"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

http://www.towel.org.uk/

Reminds me of Evelyn Waugh's observation, after the Battle of Crete, that a pillow is the most important thing an officer can take to war.

I bought a few towels yesterday, and while I walked through the store with them draped over my arm, I felt like I was ready for anything.

My wife packed a towel today on her way out to the airport. The boy packed one on his way to school. You people --- by "you" I include Erin & the boy --- are weird.

I didn't know that this had something to do with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I honestly thought it was about Towelie from South Park.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what's known as a "generation gap"

Never heard of towel day. This may explain the guy on the bus who got on, towel only. Respect.

Sounds like a hoopy frood to me!

He perhaps is just a loon wearing a towel and not a towel day observer.

A loon wearing a towel can still observe the towel day!

Most likely a philosopher.

Thanks for reminder! I almost forgot, being so absorbed in watching NASA TV, as Dragon has just been captured by the ISS.

I always carry at least one towel in my backpack. It has indeed proven to be massively useful over the years.

Remembered to bring my towel and it proved quite useful for an improv trip to the beach. Amazing how happy people can be when you come to their rescue with a dry towel