Where We Tested
To test the camping pillows in this review, we slept on them every night for months. We packed them along with us and used them on car camping trips in Montana and to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. We took them trekking in Alaska and canoeing and camping for five days in the remote Boundary Water Canoeing Area wilderness. We used them backpacking in the High Sierras of California and Nevada, the backwoods of Alabama, and in the thick pine forests of Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks. We even took a few to Nepal as we trekked through the Himalayan Mountains, and we've slept on other pillows in the Slovenian, French, and Swiss Alps. When not in tents, these pillows were still under our heads, in hammocks on lazy afternoons and in our beds at night. Throughout our testing period, the nightly temperatures ranged from 35°F to 75°F.
Performance Metrics
Most of our metric scores were taken from the experiences we gathered through the extensive use of these products by several reviewers. This gear category is more subjective than most, so we wanted to gauge their performance with a wide perspective. In all, we scored each pillow in five areas. Whether at home in our beds or out on the trail, we feel the most important feature of any pillow is comfort, so we calculated our comfort scores more heavily. Additionally, the weight of each pillow is an important feature for most outdoor adventures, so we also made these scores more crucial to each pillow's overall score.
Comfort
For many nights, we examined every pillow for comfort. In the end, it was our number one priority to find a camping pillow that provides a perfect soft place for our heads to nestle each night. Face fabrics, cushioning, and noisy-ness were all considered. We scored each pillow on subjective experiences, namely each pillow's AHHHH factor. Then we divvied up them up and scored them according to how they performed for side-sleepers, back-sleepers, and stomach-sleepers. We scored each of these areas on a 1 to 10 scale and then averaged out their overall scores.
Weight
“Ounces in the morning become pounds by the evening.” When your adventure involves carrying everything on your back, and excess of weighty items can really take their toll over time. There's a reason why the majority of outdoor recreationists choose not to bring their pillow from home into the great outdoors — it's just too big, and more importantly, too heavy. The testing for this metric was basic. We packed each pillow into its stuff sack and placed it on a scale and measured it in ounces. We then listed each pillow from heaviest to lightest and scored each pillow accordingly. The lightest pillows received the highest scores.
Packed Size
Very closely related to the weight of any outdoor product is its travel size. Whether your car camping or two days into a week-long backpacking trip, the items you take with you need to be as compact as possible. For this metric, our testing was simple. We packed each pillow up and then used a ruler to measure its overall packed volume (size) in liters. When then listed each pillow from largest to smallest and scored them accordingly on a scale of 1 to 10. The pillows with the smallest packed size received the highest scores.
Support
We found this metric a little challenging to score, namely because it's subjective to each sleeper. For this metric, we allowed each tester to score each pillow on a 1 to 10 scale according to their overall opinion and sleeping experience. We then studied each pillow for specific support features that were included by the manufacturer. We also deployed each pillow and measured the compression when we placed our heads on them. We combined all of the scores for each pillow and averaged them for an overall score.
Ease of Use
This metric was more broadly based. We looked at several factors:
- How easily does the pillow pack and unpack? (we timed this with a stopwatch)
- How easy is the pillow to clean and dry?
- Does the pillow fit inside a mummy bag hood?
- Does the pillow have other uses, such as a travel pillow or seat cushion?
- Does the pillow stay put during the night, or does it slide around?
We asked these questions, and a few more scored each question on a 1 to 10 scale and then averaged the scores to come up with each pillow's overall score.
