At 1.65 oz the Zpacks pillow works great with my down jacket stuffed inside. But the volume is a little large for the down jacket and it flattens out too much, so I stuff the jacket into a much smaller Zpacks stuff sack such that it maintains the height I like.
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Do you pack a pillow?
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No pillows here as we don't even use them at home! Apparently it is believed to be healthier not to use one (unless you have a pre-existing medical condition I guess), and it only takes couple of weeks to get used to sleeping without. I am a wriggly sleeper too – back, sides and stomach, and oncs used to no-pillow sleep it's been comfortable ever since.
Instead of the pillow I was actually thinking of carrying a sort of a ground ultralight chair contraption, to allow a "sitting in bed" position for hanging out in the tent as well as lounging next to the fire etc.
And while we're on the subject of health, it is also believed to be healthier to sleep on a hard surface (again bar medical conditions), which is also quite easy to get used to. No mattresses at home for us too, just a thin foam pad, and Ridgerest for hiking brings the most comfortable sleep ever!
The main reason my pillow is on the outer is that I have discovered that my torso needs propping up away from sleeping horizontal due to my throat collapse which causes sleep apnoea and it also contributes to snoring. So, torso being elevated upon pack full of my gear a pillow on top is becoming a non issue
Yeah in colder months I use the built in one on my Astro Lite pad. Doesn't budge though the long night. Still trying to find one for summer as the cyclindrical ones aren't working.
Never had much luck with the zip lock bags but what I did find that works is, using two plastic bread wrappers (one inside the other) add however much air you need, twist the end tight to make a tail, fold over to double up the tail and add a tight rubber band. I put my extra cloths (if any) in my tent stuff sack and add the bread sacks to finish filling the stuff sack as needed. I have never had a problem with air leaking out of the bags and it weighs just a few grams.
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