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Best lightest pillow recommendations
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Jun 18, 2013 at 7:19 pm #1997873
I find a nice flat rock and that seems to work great as a pillow… but I don't carry it from camp to camp… find a new one at each camp… :)
bill
Jun 18, 2013 at 9:50 pm #1997926I like the leaves and pine cones idea! Pine needles might be softer…
Jun 18, 2013 at 9:59 pm #1997928I'm a side sleeper, as is my wife. Something on the lines of one of the air filled pillows WITH a soft surface on top, maybe the down idea OR something. Not sure.
I may have to invent something, like the fella that used the FlexAir and then cut out some padding off a bed & stuck it all in a pillow case. We shall see!
Jun 19, 2013 at 1:58 am #1997956Jun 19, 2013 at 5:13 am #1997971I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet. Traditional complaints from LW backpackers – not enough clothes, especially puffy jacket – to fill stuff sack on cold nights, and air pillows too balloon-like and heavy. Try the tip from Mike Clelland's great little book – possibly the only tip in there that really shocked me (except what he does with perfectly good river rocks).
This is simple and brilliant – bring a number of essentially weightless quart-sized zip-lock bags, fill them with air before you go to bed, and stuff them in a stuff sack. The multiple bags solves the problem of being too balloon-like nicely creating a nice yielding cradle for your head. Very comfy, and really the bags do hold the air! Clelland goes a little hard-core hobo with it and uses one of those onion/potato plastic net sack from the grocery store for this, but I prefer one of those fleece covered nylon jobs that doubles as a clothes bag (1.7 oz for me). When you do have extra clothes you can use them in the bag as well. Mix and match to you own tastes, but you will always have an alternative right there, even when it is cold and you have to wear your puffy jacket. All of this for essentially no weight and volume, but you can count the fleece cover (fraction of an oz) as extra if you want.
Please try it out before you poo poo it – you can test it for free with at home without any trouble. I thought it was nuts, and it pretty much works for me as well as any more bulky pillow. Now I pretty much can't imagine a better, more flexible solution.
Jun 19, 2013 at 5:31 am #1997979I seem to have found my nirvana with the exped large UL pillow stuffed in a down pillow case from goose feet. Stick mentioned it on his blog and after seeing that I just had to try it. It is literally unbelievable how small that exped pillow stuffs down (ever so slightly larger than my thumb) and I just stuff the down case in with my quilt – dont even notice them.
How all you young whipper snapper can sleep on your shoes or what not ill never understand. Just call me when the rheumatiz sets in….then we'll talk…
Jun 19, 2013 at 6:01 am #1997983"Now Jake, didn't we already decide in another thread that I take too many clothes? :) You hardcore folks could always just use leaves & pine needles to fill the stuff sack."
clearly i'm not hardcore, i carry a 2-3oz pillow as a convenience/luxury item. Even when i wasn't UL i never had enough clothes to make a good pillow.. i used to bring one of the old thermarest travel pillows. I sleep on my side and need something firmer than clothes anyway.
Jun 19, 2013 at 6:39 am #1997990Probably the least comfortable thing mentioned, but you can use a 70oz Platypus bottle, filled with 3/4 air and 1/4 water (to weigh it down). I put that on top of my shoes. It works when I don't have extra clothing to spare, and my pack needs to go under my legs.
Jun 19, 2013 at 7:22 am #1997995I have two WM Cloudrest pillows and they weigh in at 4.0 oz once you cut off the stuff sack with drawcord. I think these come with 3.5 oz down.
I'm thinking of ordering a Goosefeet down pillow with 2.5 oz of down. This would hopefully get me a pillow under 3.0 oz. Since I'm a back sleeper, I don't need that much down in my pillow.
I've tried all sorts of air-inflated pillows but to no avail. They are just too bouncy. I must admit that I haven't tried Mike Clelland's rig yet.
The advantage, it seems, of a down pillow is that it might provide you extra insulation if using a quilt. People talk of stuffing insulation in a stuff sack, but if you are a UL backpacker you are already wearing it to bed.
Jun 19, 2013 at 8:24 am #1998012The preferred rocks, pine cones, and pine needles aside…
if you take an OpSak for odor control (I know that they are controversial for odor control, you can fill one up with air, zip it shut and use it for an air pillow. If you don't like the plastic texture, put it inside a stuff sack.
In my case, there are things I can't fit inside my bear canister that are not terribly smelly, but as a precaution I put them in an OpSak… like unscented sunscreen, Dr Bronner's unscented, First Aid kit, etc…
Bill
Jun 19, 2013 at 9:04 am #1998024I just got done doing this option & it won't work for me. Was excited to test it, as it sounded great. Just wasn't going to happen. I did several fine tuning adjustments too, as to not sell it short.
