Pillow Talk

[bradmacmt]

There are a lot of pillow threads to peruse from past discussions, but thought I’d post a new one showing a MYOG (Modify Your Own Gear) hack I came up with.

I’ve been playing around with how to keep an inflatable pillow stuck to my sleeping pad. I’m not interested in gluing velcro, etc., so wanted to keep it simpler and less intrusive. For that it pretty much meant using shock cord. Initially, to see if it actually works, I ran a shock cord with cord lock through the plastic loop on a Sea To Summit Aeros (size R) pillow. I had to turn it “backwards” (swap top end for bottom end) on the pad for it to work. The shock cord held it great all night on a trip this summer. However, it doesn’t hold the correct side of the pillow against my neck, so I continued the experimentation.

After the STS Aeros experiment I ordered a ZPacks Inflatable Pillow with its little side tabs and shock cord. It’s a smartly designed pillow, but the plastic hook for the shock cord that’s included is too large to actually hook through the holes on the pillow. I have very nimble hands and I couldn’t get it fastened. Unbelievable. I could have simply made my own shock cord loop system for this pillow, but decided to  keep experimenting.

What I ended up doing is modifying a Klymit Pillow X (only works on the Regular size). The shape of the Pillow X helps hold extra clothing (padding) to be shoved underneath it  for more height.

Here’s what’s needed:

2 qty “Faucet Washers” Part # 3/8L. This has a 3/16″ ID (Inside Diameter) and 11/16″ OD (Outside Diameter).

1 qty Mini Cordlock.

1qty. 42″ 1/8″ Shock Cord.

5/32″ Hole Punch.

Super Glue (this is used to stabilize the holes created in the fabric by the punch).

The “X” pattern heated into the Regular Sized Klymit Pillow X gives the opportunity to punch holes through for a shock cord. The 11/16″ washer fits this space perfectly, like it was made for the project. All that’s needed is to punch a hole at the center of each of the circles on the Klymit pillow, stabilize the edges of each hole with a tiny amount of super glue, and thread the shock cord through. One end is knotted, the other end has the cord lock. 42″ shock cord is more than enough for any thickness or width of any inflatable pad. The pillow with modification weigh’s 2.93 oz’s.

So there you have it. Just buying the ZPacks Pillow is the slightly lighter choice – just add your own shock cord with cord lock. But I think the Pillow X creates a better opportunity to hold extra layers under it more securely, as well as cradling the head better.

The Zpacks Pillow:

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