Cocoon Air-Core Ultralight

Summary

Compact, lightweight, quiet.

Let me start by saying I have bad knees. So bad my orthopedic surgeon is planning his next big gear purchase around my next surgery date. I have spent hundreds of dollars over the years cutting down the size and weight of my pack and it would only make sense to go with the long time standard of stuffing clothes in my stuff sack rather than pack a pillow.

But... This little gem is worth every little gram and cubic inch it adds to my pack. It's tiny, weighs almost nothing and it's a pillow. Not a plastic air bag or lumpy stuff sack. It's a little pricey for occasional campers.

I bought it near the end of this summer and have slept 12 nights on it so far. I expect to have around 30 nights on it by the time it's a year old. Not a bad investment for a better night's sleep.

Summary

It's light. It's bouncy. It slides across the tent floor.

When I saw this I thought that it'd be a great solution. I tried it in the store for a moment and it seemed fine. It was a different story in a tent. 

The pillow weighs a little less than 4 ounces, has one side that's microfiber (nice) and the other that's coated ripstop nylon. The nylon side doesn't feel so good against the skin. It's sticky and hot. When you put the nylon side down it slides off sleeping pads and across the tent floor every time you roll over. I put it inside a T-shirt and it slides around inside the T-shirt.

This may just be me, but I don't like the rounded and bouncy character of the thing. My head has to be centered exactly or it's not comfortable, and as I mentioned it will go flying across the tent. Also, after lots of inflations the pillow will have more and more moisture inside from my lungs.  It will weigh more and be less insulating. 

I work at REI so I very much hesitate to return items so I'm sort of stuck with this pillow, but I won't use it. It's retired. A far better option for me is the 4-ounce REI Travel Pillow, and it costs $5 less.  It stays in place, feels ok against the skin, self-inflates, and doesn't have that rounded and bouncy feel. My REI doesn't usually have these in camping. Instead they're in travel.

Bought this pillow for comfort camping out of truck and will now make room for it in the pack every time. Shouldn't even say 'make room',  stored in its own stuff sack it is still smaller than a 12 oz. soda can. At a scant 3.7 grams this has perhaps the highest weight to pleasure ratio in my pack.

As for comfort, yes! I am a restless sleeper and constantly changing positions, having a full pillow to roll around on really helps. I used to use a jacket in a stuff sack like most people but this is FAR superior. One suggestion would be to leave it slightly under inflated so that it is a little more supple under your head