Need Pillow for Stomach Sleeper

Do you have a roll-top dry bag in your kit that's empty at night?

My boyfriend likes to take an Exped "Schnozzel" (also used to store sleeping bag and inflate sleeping pad) and fill it very lightly with air, then wrap it in something soft like a fleece or t-shirt. It makes a much less bouncy version of an air pillow, and uses something you're already carrying instead of adding another piece of gear. The trick is to really under-inflate the bag, so your face sinks in a little.

The Schnozzel is a really big silnylon bag, so it makes a pretty lux pillow, but any smaller dry bag would work too, as long as it doesn't have an eVent bottom.

"I looked on the forum and couldn't really find much."

Seriously? Keep trying! Or were you just asking about the compression issue?
The "Pillow Question" debate on here, as you probably know already, is like other philosophical debates down through the ages, like Free Will, The Existence of God, The Nature of Consciousness, and the perennial Favorite Stove question. It will probably go on for just as long. Lots and lots of suggestions on BPL forums.

Since every man must choose side in the great debates of the day, here is my own (this weeks at least). I am in the party of the fleece covered pillow stuff sack (of which there are many commercial as well as DIY solutions), together with 5-8 quart sized ziplocks which when inflated add bulk without stiffness, and supplemented by clothes (if any available on a particular night). Total weight < 2 oz. All components also multi-use, if you are into that.

Because it is a Pillow solution it is totally personal, but you can try this one almost for free – grab a stuff sack and some ziplocks and anything else you think you might have to work with and see. If it works for you then you have got a very lightweight pillow with a certain amount of adjustabiltiy, and super small when deflated.

You could use your water bladders/bottles. I use the fleece lined cuben case from zPacks and fill it with whatever I'm using to carry water on the bottom, a small piece of old Z-Lite CCF for insulation over that, and any spare clothing (usually none) over that. Water bottles/bladders are usually much more airtight under sustained pressure than drybags, which I've tried before and usually deflate (and become useless with the tiniest puncture), which, in turn, are much more airtight than ziplocks under sustained pressure.

I've also used a literal block of Z-Lite CCF before, folded up into 6 layers like an accordion and bound with a strap (planned to glue it once I got it dialed in). Didn't compress at all, and didn't allow for much moving around, but it was very comfortable and stayed at just the right height all night. I'm going to keep experimenting with that, in fact.

What I mean searching around BPL is that I can't really find anything for Stomach Sleepers. I've found a lot for side and back sleepers. I'll sometime sleep on my side, but stomach is most important to me since that's how I usually fall asleep.

I haven't really found anything to show how much down compresses. It looks really good when I see a picture of a down pillow, but I know it compresses a lot and not sure if that would work. I don't want to spend $50 on a custom pillow and not being able to return it.

http://www.amazon.com/Therm-a-Rest-Down-Pillow-Medium-Blue/dp/B004534BLW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1367608623&sr=8-4&keywords=thermarest+travel+pillow

I'm an ultralight backpacker and try to keep my kit pretty utilitarian and lightweight. One of my few luxury items is a backpacking pillow because I, like you, am a stomach/side sleeper. I'm not the kind of sleeper that can sleep on my shoes,my clothes stuff sack or just rough it in my mummy hood.

This pillow is small but gets the job done. It is light enough and packs down pretty well. I believe I have the medium and it weighs a little over 5 oz.

"What I mean searching around BPL is that I can't really find anything for Stomach Sleepers."

Thought it might be something like that. Sounds like down might be ideal, but even something that works great for someone else may not work for you – seems to be the trouble with pillows. If you are not in a rush, have you considered buying from REI or Amazon with a guarantee return policy and trying candidates out? Are you willing to go for a DIY? If it is only the firmness of the down packing, if you did it yourself you could stuff until you were happy and then stop – no uncertainty. Alternatively for an even simpler DIY, cut open one you like and add or subtract down.

I contacted Ben at Goosefeet Gear about what he thought for getting a down pillow for stomach sleeping. He conveniently had a "Silver Pertex pillow sized between Small and Medium (about 9" x 12"), with 2.5oz of down and a stuffsack pocket on the back for $35 shipped", so I had to take it. I'll comment back on this post and tell you what I think. I'll also make a Youtube video to show the compression of it as well.

I have a pillow around the same specs. It's about 8" x 14" and has a total weight of 3.4 oz. I'm pretty sure it has around 2.5 oz. of down in it as well. I took some quick video of the compression. It may give you an idea of what to expect. I often sleep on my stomach as well. I made two videos because in the first one its a little hard to see with the black side down on the floor. It compresses some but I don't feel the floor.

http://youtu.be/O_vB7oQs1NA

http://youtu.be/iD18HNyyET8

This setup looks interesting. Seems that since it utilizes the Exped pillow, you could inflate it to your needs.

http://sticksblog.com/2013/04/14/goosefeet-gear-stuff-sack-down-pillow-case-large-exped-ul-air-pillow/#more-5334

I always have a UL down puffy with me – rarely is there a place/time so predictably warm at night that I would not bring this – I'd leave behind other layers first unless it was going to be really wet all the time. The puffy is there to sleep in if needed, but only on the very low-end tails of the expected low-temperature distribution, since I'm not too hard core, and *expect* to wear everything most nights. Rather I *expect* to be comfortable on the worst imaginable night wearing everything. So probably %95 of the time it is off in the sleeping bag, or a little after I get inside, and I therefore have like 4-5 oz of down to work with anyway for a "pillow". I have the nice (but "heavy" 1.7 oz) micro-fleece covered stuff sack so it is comfy on the outside too, and there is a certain amount of flexibility with this system using folded shape, the draw cord tie off, and/or other items of unworn clothing to adjust shape and density. Plus I have those zip-locks as a backup for bulk.

But I know … potentially a bit "busy" in practice – what else am I going to do before I fall asleep. Also, I feel I get some kind of aesthetic mojo from this kind of multi-use. It makes me happy. LOL

Good luck with finding your pillow. If you hit pay-dirt and find the perfect one you know it is gonna become your lucky pillow after all this work.

Thank you!! This is exactly what I've been looking for. You should change the title and description of those as to get more views and so more people can find it.

Something like, "GooseFeet Gear Down Pillow Compression Test".
Then have the specs of the pillow in the description.
Based off this, I think that should work for me. Seems to be at least as good as what I use now, but lighter.

It's funny, As soon as I started looking again Stick just made this video. I was going to get it from REI shipped to my school, but it was $49 so I couldn't get free shipping. I'll have to see how the down pillow works I got from GooseFeet Gear.

Made a video on the pillow. Hope it helps anyone else looking.