Gear Review: Exped Air Pillow

Shape when fully inflated

Sleeping in the back-country doesn’t need to be about sacrificing so much weight that a comfortable night’s sleep can’t be had.  A cold Silnylon clothes bag stuffed with clothes just doesn’t work for me.  I’ve tried doing without, wrapping a fleece around bundled clothes, and even resorted to putting my shoes under the edge of my pad to raise it up.  For me, none of these options resulted in a comfortable night’s sleep.  So I have been searching for a pillow that is light-weight, comfortable and works for both stomach and side sleeping.  With the Exped Air Pillow I feel my search is finally at an end.

Size when stuffed into stuff sack

About the size of a small fist when deflated, the Exped Air Pillow has been a great companion under my head during most of my recent backpacking trips.  The pillow has a slight kidney-bean shape along one edge contoured to fit a shoulder.  It has two pinch points on the surface which creates a flat depression for cradling the head.  The pillow is actually wedge-shaped when laying on a flat surface, working well for both side/back sleepers as well as stomach sleepers.  The higher side of the pillow is the contoured side which is more bulbous, supporting the neck for side and back sleepers.  The lower side of the pillow isn’t as bulbous and raised up to the bulbous side, creating a gentle wedge to support the head of stomach sleepers.  The pillow also has two little loops along the lower side for attaching the pillow to a mat with matching loops to prevent pillow drift during the night.

The pillow in use

The strength of the pillow is both in its unique shape as well as its soft brushed surface.  Not only does the surface feel nice against my face, but the shape allows me to sleep on my stomach comfortably while giving me the option of turning onto my side later in the night.  The pillow is grey on the valve side and a ruby red on the sleeping side.  The red material is the soft side and works great alone or wrapped in a fleece.  Depending on how out of breath I am from blowing up my air mattress, I can generally get the pillow inflated with two really good breaths.  Sometimes I require a little more just to top off the pillow for a nice firm support.

Size when fully deflated

One really outstanding feature of the pillow is the great air valves.  The valves lie flat against the pillow surface allowing it to lay flat without bumps in the pillow.  The inflate valve is a one way valve which allows me to stop inflating to draw another breath, or talk to someone, without losing the air I just put in.  The deflate valve is a regular valve allowing air to flow in either direction.  The valves are embedded directly into the material of the pillow and are seated firmly.  The valve feels like it is seated well when I pull it open.  The valves are clearly labeled inflate and deflate.

Labeling of the valves

The inflate valve

The pillow weighs in at 3 oz (85 g).  While this seems a bit much when trying to cut out pack weight, the luxury of getting a full night sleep is well worth the extra weight.  I was sold on this pillow the first night I tried using it.  I have tried using other pillows but the contouring and shape of the Exped pillow worked very well for me.  I generally start on my stomach and it is easy to set the pillow wedge under my head for comfort.  As I roll about onto my side, I can easily turn the pillow around and support my neck more still getting a comfortable and well supported feeling.  I have forgotten to take the pillow on a few trips and I didn’t sleep as comfortably without it.

Manufacturer	Exped
MSRP	Not available on manufacturer's website Generally retails for just under $30
Weight	3.0 oz (85 g) with stuff sack 3.0 oz (85 g) according to manufacturer

This story was originally posted August 1, 2010.