Hammock Gear Pillow

The Hammock Gear Pillow is a packably small bag of down to rest your head on. Designed with hammock in mind it has an attached cord with clip to keep it from wandering off.

I have to admit that when I first saw that Hammock Gear had added a pillow to their line of accessories I laughed at it. Seemed a lot of money, $25 back then, for such a tiny bag of down. Having owned one for over six years and enjoying it on many nights I think I've gotten my money's worth from the investment. Let's take a quick look at all the working parts in detail...

Construction:

Outer material is 10D/20D ripstop with a variety of colors to choose from though not all colors come in both weights. Measuring just 14" x 8" and quite flat, this pillow is meant to provide insulation under your head, not prop it up. There is roughly 3oz of down fill loaded by volume so weight varies slightly.

The single-piece construction reduces seams and leaves a lot of smooth surface for face resting. One end of the long seam has a small loop sewn in for attaching the retention cord which can be removed if desired. The clip on the other end of the cord lets you choose to latch on to ridgeline, continuous loop or go around either and clip back onto the pillow.

Comfort:

Unlike ground sleeping, a hammock pillow is primarily for insulation. If your underquilt doesn't extend far enough to be under your head a lot of heat can be lost even in warmer months. In the deep cold, even with full length UQs and a rabbit fur hat on the head, a little extra insulation is always welcome. The HG Pillow has just enough down to protect the head with a thin layer of insulation. In warm or cold weather the smooth ripstop material felt nice against the face.

Conclusions:

Clearly, I was a fool to mock this pillow all those years ago. I get a little annoyed at its tendency to try to escape, usually ending up with the cord wrapped around the hammock a few times, but I don't think that is a product failure heh. It may be angry because I am not sure I have ever washed it.  After six plus years of use it still fluffs back up nicely so they may have used the good down. It packs down to nothing when compressed so I just leave it in the hammock when tearing down camp.

On cooler nights when using a shorty underquilt I really appreciate having that layer under my head. I spent a day riding out an endless rain on a spring Grafton Loop trip a few years ago. Basically 36 hours of hanging out in the hammock in 50°f, wet weather. Lots of time to notice that my head could tell when it was or wasn't on the pillow, even in relatively warm temps.

Despite being so small I really can feel the difference in winter. Hammocking in sub-zero temps is all about preserving body heat. Even with a Rothco ECWCS Polypropylene Balaclava under a Mad Bomber Wool Bomber and two underquilts, I get a warm snuggly feeling when the pillow is in the right spot heh.

For folks who don't hammock, this pillow is probably not for you. It lofts up to about 4", but flattens out for the most part once you put your head on it. For folks who do hammock, laugh first if you want, but in the end you'd probably find this little bag of fluff useful. I did!

Background

I have never been a fan of packing a pillow before, preferring to just use my jacket or clothes bag. This pillow has been used on all of my trips for the last six years so literally has thousands of miles and hundreds of nights of use behind it.