- In this video, we're going to be taking a look
at the packable NanoDry Towels from Matador,
both the Shower size and the Trek size.
I'm Tom, the founder of Pack Hacker
and we're a team of contributors
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Let's jump right in to the NanoDry Towels from Matador.
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Starting off with the aesthetic of these towels -
the carrying cases are a little bit non-standard,
when compared to other rip-stop or mesh cases,
that you see with a lot of other towels.
We're personally a fan of them;
we think they look pretty clean and polished.
The minimalistic branding that Matador puts on here
is tasteful and subtle,
not sticking out too much on the case.
A good word for the Trek size towel is cute!
And it's definitely a lot smaller than the Shower size.
There are two colors, both Moss and a Charcoal Gray,
the carrying cases match the colors of the towels as well.
The towel itself is made up of a nano fiber material
with a gold-coat on it. And basically
those are fancy marketing terms.
The actual material is 85% polyester
and 15% polyamide with that antimicrobial coating.
Polyamide is common in a lot of synthetic fabrics
and that's what allows you to kind of characterize it
as a nano material.
The towel has a similar thickness to a cloth
that you'd use to clean your glasses or computer screen,
and it's got kind of a similar edge here as well.
And that's very thin - it makes for a good carry,
it's nice and minimal. The texture itself,
which is a little bit surprising on this thing,
is a little bit of a rougher texture.
And supposedly that helps with the drying process.
We found this to feel good. You can dry off fast
and it's not quite as sticky
as other towels out there on the market.
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The cases themselves are made of silicone,
which means they do a good job
about keeping a wet towel contained
and they don't get wet themselves.
A fold and roll is the right way
to put the towel back inside of the case.
You can also just stuff it in quick if you're in a hurry.
The one downside to these silicone cases
is pretty much the thick sides - it's not very compressible.
So it's definitely somewhat flexible,
but compared to a mesh case or a drawstring compression -
a case that you may get with some other towels -
this isn't quite as compressible,
you're basically caught with the same size.
To mitigate that a little bit,
Matador has a carabiner clip here,
good for hanging on the outside of your bag if it's dry.
The Trek size just has this stainless steel
keyring here as well.
The Shower size has the full on carabiner clip.
The dimensions of the Shower size towel
are 47 by 24 inches,
so it's about the size of an average bath towel.
If you're going to try to use this at the beach,
your legs will likely be hanging off of it.
And you know, definitely if you like going super minimal,
I think it's a great option.
I use a similar size towel on a lot of trips -
the PackTowel Personal version. I use that at the beach,
although it's like a little bit,
you know, too small for a beach towel.
I really enjoy just packing minimally
and having it with me all the time;
the Matador towels are no different.
For reference, the PackTowel, that we've previously reviewed
is 6.9 ounces and 25 by 54 inches,
so a little bit larger than the Shower version
of the Matador NanoDry Towel and definitely a lot heavier.
I know PackTowel does offer a smaller and lighter size,
we just haven't had a chance to test it yet.
So for the Trek size,
Matador markets this towel as a workout towel.
It's about the size of a washcloth
coming in at 15 by 15 inches.
If you're a super minimalist traveler
and really get kicks out of taking as little as possible,
you could also use this as a shower towel
or kind of a towel that you would use
when you're getting out of a pool
or at the beach or whatever.
You may just have to wring it out a couple of times.
So that's only for the super minimalists -
it's a very small towel. But again,
super satisfying to go minimal,
so if you can pull that off, props to you.
The Shower size weighs five ounces
with the carrying case included.
And Matador has it listed on their site
that the Trek size is two ounces.
But we've measured it with the carrying case on it
and we came in at 1.15 ounces.
So definitely a little bit lighter
than they even put on their site -
another bonus for the Trek version.
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At the time of this review
we've been using the Matador NanoDry Towels
for about three months on two trips and at home.
And overall they've held up pretty well with no issues,
besides the fact that the snap loop on the side
is pretty much useless... it barely stays on.
It doesn't really feel like you're going to button it,
you know, when you are buttoning it.
It doesn't really feel like it fastens super well,
so I just think the quality on this is not that great.
So if you're going to just hang it up,
definitely do. Like you know, hang it over a ledge
or like put it on a hook or something like that.
But this loop is again just, no,
it's just not going to be too great.
Time will tell whether the thinner material
on the towel will continue to hold up
and the gold-coat antimicrobial coating
will continue to keep these towels fresh.
So we'll see on that with more usage - so far, so good.
So to wrap it up with a couple of pros and cons.
Starting with the pros - these towels have a unique aesthetic
compared to other towels on the market,
definitely shows with their silicone case.
That silicone case stays dry all the time
and keeps wet towels contained.
The towels are lightweight,
not adding a ton of weight to your overall carry.
Moving on to some of the cons -
the snap loop is basically useless.
The silicone cases aren't super compressible,
so the towel is basically restricted to the size.
And it's slightly tricky to learn how to pack it back up,
but after a couple of tries, you should get the hang of it.
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Overall the Matador NanoDry Towels
offer a pretty unique travel towel experience.
The silicone case isn't something
we've seen on many other towels in the market.
And if you can look past it not being
compressible as possible and the weak snap loop button,
you may be in luck with your next travel towel.
Thanks for taking a look at our review
on the packable Matador NanoDry Towels.
Be sure to head over to packhacker.com/newsletter,
sign up for that newsletter and never miss an update.
We'll see you in the next video.
How now brown cow, oooh.
Look at that carabiner clip.
Look at it.
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