Pillows?

[airlocksniffer]

Regular old pillow case from my house for me. I'll stuff it with any clothes I'm not sleeping in. Something about a cotton pillow I just find more comfy. Plus, doubles as a quarter bag if needed. My sleeping bag has a sleeve for clothes near the head for a "pillow" but never worked out very good.

 

[mtswampfox]

Have a couple of " my pillow travel size" Freebies from ordering the full size. They are super comfy

 

[Flyrod]

Thermarest compressible pillow. Size small. It's a little heavy… but I find it so worth it.

 

[AK Troutbum]

That's what I'm talking about. CF waterproof stuff sack, turn it inside out and you got a pillow with fleece on one side, and it only weighs 1.5 oz.

 

[Becca]

I used to do this until one night it was so cold that I was wearing everything I had with me (heavy freeze in July, ice in my platty, when I brought a 40deg bag) and had to go with no pillow. 2 of the most uncomfortable nights in the woods that I have ever had.
.

When we bivy out, I usually use my raingear inside a KU long pocket. It's no where near as comfy as the puffy gear in a flannel pillow bag, but way better than going without a pillow. Our typical bivy set up is to sleep on the short thermarest pads that double as our Trekker chairs, and wear all our puffy clothes. Rain gear doesn't offer enough warmth to be worth wearing in a bivy situation, at least IME. Hence why I use it for a pillow.

 

[COlineman78]

When we bivy out, I usually use my raingear inside a KU long pocket. It's no where near as comfy as the puffy gear in a flannel pillow bag, but way better than going without a pillow. Our typical bivy set up is to sleep on the short thermarest pads that double as our Trekker chairs, and wear all our puffy clothes. Rain gear doesn't offer enough warmth to be worth wearing in a bivy situation, at least IME. Hence why I use it for a pillow.

Yeah, that's a good idea if you're somewhere that you need bomber rain gear. Depending on the forecast I won't bring any or whatever I do bring is very ultralight since at high altitude in the summer you maybe get 2 or 3 10 minute storms a day. Nothing I bring for rain will have enough bulk/volume to work well as a pillow. At 2.8oz the S2S Aeros Pillow is worth the comfort, which is probably not much more than any fleece or flannel pillow bag. The multi-purpose zpacks pillow sack like AK Trautbum posted is about 1oz heavier than the pure CF bags.

 

[BOW1144]

I tried to do the UL stuff sack with clothes thing and it was miserable, a good night sleep for me is well worth the weight and size of carrying a pillow. I did a lot of research and tried a lot of different pillows and ended up with the Nemo Equipment Fillow Luxury pillow which I have been using for 3 years now and love it well worth the weight penalty. It is an inflatable pillow that has foam around it so you don't get that crunchy feel or sound with it, plus the luxury model has bungee cords on the back that you can add a jacket etc to make it taller (they could be used to secure it to your pad too). It compresses down to about the size of your fist and expands to a pretty good size.

 

[16Bore]

That looks like a contender, the sleep reward would far outweigh the "weight" penalty.

 

[good2eat]

This was a very big issue for me, tried a bunch, settled on this one. Incredibly comfortable and compresses reasonably well for packing. I little heavy but actually good enough to use as an everyday pillow if you want to. The extra weigh is more than worth it for me to ensure a good nights sleep in the back country.

http://www.rei.com/product/719843/therm-a-rest-compressible-pillow

 

[Bubblehide]

I've got neck issues, so even at home I sleep with one of those travel neck pillows. Of course I even pack one in on my hunts. They take care of my neck, without any issues. I found some inflatable ones made in different sizes for dogs, kinda like those cones they put on their heads. They are flocked, worked well for me. In my case, I just don't have a choice of using anything else or nothing.

 

[MTguy0341]

Glad i read this, I'll use my sleeping stuff sack and put my puffy into it

 

[rodney482]

This is what I use... Its a must for me

This was a very big issue for me, tried a bunch, settled on this one. Incredibly comfortable and compresses reasonably well for packing. I little heavy but actually good enough to use as an everyday pillow if you want to. The extra weigh is more than worth it for me to ensure a good nights sleep in the back country.

http://www.rei.com/product/719843/therm-a-rest-compressible-pillow

 

[Rockhammer]

I have tried a number of different setups.
Stuff sack filled with extra clothing.
A DriDown UL Pillow.
Wiggy's Synthetic Pillow.
But I seem to get better quality sleep using a Nemo Fillo. It's a bit heavier than some of the other options, but the quality of sleep I get is worth a little extra weight to me.

 

[Blockcaver]

Game bags inside a game bag (pillow case) or in a stuff sack make a decent pillow. Augment the game bags with any available extra clothes and I am good to sleep.

 

[Hungarydog]

I'm switching to a quilt this year and will also have to start carrying a pillow, has anyone tried the exped rem? Seems like a good compromise between weight and comfort.

 

[mrgreen]

I have the Exped REM medium. I'm not comfortable on inflatable pillows. It feels like I'm resting my big melon on a balloon, even when only half-inflated. I tried the REM to see if the addition of a foam filled pillow would do the trick. No luck.

However I found that putting the uninflated REM in the clothing pocket of my Therm-a-rest Down pillow works perfect.

Regarding the Exped REM, if you're comfortable with air-bladder pillows you'll be very happy with it.