"This is simple and brilliant – bring a number of essentially weightless quart-sized zip-lock bags, fill them with air before you go to bed, and stuff them in a stuff sack. The multiple bags solves the problem of being too balloon-like nicely creating a nice yielding cradle for your head. Very comfy, and really the bags do hold the air! Clelland goes a little hard-core hobo with it and uses one of those onion/potato plastic net sack from the grocery store for this, but I prefer one of those fleece covered nylon jobs that doubles as a clothes bag (1.7 oz for me). When you do have extra clothes you can use them in the bag as well. Mix and match to you own tastes, but you will always have an alternative right there, even when it is cold and you have to wear your puffy jacket. All of this for essentially no weight and volume, but you can count the fleece cover (fraction of an oz) as extra if you want."
Jun 19, 2013 at 10:52 am #1998066"Something on the lines of one of the air filled pillows WITH a soft surface on top, maybe the down idea OR something. Not sure.
I may have to invent something, like the fella that used the FlexAir and then cut out some padding off a bed & stuck it all in a pillow case. We shall see!"
It's been invented already by a guy on BPL and I bought one here http://www.etsy.com/shop/HikeBikeDale
The fleece pulls on to my Exped Air Pillow and straps to my sleeping pad. Fabulous and comfortable.
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:00 am #1998071I've been very happy using a Golite Bitterroot down jacket as my pillow. It has a nice sized interior drop pocket (made out of mosquito netting), which compresses the jacket just right to be a pillow.
If I am not using this (or wearing it), I steal a down pillow off the bed at home.
A second pillow over my head masks out all the nighttime noises, and makes for the perfect sleep every time.
At the end of the day, why not bring the actual thing your head is "familiar" with?
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:41 pm #1998272"At the end of the day, why not bring the actual thing your head is "familiar" with?"
Matt, my buckweat hull pillow here at home weighs a ton! I'd need another pack to haul it in with, it is big. So, I'm stuck trying to make something.
I do know this, I don't see any sort of air pillow working. I tried a few versions today & they all had the same uneasy movement about them. I'm going to go test out a Exped Air Pillow UL at MooseJaw in the next day or so, and if it isn't any different, I'm heading towards something firm. Not sure what, but I'll find it, I know that.
Jun 20, 2013 at 9:34 am #1998367"I just got done doing this option & it won't work for me. "
Pillows and shoes are thing that are very personal. Glad you at least tried the method. If it works for someone it is hard to imagine a lighter, cheaper and less bulky solution, but it is not going to work for a lot of people.
Jun 20, 2013 at 9:57 am #1998376I get a great nights sleep with a less than fully inflated Exped (better feel)covered by a Buff in which I stuff a shirt or base layer into for a better cushion.
Jun 20, 2013 at 10:34 am #1998389They have one that is a synthetic fill. I love it I have tried several air pillows and the cloths/stuff sack/ backpack thing. but now I carry no extra cloths at all. this pillow is perfect. It has good support is soft to the touch. Its a tad heavy but for me so worth the great nights sleep.
Jun 28, 2013 at 10:23 am #2000528Have any of you tried the Neoair Pillow? I got a Cocoon pillow for my wife and I gave it a try also- seems nice for side sleeping (me) but a bit rolly for back sleeping (her).
Thinking of the Neoair with a thin fleece cover on top. Wondering if it would be noisy as has been reported with the pads. Also trying to decide on the small, which could go inside my sleeping bag hood, or medium which would go outside and also be useful as a seat.
We're inside four weeks until a monthlong family backpack trip, so prepping is ramping up! Thanks in advance. Jim
Jun 28, 2013 at 11:02 am #2000536I use a small neoair, only 1.9oz, nice and simple and cheap 20$ at camp saver right now.
Jun 28, 2013 at 11:14 am #2000540I tried the NeoAir pillow, thinking that since I love the mattress so much, the pillow would be nice and supportive. Long story short, I didn't like it, no matter what inflation level it was at. It always felt like a hard balloon.
For comfort, the best pillow I have tried is the Klymit Kush. It's heavy (mine is 3.1 oz), but I plan on cutting it down some in the next few days, so we'll see how much I can shave off.
Jun 28, 2013 at 2:39 pm #2000592Thanks guys. I ordered both Small and Medium Neoair from CampSaver. Figured one for my daughter and one for me. If we don't like them they go back.
Jun 28, 2013 at 4:26 pm #2000634I was MooseJaw last week, and I got right on the ground with a neoair mattress & the neoair pillow. Just not enough height in that pillow. It is a few inches to short. It was very stable, and I tried to figure a way to make it work, but in the end, it was to short for my liking.
Sep 17, 2014 at 12:01 am #2135728The cat, the dog, the sirens, the traffic…one of the unintentionally funniest review videos I've seen.
Sep 17, 2014 at 5:32 am #2135738So many choices, RJ needs to weigh in with an article. Love the "hard-core hobo .." reference though…
Sep 17, 2014 at 5:27 pm #2135888I have a NeoAir (med) pillow with a down pillow cover from Goosefeet. Really happy with it. Quite comfortable. 6.4 ounces including a stuff sack.
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