The Best Camping Pillows
Do you need a camping pillow? Or will your own from your bed suffice? You may think this is an unnecessary cost, but a good night's sleep is so important and a pillow is a lot more comfortable than a bundled up lot of clothing, or a towel. Pillows that you have at home are just too large, too cumbersome and if you are wanting to save space in the car, then leave those big pillows at home!
We bring our camping pillows for the following reasons.
1) Smaller and lightweight
2) Easier to clean if they get dirty
3) Multi functional - not just for camping/hiking, but for plane travel, car trips, lumbar support, lounging in the hammock or anywhere!
Now, what you may call comfortable, someone else may disagree. It is a personal decision. But we do have some favourites and we are going to list them below.
Just a word of advice prior to purchasing a pillow - check the dimensions first. I see a lot of reviews where people are surprised by the size of the pillow eg. smaller than expected.
1. Therm-a-rest Compressible Pillow
This has long been our favourite for a camping pillow. It's not a hiking pillow because the weight and size is too great, but it does come in a variety of sizes for big heads and little heads. The small size is 200grams and the XL size is around 430g. You can see all the sizing specs here.
Made in the USA, with a urethane foam fill, and on the outside brushed polyester, this is soft and comfortable but doesn't pack down small, so you are getting a pillow that suits your size. It's a little bit of luxury on your camping trip for a pretty good price. When you put your head on it, it is actually supported. Cheap camping pillows can just be a total waste of money, as the fill is so bad, that you might as well sleep with no pillow.
Good range of fabric colour/design too if that is important to you. Lifetime warranty too, so that is piece of mind when you are spending the money. Not many other camping pillows will offer that sort of guarantee so keep that in mind when you see a mega cheap camping pillow (and cheaper rip-offs of the Therm-a-Rest)
The medium sized pillow, is $40 including delivery from Amazon
Therm-a-rest Pillow
2. Sea to Summit Aeros Down Pillow and Sea to Summit Aeros Regular
If weight is something you worry about, then the Sea to Summit Aeros Down Pillow is one that we would recommend looking at especially for hikers. It packs down small, and then you can even squish it smaller if you need to.
You get an air filled pillow, but with a quilted down pillow top. Some inflatable pillows we find can be quite uncomfortable and this down gives you a more soft place to lie your head.
The price of the pillow of course reflects the down option. But your pillow only weighs around 90g. So you need to weigh up what is important to you. The cost is around $90 from Amazon.
If that is a bit expensive, you can look at the Aeros Premium which also is an inflatable pillow but without the down. Covered in brushed polyester and with a synthetic fill, the regular size is around 80g. It really down pack down small, so if you are worrying about space then this is a good option. I don't think it is that comfortable but then again, none of the air filled pillows are mega comfortable for me when compared to the Therm-a-Rest.
This Premium is priced at around $40 from Tentworld (regular size) and $70 for large size from Tentworld
Also available via Amazon.
Aeros Premium
Aeros Down Pillow
3. NEMO Fillo
This pillow I only got to borrow from another person, so I didn't get serious sleeping time on it. But I did enjoy it, hence why it made the list. It would probably be the runner up in comfort to the Therm-a-Rest pillow.
It's got a 3 I-beam baffled cell which you inflate quickly with about 3-4 breaths and you can let air in and out if needed through the valve to get the comfort level you want and, memory foam. This makes it look like a traditional pillow. It comes with either microsuede or jersey cover - so choose what you like most to sleep on as they are quite different textures. It comes with its own attachable stuff sack too (and I lose those things all the time, so having attached stuff sacks is a good thing for me).
Weight is a lot more than say the Aeros pillows - the Fillo is around 260g so that might mean that some backpackers will automatically discount this for their pack. But it does pack down small-ish 15x10cm.
This was a comfortable pillow and if you are looking for something soft and not too concerned about weight - this is a good choice for you. NEMO has a Lifetime warrant on this product as well.
Available via Amazon for around $68 plus delivery
They do also have an Ultralight Fillo (not tried by us) which weighs only 80g but the price is a lot higher. Can't comment on the comfort level. See at Amazon.
NEMO Fillo
4. Zempire Chill Pill Pillow
This is a cheaper air pillow that inflates with a few breaths. With a weight of 250g, its definitely on the heavier side and we have included this as an alternative for those who don't want to spend the money say, for the NEMO Fillo.
Priced at $35 from Tentworld this pillow does not come with a lifetime warranty, but if you want to save some money and try out an inflatable pillow, then you should give this one a go if unsure. Not everyone loves inflatable pillows.
Honourable mention -
Ultralight pillow of choice - Zpacks Ultralight Medium pillow which double as a stuff sack. You turn the back inside out, so the micro fleece is now on the outside, fill the bag with clothes, and use a pillow. Is it as comfortable as the ones above. No, but the weight is right at 50g, and it serves as a dual purpose item.
Available from Zpacks.
Zpacks pillow/stuff sack