· Try Field & Trek, a really good outdoor and travel gear company. The largest one they do is the Pack Towel Extra Large (100cm x 150cm) made from super absorbent and quick drying viscose. I use one of these and they work well and are also very soft. Also worth a look is the Lifeventure Soft Fibre towel which, as the name suggest, is very soft. The largest one is the XXL at 90cm x 127cm. They have two stores in Central London and others further out. They also have a web site at www.fieldandtrek.com, which has all stores details and the towels too, available through mail order.

Cheers, Owen McAdam

· My friends, Gwyneth Powell and Alan Leith (two talented actors - Alan is narrating The Ship, BBC2 9pm Tuesdays, and Gwyneth is in Night Class, Radio 4, 6:30pm Tuesdays from 27th August - end of plug) introduced me to waffle (Huckleback) towels some time ago. It is possible to find waffle cotton but if you don't have a sewing machine you need a really nice considerate friend like Gwyneth to make one up for you. However, Bonsoir make them in three sizes, 50 x 100cms, 100 x 150cms and 100 x 200cms. (Bonsoir by Post - www.bonsoirbypost.com, or 0870 120 3529) Their waffle dressing gowns are generous in size and luxurious.

Adrian Morris

· The best travel towels I have come across are made by the American company Aquis (www.aquis.com) and there is a shop in Clapham (either in The Pavement or Clapham High St) which sells them. A bath towel and hair towel together take up as much room in a suitcase as an ordinary hand towel and they are soft and dry well. Another useful piece of kit is the Wonder Towel, sold in many shops with travel accessories, including John Lewis. This is useful as a fall back, because it is rather small, but soaks up water like a chamois leather, and very useful for partially drying off after swimming or as a spare towel.

To save more space, Lakeland Plastics do re-usable vacuum bags, which are excellent for jumpers, fleeces and other bulky items.

Lilian Goldberg

· Huckaback towels pre-date our modern pile towels. Linen, lightweight, porous, easily dried and excellent for back-packing, they can be purchased from Huckaback of Monmouth - www.huckaback.co.uk or 0800.0932708 - by mail order. Old ones are best, and cost about £12.50 - £15 for a large one.
Diana Falkiner

· Youth Hostel Association on Wardour St., London do two highly absorbent travel towels. The Paramo & Lifeventure both are £20, 1.2m by 0.8m, ultra thin and saw me and the family through a damp camping weekend in Dorset. They also fold down into a carrying pouch and dry whilst you walk.
Andre Sutherland

· Italian type 100% cotton waffle towels can be purchased from The White Company London via mail order by telephone, fax, or online. They are super quality and absorbent and come in three sizes, face flannel, hand towel and bath sheet. Buy all three as at the moment they have their summer sale on!
Regards, Janice Carrera

· Space NK sells a superb bath-sized microfibre towel by Aquis, which folds down to almost nothing, is extremely light and easy to wash. It also happens to work effectively, unlike many other travel towels. It costs about thirty quid, but it is very good. Mine's been around the world, and it still looks alright. There are a couple of branches of Space NK in London, and they also do mail order.
Hope that helps, Syeda Ali

· I bought a 'Trek Towel' from Ellis Brigham (outdoor supplies shop) before backpacking for 14 months and was very impressed.

It is supplied in a small bag complete with a mesh section and strap for attaching it to the outside of your suitcase/backpack when it is damp. It dries very quickly and washes well. In fact, three years on and I continue to take it away with me now instead of taking a bulky bath towel.

It is a soft fibre Trek Towel by a company called Lifeventure. They come in various sizes from tea towel to bath towel. Ellis Brigam sell them online at www.ellis-brigam.com or you can find shops in Covent Garden or Kensington. I believe the largest size is approximately £24.
Katherine Fletcher

· I recently bought a bath sized lightweight towel for £20 from Barkers (Ealing, High Street Kensington). As far as I am aware they also have mail order.
Alison Mulligan

· the towel that you're after is a packtowel by Cascade Designs in an extra large size, retailing at £19.99 and available from any YHA Adventure Shop, of which there are four in London - Wardour Street, St.Pauls, Victoria or Kensington High Street - or click on our online store at www.yhaadventure.com. It is a lightweight towel with dimensions of 150cm by 100cm and dries in minutes after use. Yours,
Gwyn Hughes-Jones, Branch Manager, Leeds

· YHA shops sell a synthetic Pack Towl in three sizes, the largest of which is 100 x 150 cm . The largest size weighs approximately 350 gms and retails at £19.99. I can vouch for its effectiveness and its own quick drying. There are YHA Adventure shops at 152-160 Wardour St; 16-18 Ludgate Hill; 174 Kensington High St and 120 Victoria St in London as well at 37-39 St Georges Walk in Croydon.
Patrick Morgan

· Having just completed the Land's End to John O'Groats cycle using Youth Hostels, a travel towel was a real boon. I already had a Pac towel which is a goodly size but does not pack as small as the one my wife purchased from Rohan. It is made by 'Lifeventure' and the XXL comes neatly packaged in its own carry case, approx 6x9 inches. It has a soft touch feel and absorbs water well. It will dry out quickly if spread out. Expect to pay about £25.00 for these towels. Other outlets are 'Blacks' outdoor shops and other good outdoor equipment stores. Of course, living in the Lake District has its advantage as one is spoilt for choice.
Rob Ringer

· My lovely 19-year-old son has just returned from 6 months in Asia, where he used a large-size "lifeventure trek towel", which I'm sure we bought from Millets. The large size is actually only the size of a hand towel, but he's 6 feet 2 inches tall with long curly hair and he said it was great. Apparently you can take it into the shower with you, use it to wash yourself with, (and actually wash IT), then squeeze it out and it will dry you off completely.

It was certainly the only thing that came back clean...
Marg Evans

· I have found swimming towels dry me very quickly and effectively. They remain wet after use and are available from most sports shops that cater for swimmers. However they are small (not much larger than a face cloth).

I have also bought a larger more traditional towel (size 24 inches x 48 inches) that dries me and itself quickly. This was bought from BCH camping and Leisure of Trowbridge in Wilts (tel no 01225 764977) I have seen similar products for sale at shops catering for light weight campers.
Jane Caudwell

· Here in the UK, I too have only met kitchen tea towels made in huckaback fabric. May I suggest making your bath-sized towel by buying a few tea towels and sewing them together?
Pam Harries