Extremely light pillow that works — but slippery - Marmot Strato Pillow

The Strato Pillow appears to be the lightest of a Marmot series of lightweight pillows with cloud names. I got it specifically for backpacking because I’m an aging side sleeper and can’t afford a bad night’s sleep or a crick in my neck on a backpacking trip, and I need to keep the pack as light as possible to spare my back. So far I’ve tested the pillow at home and one night on a car camping trip. It is indeed very light, but it provides very good head and neck support in a variety of sleeping positions. As is claimed, it inflates in 2-3 breaths, and you can play around with level of inflation and shape to find a comfortable configuration. The surface is somewhat slippery and with the light weight the pillow can “wander” when you change positions. I would not be comfortable on it without some kind of pillow covering, but a dedicated case would defeat the purpose of an ultralight pillow. In the end I rolled the pillow for side sleeping and tied a bandana around it for a pillow case — I carry a bandana backpacking anyway. That made the surface comfortable. I still had to hang onto it and reposition it whenever I rolled over, but I fell back asleep without a problem. One other thing — I probably wouldn’t take the featherweight carry case backpacking, would just roll the pillow with my air mattress. But if one did take it along, it has a small snap loop inside that you could use to hook it onto something so the tiny case wouldn’t go astray. I’ll use the case for storage at home. Recommendation: assuming durability, which I haven’t tested, this is a great ultralight pillow for backpackers who need good head/neck support. If weight isn’t an issue, something more substantial/less slippery might be more satisfactory.

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.