Nabaiji Microvezel Handdoek Review

Overview

Decathlon’s in-house swim brand has been selling the same basic idea for years: a thin, synthetic towel that folds to roughly the size of a sandwich and costs less than one. The 39 x 55 cm version, 80 g on the scale, is the smallest in the range. It is a towel for faces, hands, hair and the odd post-swim dab, not a full-body drying solution. The trade-off is plain: very little weight and money in exchange for very little towel.

Key Specs

Spec	Detail
Weight	80 g
Dimensions	39 x 55 cm
Fabric	88% polyester, 12% polyamide microfiber
Care	Machine washable
Warranty	2 years (Decathlon)
Price	About €2.99 at Decathlon.nl

Performance

Absorbency and feel. Microfiber doesn’t behave like terry cloth, and Nabaiji’s version is no exception. Reviewers who have used these towels for years note that the fabric grips skin rather than gliding over it, which takes some getting used to. Once adjusted, owners find it dries the body and hair perfectly well. Decathlon’s guidance, repeated across its product pages, is to pat the skin rather than rub. Buyers consistently single out softness, and one tester who used it for weeks of pool and beach sessions praised how readily it pulled water off after a swim.

Drying time. This is the reason to carry microfiber at all. The towel itself dries quickly after use, which matters on a trail where a damp cotton rag can sit in a pack for two days and acquire a personality. At 39 x 55 cm there is simply less fabric to hold water, so a hung-up towel on a pack strap or tent line is typically ready to use again within a short stretch of sun and breeze. Wet-weather camps are the exception, as with any synthetic.

Size in practice. The footprint is roughly 0.21 square meters. That handles a face, a neck, a pair of hands and a rinsed-off pair of feet. It does not handle an entire torso without wringing out partway through. Hikers who use it as a bandana-sized camp towel, or for post-stream wash-ups, get the most from it. Anyone planning to dry off after a full bathe will want the next size up, which Wanderworld lists at 60 x 80 cm and 100 g.

Durability and care. Decathlon positions the fabric as tear-resistant and tolerant of repeated machine washing. Wash it without fabric softener, which coats the fibers and cuts absorbency. Air-drying can leave the nap feeling flattened, which is cosmetic; a quick brush of the hand restores most of the softness.

Value. Few pieces of hiking gear come this cheap. At €2.99, the towel has collected a 4.8 average across several thousand reviews on Decathlon’s Dutch site for the S-size range. A lost or dirty towel is a shrug, not a purchase decision, and the price makes a spare for the gym bag or the car easy to justify.

Weight, honestly. At 80 g, this is not the lightest option in its class. Purpose-built ultralight camp towels from cottage and specialist brands trade fabric thickness for weight, and Wanderworld’s roundup of travel towels names Sea to Summit as the lightest choice and Nabaiji as the best budget pick. Gram counters will find lighter alternatives; they will also pay several times more.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Costs about €3
• Folds small enough to vanish in a hip-belt pocket or toiletry pouch
• Quick-drying, with soft fabric against skin
• Machine washable and backed by a 2-year Decathlon warranty
• Easy to replace, available in a range of colors and in larger sizes

Cons

• 39 x 55 cm is too small for full-body drying
• Microfiber’s grabby feel takes adjustment
• 80 g is not class-leading for the area covered
• Loses softness if air-dried flat or washed with fabric softener
• Limited sourcing outside Decathlon stores and marketplaces

Who Should Buy This

Hikers and travelers who want a throwaway-cheap face-and-hands towel for camp, hostels or the gym bag, and swimmers who need something to keep in a kit bag. It also suits section hikers who only need to wipe down after washing up and have no interest in paying cottage-industry prices for a similar scrap of fabric.

Thru-hikers who bathe in streams, or anyone expecting to dry off completely with a single towel, should buy the 60 x 80 cm size or look at a larger travel towel. Weight-obsessed hikers who count in single grams will also find lighter options, albeit at higher cost.

Verdict

The Nabaiji Microvezel handdoek is a cheap, honest, quick-drying scrap of microfiber that does exactly what its size suggests. Buy it as a camp face towel or a backup, not as a primary body towel. For about three euros, it earns a spot in the pack.