Lightload Towel Review

Overview

The Lightload Towel is a Lyocell cloth vacuum-compressed into a disc roughly the size of a pair of dice, which swells into a usable towel once it meets water. It weighs 6 to 14 grams depending on size, so it weighs less than most bandanas. The trade-off is that it’s a semi-disposable wipe-and-dry cloth, not a towel you’ll dry your whole body with after a lake swim.

Key Specs

Spec	Detail
Weight	6–14 g depending on size
Sizes	12” x 12”, 30 x 30 cm, 12” x 24”
Material	100% Lyocell (cellulose from wood pulp)
Absorbency	Up to 9–10x its own weight in water
Packed form	Compressed disc, sealed in a waterproof outer wrap
Care	Hand wash recommended; machine washable on a gentle cycle
End of life	Biodegradable and burnable

Performance

Packing and opening. The compression is the point. Out of the wrapper, the towel looks like a tight puck of tissue. Lightload says the 12x12 vacuum-seals to about the size of dice, and the larger 12x24 to roughly a silver dollar. A splash of water or a swipe across a sweaty forehead softens it and takes out the wrinkles. In cold conditions it can be opened dry: squeeze the sides of the puck out of the package and unravel it slowly. Reviewers who tried it dry describe a papery feel at first. One early tester also noted that the fabric is tougher than it looks and hard to tear by hand.

Absorbency and drying. Lyocell absorbs more moisture than cotton, and the manufacturer cites 9–10 times the towel’s weight in water. Testers at Active Gear Review found the hand-towel size dried dishes far longer than their regular dish towel before it needed wringing. The method for a bigger job is to dry off, wring it out and keep going. A backpacker writing on Go Backpacking said the towel took in a lot of water, wrung out well and reabsorbed more without trouble. That is the workflow for a 12x24: a quick rinse-and-dry of face, neck and arms, not a full-body towel-off. Lyocell also dries quickly, and Litesmith, a retailer that sells it, says it wicks moisture and dries faster than a bandana. For comparison, a standard microfiber travel towel from Cocoon claims about 4x its weight in absorbency but weighs several ounces in the medium size.

Durability and care. Owners generally call it surprisingly durable for something this thin. Users on Litesmith’s product page report using it to wipe hands and dog paws, mop condensation off a tent wall and wash dishes. Washing is the weak spot. Litesmith recommends hand washing to limit pilling and fraying, and a Hiking Lady reviewer found her washing machine too rough for it, though Active Gear Review’s testers say theirs survived several trips through the washer. A 2009 blog test found a machine wash and dry left the cloth feathery soft with only minimal fraying, and slightly larger than before. The realistic expectation is a towel that lasts a season or a few trips with care and is replaced cheaply, not one that lasts for years. The retail price of about $6 for a two-pack of 12x12s makes that acceptable.

Other uses. The brand pushes the towel as a survival tool, and a few of those claims hold up. It works as a handkerchief, a pre-filter for silty water and a neck wrap. The cellulose also burns readily. A Go Backpacking tester lit a dry one with a single match and it burned to almost nothing, which is useful as tinder, but also a reason to keep it clear of the stove.

Choosing a Version

• 12” x 12” (6 g): The lightest option and the one most hikers carry. It handles face, hands and dishes, and fits in a pocket of the first-aid kit. Retailers sell it in multipacks, so a thru-hiker can carry one and mail the rest ahead.
• 30 x 30 cm (9 g): About the same footprint as the 12x12, listed at 9 g. European retailers carry this metric version in three-packs. Choose it if that’s the version your local shop stocks. It’s a neutral change, not a different tool.
• 12” x 24” (14 g): Double the area. This is the size reviewers call out for backpacking, because it’s long enough to wrap around a neck or cover a head and is large enough to dry arms and legs. It’s the pick for anyone who wants a rinse-off after a sweaty day, at a cost of about 8 g over the smallest square.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 6–14 g, lighter than a bandana and most pack towels.
• Compresses to a dice-sized puck and opens with a few drops of water.
• Absorbs up to 9–10x its weight and wrings out for repeated use.
• Cheap enough to carry spares or replace mid-trip.
• Burnable and biodegradable at end of life.
• Multiple uses: washcloth, tent-wall wipe, dish towel, neck wrap, tinder.

Cons

• Too small to dry off your entire body.
• Gentle washing needed; fraying and pilling show up with machine washing.
• Fabric feels papery until wet or washed.
• Not built to last for years.
• Burns easily near a flame.

Who Should Buy This

Section hikers, thru-hikers and gram-counters who want a wash cloth for face, hands, dishes and tent condensation, and who already keep a bandana for other jobs. Cheap multipacks also make it a smart addition to first-aid or bear-canister kits. Anyone who wants a towel for post-swim drying, or a cloth that can be machine-washed hard for years, should look at a conventional microfiber pack towel instead.

Verdict

The Lightload Towel is an inexpensive and very light way to carry something to wipe with. It’s best treated as a consumable. For hikers who want a 14 g cloth for a rinse-down or a 6 g cloth for hands and dishes, it’s easy to recommend. Anyone wanting a full-size towel should look elsewhere.