During years as an infantryman in the Marine Corps, I always used rolled up clothing, my body armor, or my pack as a makeshift pillow. A true pillow seemed like a frivolous luxury. But nowadays I want a little more comfort; and I fantasize about a lightweight, space friendly, yet super-comfortable backpacking pillow.
I have used the Cocoon Synthetic Travel Pillow on backpacking trips into Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica and on Kauai’s Na Pali Coast.
The pillow is advertised as measuring 10″ X 14″ when deployed, stuff-sacking to 4″ X 6″, and weighing 5 ounces.
Well, it isn’t much of a pillow — not as hard as the bare ground, but not big enough or thick enough to truly support your neck and head — so it’s just a little better than having no pillow at all. Then again, given that it adds a little weight and takes up pack space, maybe it really isn’t better than having no pillow at all.
I just couldn’t find the value added with this piece of gear, as a rolled up pair of pants does better service. It is going into the discard pile.
On to the next pillow experiment…