb nothing at all, but just push water away from them; some are too absorbent and can only dry a small part of you before becoming thoroughly soaked themselves; some are micro-fibre material, which is a thoroughly unsatisfactory drying experience; others are very like a normal chamois (shammy) for drying a car, and they also stick to you so you have to pat yourself with them, they do not dry you completely, but leave your skin feeling damp, once they have absorbed water. You need to get the balance of absorbtion vs. slippiness and size correct to effectively dry yourself comfortably and completely without running out of dry parts of towel. The problem is how to try them out without having to buy them, since they are not cheap. I found the LifeVenture Trek Towel one to be the best of the lot so far, and have been using two (60cm x 120cm) alternately for regular swims since the mid-90s. They dry your skin easily and also rinse and wash easily, and are great for reducing the bulk in your swim bag. They seem to be the right balance of slippy and absorbtion to dry your skin provided you get one big enough. The only thing they are no good as a personal changing room, unless you get the biggest size (90cm x 150cm). I've noticed that LifeVenture now have four ranges of travel towel; mine would be the standard compact towels. Not sure if the soft fibre towels are much different though. They are anti-bacterial, absorb 9x its own weight in water, and dry 8x quicker than a normal towel. The main problem is that they are expensive. I think the first one cost me about £20 in London and the second even more. I've seen them in Halfords, TK Maxx and Great Outdoors over here. Halfords seem to have them reduced at the moment, except they are not available according to their website. They seem to vary in price from €20 to over €30 for the exact same product depending on where you buy them. Hope this is useful info and will save someone money and effort.