When it comes to camping luxuries, a pillow is typically high on most people’s lists. A pillow is something that almost everyone uses, and is extremely used to. Getting to sleep without it can be difficult, then, and many people find that it’s worth it to take along the extra bulk and weight, so that they get a good night of sleep in. Fortunately, you don’t need to bring along a whole pillow, in fact the best camping pillow for you may be small enough to throw in your backpack and forget about until you need it.
Best Camping Pillow
A few things to be on the lookout for when shopping for a new camping pillow.- Padding Method – Most people will immediately think of foam camping pillows, but just like sleeping pads, foam is not your only choice. There are in fact many inflatable camping pillows out there, which pack down small and offer plenty of comfort, making them serious competition for the foam pillows.
- Surface – Ideally you want a camping pillow with a nice, soft surface to sleep against. Foam pillows tend to do well in this category, but with inflatable pillows you might get stuck with a nylon surface, for instance, which isn’t the most comfortable surface to sleep with your head against.
Best Camping Pillow Reviews
A few of the best camping pillows around, in a few different categories.- Mont Bell U.L. Comfort System Pillow - First up, a great inflatable pillow from Mont Bell. It's definitely an lightweight product, and is one of, if not the light inflatable camping pillow on the market. It doesn't have much in the way of contouring, however, and lacks a soft surface to lay your head against. But you cant beat a lack of bulk and a weight of just 2.3 ounces, or 65 grams.
- Therm-A-Rest Compressible Pillow - In the more traditional foam pillow category there is this entry from Therm-A-Rest. The good thing about it is that it has a built in compression sack, so that it does get quite small when you need to put it back in your backpack. It also comes in three different sizes, for those that can make do with a small camping pillow, or those that need something bigger. The one real downside is that it weighs 9 ounces, or 255 grams, which is considerably more than the inflatable Mont Bell camping pillow above.
- Therm-A-Rest Trekker Pillowcase - If you're willing to be a little innovative, and you have a few bulkier pieces of clothing at your disposal, a pillow case might be exactly what you need. And while there's nothing wrong with bringing a simple pillow case from home, this one has a microbrushed surface that helps to smooth over some of the edges that the clothing you stuff inside it might have. Being that it's just a case it compresses down very small, and weighs just 2.3 ounces, which is 65 grams.
