TL;DR - I thought I'd like these pillows more than I do. @mrs.turbodb on the other hand, likes hers so much that she wants to use it at home.
Feels like sleeping on an inflated plastic bag...because you are!
We love the sleep setup inside our CVT Mt. Shasta RTT. The Exped Megamat is more comfortable than many hotels and Airbnbs, and sleeping under two down comforters - instead of with sleeping bags - is pure bliss.
So far, we've also been using a couple of regular pillows. They fit/store just fine in the tent when it is folded up, and they were "extras" at home, so it was a great way to keep them out of the landfill. Over the years, though, the near-constant compression of the closed tent has caused them to get flatter and flatter. We've taken to folding them in half, which works fine, but is not ideal.
In an attempt to solve the problem and loving our Exped mattress as we do, I had the tremendous idea to purchase some inflatable Exped camp pillows. I figured that the Exped Mega Pillow would have the same construction as the Exped Megamat that we love, providing a cozy, warm, supportive pillow that could be inflated each night and then deflated in the morning, making it even easier to fold up the tent with our gear inside.
Exped's description sounded fabulous. So good in fact, that we ordered four so we could use a couple between our legs at night, as we do at home. All four would pack down smaller than a single standard pillow.
Designed to match the soft, luxurious edge-to-edge comfort of our famous MegaMat, Mega Pillow is the sleep-inducing accessory for folks who want a plush camping pillow with a large sleep surface.
The recycled stretch tricot polyester surface material feels soft and warm to the touch, ensuring a cozy night's sleep. When not in use, Mega Pillow packs down to a conveniently small size for storage & travel.
Mega Pillow is customizable for different comfort preferences. Fine tune your desired firmness level by adding additional air for a firmer pillow or releasing excess air for a softer pillow.
- Dimensions: 20.5 x 12.6 x 4.7 in.
- Packed size: Flat or 5.1 x 3.9 in.
- Weight: 6oz.
First Impressions
The pillows arrived, and I was immediately a little concerned. They packed up small - completely flat - which was great, but they had no foam in them at all; they were entirely air filled.
Backpacking mode vs. sleep mode.
Still, the fabric felt nice, so we stuffed them into our carry-ons and headed down for whatever adventure we had planned.
3-Month Review
Using the pillows for three months has been an interesting experience because - unlike the Exped Megamat, down comforters, etc. - the reviews are not unanimous. In fact, they are highly polarized!
The Good
- They pack down to nothing. And they weigh nothing.
- They inflate with the same inflation bag or inflation pump (either the Exped Widget or I like the Zero Pump) as the Exped Megamat.
- They work great as a second pillow for under knees or between legs.
The Disagreed Upon
- Head comfort.
- I (Dan) think they are not comfortable at all for resting your head on due to feeling like an inflated plastic bag. The firmness can be adjusted to an extent by adding or removing air, but I like a pillow with some "give" to it, and these don't have that. Once you get however much air you want to have in it, your head sinks down into that amount of air until it the remaining air can't go anywhere. That's not cushioning (like foam or pillow stuffing) that's variable, it's just a height setting.
- @mrs.turbodb thinks they are more comfortable than her pillow at home. She's suggested that she might buy one to use at home. She likes a firmer, fuller pillow than I do at home as well.
The Bad
- Because they are a plastic liner surrounded by fabric, the liner makes some "crinkling" noises as it moves under the head. I find this more annoying than @mrs.turbodb.
In this Series
