pillow talk
 

what are you folk's useing for pillow's.
is there a pillow on the market that is as good as your home pillow.
the one im useing is a blow up one not very good ,it's just to flat.
and packing cloths into a stuff sack dosen't do it for me either.
so what's the best pillow .

Bike touring has a huge advantage over backpacking when it comes to carrying bulky items. I find the minimalist backpacking pillows wholly unsuitable for my side-sleeping comfort. Thus, I carry a near full size pillow stuffed into a dry bag strapped to the top of my rear rack.

I sleep very well on tour.

I carry a small but "real" pillow. I bought it at a fabric store for about 7 or 8 dollars. It is something like 11x14" and is my luxury item. I manage to stuff it in the stuff sack with my sleeping bag. I tried out a bunch of "camping pillows" and didn't like any of them.

I use a 2.5 ounce, 14x9 inch, zippered fleece pillowcase. I put my 7.2 ounce down sweater inside and voila goose down pillow. Small but much more comfy than the nylon sleeping bag stuff sack that I used prior.

http://www.rei.com/product/719842

Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow. It is not too big, and feels good.

This has always been a big problem for me, first during years of backpacking, now bikepacking. I suffered from sleep apnea, so I spent a lot of time using dozens of different pillows. I have finally settled on a tempur-foam - expensive ($100+) and heavy, but great for comfort. It gives great support. For my touring pillow I have cut one down to about 12" x 8" (about 4" thick). I made a couple of custom pillow cases to alternate. At this size the weight is somewhere near acceptable and it squeezes down very well (pops right back). Heavier than I'd ike, but comfort like home.

If you tour, check out this helpful site: http://www.biketoledo.net.

+1 for the therma-rest compression pillow. I too am a side sleeper, and stomach as well! I have neck muscle issues due to a weight lifting accident in highschool. If I dont sleep right then I have terrible neck pain the next moring. This pillow did the trick for me.

REI has a good selection of down and synthetic pillows that pack into small stuff sacks. Give them a try.

(my post doesn't help your problem, so read at own risk)

I don't carry anything in particular. I usually grab a jacket or something and, if I feel like going to a lot of effort, find something soft to put on top of it. After a hard day's riding, and with my exped downmat, it would take a lot to keep me awake...

thank's everybody great advice,the problem i have regarding real pillow i dont have the space to carry one,rear panniers only.and there pretty well stuffed.but yeah a real pillow sounds like the way to go..
just came across one it's the kelty luxury pillow anybody got one .

I find that my small but real pillow takes exactly zero space because I stuff it in the same compression sack with my sleeping bag. I have to work to get it compressed to the same size, but it has worked for many nights of camping. The whole deal including sleeping bag and pillow is 7.5" x 12" (19cm x 30cm) when stuffed and the compression straps pulled.

I found that all of the dedicated camping pillows that i tried, and I tried out a lot, are much less comfortable and much more expensive. The camping pillows were mostly not firm enough and yet did not stuff any smaller. Do yourself a favor and check out a fabric store or a linen and bedding store. You can probably find a more comfortable pillow that is much cheaper and stuffs at least as small.

I sleep in a hammock (brazillian style), which means I don't need a pillow. Brazillian hammocks let you lie completely flat, except your feet and head are barely elevated. It is better on my back, and almost more comfortable than my bed back home.

For the few times I can't find trees, I just roll up some extra clothes and use that...

I don't completely understand why a pillow must go inside one of your panniers. Is it an aesthetic issue? Why not strap it on top of your rear panniers?

I started out using clothes stuffed in my sleeping bag's stuff sack. Bad. Every night was a struggle to try and arrange the wads of clothing in a way that was comfortable. Impossible. The best I could hope for was an arrangement that wasn't excessively uncomfortable.

My next strategy was to carefully fold clothes until the stack reached a height sufficient to support my head in a reasonable manner. This was better, but folded clothes aren't very cushiony.

I refined this method by putting my fleece vest on top of the pile. The fleece was comfortable, and cushiony enough to be fairly comfortable. Satisfactory.

Before my last tour I bought a Thermarest pillow. It's full of foam chunks, and one side is covered with fleece. I bought the small size, since it's bigger than my head and that seemed to me to be all I needed. It rolls up to the size of a submarine sandwich, and it's pretty light. It didn't raise my head quite high enough, but when I folded my towel underneath it, it was perfect. At last I had found a seemingly perfect pillow arrangment! It's cushiony enough to be comfortable, just the right height (with the towel), the fleece is soft and comfy, it's light, and doesn't take up much room in my luggage. (I sometimes stuck it under a bungee on the outside too.) It was one of the best bike-touring purchases I've made in recent years!

i have a great compression sack that came with my alpkit down s/bag,im going to pop upstairs now pick out a nice pillow and see if i can't get it into the sack ,i'll report back on my struggle.

staehpi1 your a genius ,i never thought in a million years i could fit a full size pillow into a compression sack.and it packs down small .i really diden't want to go spending money on something that's not going to be as comfy as a real pillow.maybe now the next camping tour i'll be able to sleep .thank's again everyone for your input but staehpi1 win's the day.

I hope that works out as well for you as it does for me. Actually my pillow isn't full sized, but even a full sized one will probably pack smaller than you might think using a compression sack. Oh and I'm no genius :)

+2
An excellent idea.
Your last statement above may be the only issue I'd argue with you about.. :)

This is what we carry too. They are wonderful!

I second/third/fourth the SMALL Thermarest pillow. It's definately big enough and I have a big head. I sometimes sleep in a hammock too and it adds a lil bit of comfort to that.

Honestly I like it so much I have it uncompressed and on my full time bed at home, and I usually end up using it over the full size squishy that I have.

I'm glad you started this thread. I decided to look into something new. I found this:

http://www.rei.com/product/766378

It is a small down pillow which in a small stuff sack is about half the volume of my Thermarest pillow.

i intend to settle for a couch throw pillow. small, light, and comfy... all the criteria.

tomn that pillow is to expensive .as i said i just took one of the pillows from my bed stuffed it in the compression sack no problem,cost me nothing.my advice buy the compression sack instead.

I do agree with it being too expensive, but I had no time to look around or be inventive. At least that is the excuse I'm giving myself!

would have done exactly the same myself.ah well your going to be nice and comfy now.