The one pillow to rule them all

[Uncle Luke]

I’ve tried a lot of backpacking pillows.  Exped, montbell, thermarest, stuff sack, backpack, shoes with a jacket on top…  I never have found one suitable.  I’m a side sleeper, but do go to my stomach and back frequently throughout the night.  My neck would always hurt in the morning, no matter what I tried.  Since necessity is the mother of all invention, I decided to make one.  Made of .51 cuben and 10D membrane taffeta. The filling is an open cell foam PU foam that we regularly throw away at work. Stuffed it’s 15″ long by 11″ wide, 4 3/4″ tall.  The best part, 3 oz on the dot.  I’ve had it out for some nights now, and it’s perfect.  I can fold it in half for side sleeping and my cervical spine stays in alignment (no sore necks) or leave it flat for back and stomach.  My favorite piece of myog yet!

[John S.]

Very nice.

[Daryl and Daryl]

“I can fold it in half for side sleeping”

 

I like that.

[Charlie Kelly]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Great job! I’ve also been disappointed with the comfort of commercial lightweight pillows and this design looks like it would be perfect. I was wondering how small the pillow packs down for transport and how well the packing foam springs back into shape? I’ve been thinking of a similar design but wasn’t sure about the best filling material (light weight/packable/supportive). The packing foam you used looks like it fits the bill and best yet you were able to get it for free. Thanks for sharing your design!</p>

[Uncle Luke]

The foam is actually a sheet that is 4.5″ thick.  I just cut it up into smaller triangles to stuff the pillow easier.  The foam itself has great resiliency and recoil properties while still being soft and compressible.  It’s for cushioning large pieces of surgical instrumentation.  You could squish it down really small if you wanted to put it in a stuff sack. What I’ve been doing is putting it in my pack first, on the bottom.  The weight from everything else flattens it out nicely.  This is a generous cut, it reminds me of a pillow at home but at 3 oz.  If made a little smaller, it could probably lose an ounce without jeopardizing the folding ability for side sleeping. I’m seriously considering selling these, let me know if you’re interested!

[JCH]

I’d throw some money at that!  Lemme know.  Wondering why not just make the whole thing out of 10d taffeta? Would definitely like to see it smaller if it wouldn’t lose a lot of functionality…this IS BPL :)

[Ryan Smith]

Cool. I made one very similar a few years ago from .33oz cuben and black 7d nylon. It used normal polyester pillow fill though. The foam would be better. Nice job!

[Ben H.]

Would you say this ended up being like the Thermarest pillow but lighter?  Is the stuffing similar?

[Uncle Luke]

The stuffing is similar and very reminiscent  of the thermarest medium I tried.  The foam is a lot lighter (more porous) but offers what I would feel is the same level of support.  Much lighter shell materials, but the foam is where the weight is saved.

[Lester Moore]

Thanks for posting your pillow project. Do you know of a source for the foam you use, or a something similar? Or do you know the specs for the foam? Is it similar to the generic light tan/yellow open-celled foam sheets that one can buy at big box home improvement centers?

[Uncle Luke]

Hi Lester, I’m not sure of the source of the foam as the instrumentation we use is shipped with it.  I can say that is not squishy, it has some resilience to it.  But it stuffs down pretty small, I can get my pillow down to a size slightly smaller than a Nalgene bottle.

[Dave Heiss]

Sounds like you’re using firmer foam than what was in the Thermarest pillow I used to have. I found the foam in that pillow had a tendency to collapse overnight and I’d wake up with a stiff neck because the pillow had basically flattened.

[Lester Moore]

What’s the name of the instrumentation company you deal with, and what line of instruments does the foam come with? I can contact the company directly and ask them about their foam.

[Janet M]

Great minds think alike. I saw this commercial on tv for the My Pillow and it showed him making his prototype. I thought, I can do that.

Mine isn’t as fancy as the OP. I used the stuff sack from one of my Costco down throws and cut up an old Ikea foam seat from some chair we threw out.

It’s so comfortable I’m thinking of making one for my bed.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vtDoKrgSLZMQF2yw1

[Janet M]

Link to another pic.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/lqiXdxK5curMy97Z2

[Ben H.]

The big uncertainty in all of this is that everyone is using recycled foam (makes sense if you’ve got it).  It sure would be nice to have someone quantify what kinds of foam would work best (and sources) for a project like this.  I have a Monkey Pillow (used to be sold by someone on here) that I never use.  I’ve gone over to Thermarest pillows.  I would end up with a pretty nice pillow if I stuffed my Monkey pillow with the right kind of foam, but I am unsure of what that is.

[Janet M]

I think you could use the foam intended for kitchen seat cushions, high density seat pad, that this from Joanne’s Fabric.

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNQuECTmrFPoJ9snpMTd5ZeXpeSGrB7vxyXSEW2

Good luck

[BlackHatGuy]

So I bought a 2″ thick, 18″ square piece of memory foam on amazon. Cut it into strips, and put three of the strips into a Sea to Summit 2.5L stuff sack. Works pretty darned great as a pillow. Just need someone to make me some type of soft cover for it. Weight is 6.2 oz as is, so heavier than most would put up with, but I’m into comfort over weight, so it’ll work just fine for me. The pillow it’ll probably replace only weighed 5.2 ounces, just have to try both out and see which one is more comfortable.

[Donna C]

Would a Buff fit over it? I use one on my Exped pillow, as others here do as well.

[BlackHatGuy]

A very sweet friend is making me a pillow case for my contraption pillow. I’ve also modified my pillow, I’m now using part memory foam and part high density foam for a very comfy pillow, and have the weight down to 3 oz., not including the fleece pillowcase.

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Nice work Doug! Do you have a link to the kind of memory foam you bought?

Its been on my mind to modify a couple of Ikea pillows I have at home for ages. They are not the right thickness for me. Seems easy to just take foam pieces out. Maybe that could be ok for me to use?

I wonder if a combo of a very light blow up pillow or bladder could also take some space, with some memory foam pieces on top?

We need some uber light sub 0.5oz 7D uncalendared uncoated taffeta fabrics for pillow making!

I have some .33 cuben at home I could use for one side. Those that have used it, do you notice the noise of it crinkling?

[Jerry Adams]

My current pillow is made from a synthetic material from a seat cushion for outdoor use, so it tolerates water.  Seat cushion is supposed to withstand sitting on, so it has good properties for a pillow.  It resembles synthetic insulation like Apex, except that collapses when you squish it so it doesn’t work so good for a pillow.  3 x 6 x 10 ” – 2.75 ounces

[BlackHatGuy]

@Adam — I bought both foam from Amazon. This high density foam and this memory foam. The high density foam was too thick though, so I cut it down to about 2.5 inches thick.

Instead of cutting up the foam like the OP did, I just made one block of each at about 6.5″x4.5/4.75″ (hard to cut a straight line…. :-)

Together, they fit snugly in the stuff sack I have. I lay my head on the memory foam side, which is quite comfortable, and the high density foam keeps my head from sinking too deeply.

[Roger Caffin]

Does the high density foam compress down for packing? I rather thought not?

Cheers

[Ken Thompson]

I doubt Doug cares much after a good nights sleep.

Take the tool that does the job.

[Author]

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