I have seen many different pillows for camping on the shelves of outdoor stores. I have tended to rely on shoving my clothes in a stuff sack and putting a pillow case over it.

Has anyone found a camping pillow that has been worth the extra bulk to pack?

Nope. I stuff the stuff sack - I'm trying to reduce weight and bulk, not increase it.

I concur... stuff the stuff sack with extra clothes, towels, etc... (please remember to use cleaner clothes in the stuff sack, otherwise you may have problems sleeping;-)

Bruce

Sloughman,

I found a travel size memory foam pillow at Kohl's a few years ago for $20 that has been awesome. It compresses to about 1/2 it's size so it doesn't take up a bunch of room and maybe weighs 2 pounds at most. I wouldn't go in without it. Don't know if they still sell it or make it, but it may be worth looking into.

thlipsis29

I think most of the ones I've seen are a little too big. But I have a Slumberjack one which is pretty narrow and stuffs into a small sack. It feels a hell of a lot better than some slippery nylon stuff sack filled with smelly clothes, and I think it's well worth the extra 6"x4" or so it takes up in the pack. (If pack space ever becomes a big concern, I'll downsize to my 3/4 length Thermarest to sleep on, and keep the pillow.)

I forget the name of mine. Unstuffed it's about 4x8 inches. Stuffed it's about the size of a softball. It has two sides to it, one is flannel the other cotton. Much better than sleeping on a rolled up sweatshirt or something.

A nice fluffy Slumberjack pillow, the larger stuffable one. It's about 12"x12" unstuffed. One side is flannel and the other cloth. Somethings I just won't fudge on and my pillow is one of them.

I just keep my clean clothes in a pillow case and use that for a pillow.

My pillow used to have an inflatable bladder along with a foam pad insert. The bladder is long gone, but I will stuff a jacket or other piece of clothing in there for extra loft. Works well

I've used those memory foam pillows before. I still forget where I put some of my gear.

Wait, what are we talking about again?

"Remember, the fun never stops!"

Stuff sack with extra clothes for me.

I won a down, camp pillow as a door prize at the Midwest Mountaineering (Minneapolis) Canoe Event (or whatever it's called now). It seems nice. The kids have used it in the car. I just can't bring myself to take it on a trip. To me it just seems an un-neccessary item, but I guess we all have our own definition of "neccessary".

If extra clothes work for you great. I sleep with a feather pillow and find that I struggle to sleep without it. I took a standard feather pillow and cut it down to make 3 camping pillows. Compresses to the size of a softball and weighs very little. With may BA air pad and 40 deg. bag my sleeping system is much smaller and lighter with the pillow than it used to be without.

i had my wife sew up a bag made from the "polyfluff" jacket
materal and put a velcro tab on the open end..i stuff my poly
pull-over,pants,watch cap,gloves and down vest into it..that bag
go's in the nylon stuff bag the clothes go in and at nite it
come out and is used as a pillow..

Along the lines of an inflatable pillow, one can always keep an extra Platypus container in the tent as a "pee bottle". When you get up in the middle of the night, you fill up the bladderlike container and now have a nice, warm pillow to use!

Howard,

NASTY!!

Just don't spill :)

My son has an inflatable pillow that packs very small, and I have a thermarest style that also is pretty darn small when stuffed. Both of them together probaly don't take up more space than a nalgene bottle. I tend to just cram them down between sleeping bags. Well worth the minimal weight that they add.

Platypus ought to make socks so you can keep your feet warm.

I'm with Moose Plums on the large Slumberjack pillow.It's about 4X8 stuffed. I used to do the pillow case with clothes in it, but it was kind of lumpy and uneven. Also, be careful not to put your dirty underwear in your pillow case.

"Also, be careful not to put your dirty underwear in your pillow case".

You only make that mistake once...maybe twice...but that's it.

I use both,a small inflatable pillow that I got with one of those big car camping mattresses and a stuff sack filled with clothes with a clean t-shirt for the pillow case.

I use a down pillow at home, I used to bring it along on my trips---but as a single portager I am always trying to decrease weight. I went to that Western Mountaineering down pillow Bannock mentioned---got it at the same place too. It isn't quite enough, so I use my exped pillow pump to supplement it---total the whole thing is less than 10 oz. The better sleep is worth it in my opinion.

Tim

I'm a side-sleeper, and I find it's hard to create a pillow that's thick enough for me using only a stuff sack of clothes. So I add a bladder from a wine box (ask a neighbor to save you one) to the pile to create a little more volume. Put the bladder on the bottom, though, because the plastic will crinkle when you move and wake you up if it's right next to you ear!

I bought a Thermarest pillow this year and really like it. I am also a side sleeper and need a little extra pillow height. The pillow and my fleece jacket make perfect height. Stuff it in with my sleeping bag, really takes up minimal room and weighs minimal. Ridiculously over priced, get on sale. Think I paid about $9.

i take a camp pillow too. slumberjack i think. probably 8x16. i still bring a cotton pillow case....ya just cant beat cotton for some things. i stuff the pillow on top, fleece below. i get soft/fluffy for my head and the thickness needed for side sleeping. it all stuffs with my sleeping bag into a compression sack. Jan

I have found that I sleep better with a real pillow. I can't recall the brand but it came from Campmor. It is worth the extra weight and volume, at least for me.
Our preferences, in many things, change as we age. When I was a young whipper-snapper, I'd never have thrown a pillow in my pack.

I've gone the fleece jacket and extra clothes in a stuff sack route, works OK. This year I picked up an inflatable from Pacific Outdoor Equipment.

http://www.rei.com/product/751097

It deflates and rolls up to the size of a Nalgene bottle, weighs half a pound and inflates to 3-1/2" thick. Closest thing I've found to a real pillow yet.

I have an inflatable low back support pillow that I got from a physical therapist 14 x 12 inches x 4 inches thick, wrap the fleece around that, works great for me. rolls up to about the size of a large cigar

No one uses their lifejacket as a pillow? You are bringing it either way. Fold it up, stuff it in a T-shirt so that it keeps it's basic shape.

I have a whole drawer full of pillows I didn't like. Then I found the Dreamsac from Granite Gear. I stuff my fleece jacket in it and it works great. Empty it takes up no room or weight unless you want to carry other stuff in it. I use to just sleep on my coat but if I sweat it stunk up my coat so this works great.
By the way I have a sale on slightly used pillows!

http://www.granitegear.com/products/packing_systems/air_line/dreamsack/index.html