Report: Using Klymit Kush pillow for side-sleeper

Here's a nice video that shows the size and configurations that can be formed with this looooooooong sit pad/pillow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jsmj5Kr0Mk

The Klymit Cush has a really nifty circular depression that your ear fits in nicely if you're sleeping on your side. If I ONLY slept on my side, I think this pillow would be pretty nice, because with a longish rubber band circled once around it, I can keep it in the 3-fold configuration that seems about the right height for me when I'm on my side. BUT……I tend to toss and turn all night long, from side to back to other side, etc. And the problem is that when I have the pillow folded three times to support my head nicely in the side-sleeping configuration, it doesn't work well at all when I switch to my back. When I turned to my back I realized that in the 3-fold configuration that's best for side sleeping, the circular depression for your ear is off center. So it does NOT cradle the back of your head at all and just feels very mis-shaped to me. The result is that your head has more of a tendency to want to roll off of it. And flipping it over to put the ear depression on the bottom doesn't really help. My head just rolls around too much and wants to fall off. The only solution seems to be to take the rubber band off and transition it to a 2-fold configuration. But as much as I toss and turn, do I really want to have to screw around with a rubber band and modifying the number of folds in the pillow every time I go from side to back and vice versa? No way!!

I've concluded that my Exped Air Pillow clobbers the Klymit Cush for pillow use. Granted, the Exped is JUST a pillow, whereas the Klymit Cush is also advertised as a sit pad, but I personally don't care about that function at all. I just bought it to see if it would make for any better of a pillow than what I already had. So maybe it depends what you want to use it for. As always though, your mileage may vary.

I used the Klymit Cush almost everyday for the entire month of August, walking in the Pyrenees, and in the youth hostels and trains. I'd say it has its problems, especially that it never sit flat or flush, and therefore is sometimes difficult to get just right under your head. However, there are so many ways you can employ it that just a little imagination helps to get you through most problems. Open it out completely and it as a great sit pad. Fold the edges inward lengthwise, and it makes a decent frame sheet for my GG Mariposa (though I preferred the Nightlite pad). Fold it in half transversely and it does okay for when you're lying on your back sleeping. Fold it in thirds and wrap a buff around it and it works great for side sleepers. If the ear depression is off center, then rotate the mat 90º and the depression is centered. Fold the mat in fourths and it makes a good pillow for reading books. I almost always fitted the folded Cush into the hood of my sleeping bag, where it was held in place.

I do wish Klymit would include an integral wrap-around strap on the one of the ends, both for securing the folded configurations, and for keeping the deflated bundle together without having to carry a sack.

I still prefer my Mont Bell UL Pillow, but there is also a place for the Cush.

+1 for the Exped pillow. I friggin love that thing even if it was what I would consider bordering on obscenely expensive.

EDIT (to be on topic): I should add, I'm always slightly leery of any product whose X-in-1 skills come from being super generic in design or seem to be born out of not so much designing innovative multi-function solutions, so much as cobbling together and branding some hacks. The Klymit video feels a little "and if you fold it 10 times you can have an even bigger pillow!!" hokey. Refine some of those flexibilities (some way of keeping the pillow from expanding) and I'll believe the multi-function was designed in and not just hacked together.

I have used the Kush pillow and the Exped UL pillow. The Exped is the essence of simplicity and the valve is a work of superb engineering.

I have owned two Klymit products. They are innovative but quirky products. Yes the Kush works as a pillow if you wrap something around it to hold it together but then you have two items doing the work of one. The special high pressure inflation valve on the sleeping pads looks exactly like the valve on my Platypus.

For a pillow beneath your head, sleeping on the side or bad, I recommend Exped UL.

I picked up one of these months ago with some Fleabay bux and I finally got to test it out on the trail. I found that folded twice (three layers) and once it settled, it was quite comfortable for use in my bag's head region. The 'ear hole' worked very well for both back and side sleeping and it seemed to stay together quite well without additional strapping in my mummy bag. I use a piece of blue foam pad cut down for my sit pad and I probably wouldn't use the Kush to replace that (blue foam is too versatile). I anticipate the Kush will be in my kit until something better comes around, but this pillow seems to work well for me.

Thanks for all the sharing of experience on this. My cheapie inflatable travel pillow has a leak, so I’m in the market, and I see the Klymit Kush can be had for cheap right now. I might pick one up. Three oz seems a little heavy, but for cheap…

HJ
Adventures In Stoving
Hikin’ Jim’s Blog

I have used the Kush for about a year now, love it. Folded twice, not full air pressure, placed inside a 1oz pillow case (thermarest) and a light down jacket/vest stuffed on top is perfect for side sleeping. If I was using my down garmet for additional warmth, I could blow up the Kush all the way (or use something else for more pillow like feel).

Can't imagine using such a product for a sit pad though. Puncture city. That is what foam is for.

I have one and have used it for over a year now too. I cut it down at the beginning of the summer, and got it below two ounces, losing only 1/3 of the length. However, I found that it was significantly less comfortable, and I liked the pillow so much that I bought another to replace my mistake. (It works nicely as a travel pillow too.)

It is a bit on the heavy side, but I toss and turn a lot, and when I shift positions, it's nice to stack it three high or two, depending on whether I'm on my side or back. I find that using a Buff as a cover keeps it together well too.

Thanks for the experience updates.

They’re ~$10 bucks right now at Sierra Trading Post with coupon code SFBTD12113. Very tempting.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving
Hikin’ Jim’s Blog