The Best Camp Pillows of 2024: Staff Picks

Rest easy with these six pillows for car camping, backpacking and more.

Courtney Holden| Published March 12, 2024

18 reviews with an average rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars
A woman drinks coffee from inside her tent.

Think back to a morning you woke up refreshed and eager for the day ahead. Odds are good that ready-for-anything feeling arrived on the heels of a good night of rest. "If you don't have good sleep, then you don't have the energy to hike 10 miles or have fun the next day," says Elizabeth Nguyen, senior retail specialist in the camping department at the REI store in Atlanta, Georgia.

It may seem more difficult to get that quality shut-eye in a tent, but there are lots of ways to set up a comfy bed away from home. While sleeping pads and sleeping bags get a lot of credit for supporting your slumber when camping, there's an underappreciated item of gear that can up the cozy factor: a camp pillow. After all, if a pillow is essential to your best-rest scenario at home, it deserves a spot in your camp kit. We've rounded up our favorite camp pillows sold at the co-op, with options for a variety of sleepers and outings, along with expert tips for how to choose the one that's right for you. Read on for our picks.

Staff Picks

Find quick recommendations below or scroll down for in-depth reviews.


Being on the road doesn't mean sacrificing a good night's sleep. Give the gift of comfort with the Nemo Fillo pillow. Easy to inflate and packs down to the size of a potato, this pillow is the perfect option for backpacking and travel. But don't let its compact size fool you. Soft, luxury foam ensures that even if you're sleeping on the ground, your head will feel like it's resting on cloud nine.

This packable, plush pillow proves that comfort doesn't have to come with a high price tag. Rodriguez doesn't mince words when it comes to describing his love of the Compressible Pillow from Therm-a-Rest. "That's a sack of gold covered with mushrooms," he says, referring to his particular fondness for the brand's "Fun Guy" fungi pattern. "It's comfortable like your pillow at home."

Therm-a-Rest achieves that just-like-home comfort by filling the pillow with upcycled bits of foam from sleeping-pad production. This allows the pillow to expand for maximum loft, softness and size, while still packing down to roughly half its dimensions for on-the-go convenience. A unique cinch-cord feature in two places on the rear of the pillow makes it, well, a cinch to adjust the pillow's firmness and height, while the 60% recycled polyester cover feels soft against your face. Choose from three different sizes (and thus, three different price points). The small packs down to the equivalent of a Nalgene water bottle, the medium to roughly the size of an orange juice carton and the large to about the size of a shoebox. While the Compressible Pillow isn't as light as other options on this list, it's a quality choice that rings up at half the price of some camp pillows on the market (and the most affordable option on this list).

Get your Compressible Pillow dirty? No worries. It's machine washable. Buy here.

Often, it's the simple things in life that bring us the most joy. Case in point: The Stuffable Pillowcase from Rumpl, which weighs a mere 3.2 ounces. You just fill the stuffable sack with soft items you have on hand, like clothing, then zip it up to create a plush resting place. Reviewers mention filling their Rumpls with blankets, coats and even boxer shorts to achieve their desired firmness and loft. And when you're not using it, you can empty it for easy packing or use it as a packing cube. Wrote one customer-reviewer: "It's got a nice, soft outer fabric and when I'm not using it to sleep, it keeps my extra layers all in one place while hiking."

Made from 100% post-consumer recycled fabric, the dual-sided sleep aid features no-nonsense, 30-denier ripstop polyester on one side (great for hotter nights and sleepers who run warm) and a polar fleece exterior on the other (delightful for chilly flights). A DWR finish provides resistance against stains and drool, er, water. Buy here.

Inflatable camp pillows are a great choice for next-level comfort and next-to-nothing weight for backpackers. The problem is that sometimes blow-up options have what Tim Bird, department manager at the REI store in Farmington, Utah, calls a "bounce-house feel," where your head moves up and down as air shifts within the pillow. Inflatable camp pillows may also be too firm for some users' preferences.

Backpackers rejoice: The Aeros Premium Pillow from Sea to Summit—which, yes, is inflatable—is the exception to this rule. "Its air bladder feels like it's stretching and has more give to it," Bird says, adding that the layer of synthetic fill between the face fabric and thermoplastic urethane bladder gives this cushion "more of a pillow feel than some of the other inflatables out there."

Strong yet sensitive with its 50-denier, brushed polyester stretch knit face fabric, the head rest also features curved internal baffles to cradle your noggin and a scalloped bottom edge that contours to your shoulder (a big benefit for side-sleepers like Bird). Plus, the camp pillow's three-way, mini valve incorporates a one-way inflate port, rapid air-dump deflate port and a fine-tune capability to achieve your own Goldilocks-level of inflation.

Restless sleepers among us will appreciate the patented PillowLock™ system, which helps the pillow stay put by attaching it to compatible Sea to Summit sleeping pads like the Ether Light XT Insulated Air Rectangular Sleeping Pad (not included). Available in three different sizes. Buy here.

When weight doesn't matter, turn to the HEST Camp Pillow. At a skosh above 2 pounds, it won't be your go-to companion for backcountry campsites. But when you're pitching camp just footsteps from your vehicle and want to sleep as well as you do at home (or better, according to multiple reviewers who use it in place of non-camp pillows), this is the one for you.

Filled with enhanced memory foam and bits of polyester, this cushion provides ample neck support, dreamy airflow (essential for achieving your optimal sleeping temperature) and keeps its shape over time. It packs down to about the size of a shoe box and features a machine-washable, dirt- and water-resistant, polyurethane-coated nylon cover.

Pro tip: Use the pillow's fold-up design as a handy stash cache, even while you sleep. "I can put my phone and even my Kindle Voyage in there and not even feel it," one customer-reviewer wrote. "I got this for hammock camping, and I can keep my little necessities right there. It's also amazing to stash a mini Bluetooth speaker—great for audiobooking. … Definitely not small, but a bad pillow will ruin a good trip, so I consider it well worth it." Buy here.

The Outdoor Afro + REI Co-op Nature Nap Satin Pillow is more than just a pillow. It's a call for people to enjoy time outside more comfortably, thanks to a machine-washable polyester satin case that creates less friction for curly and natural hair. "The satin screams an open invitation for my community," says Outdoor Afro ambassador Samiere. "It's a connection for me as a Black woman who loves nature."

The pillow's smooth exterior also means one less thing to pack because it can take the place of a silk hair wrap, adds fellow Outdoor Afro ambassador Kayla DaCosta. "When you're camping, you don't want to bring a whole bunch of stuff," she says. "[This pillow means] one less step, one less thing I have to think about. The bonnet is already built into the pillow."

Of course, the Nature Nap Satin Pillow also does what pillows do best: It provides comfort. And anyone who enjoys the smooth feel of satin or wants to glam up their outdoor sleep setup will appreciate it, too. The inner cavity features diamond-chop foam to deliver a just-like-home sleeping experience. The whole shebang comes in a mini-duffel storage bag, which makes it easy to take on the go, DaCosta says. When she attached it to her backpack on a recent hike, it stayed out of her way without adding much additional weight.

"It completely leveled up my outdoor nap experience," DaCosta says. "I could actually get comfortable."

Shop Camp Pillows

Camp Pillows Buying Advice

There are two main considerations when choosing a camp pillow: sleep patterns and activity. You'll want to take both into account when making a decision about the packability, weight, size, cost and overall feel of your pillow.

Generally, you should try to replicate your home sleep system as much as you can, taking into account your gear's weight and bulk, advises Tim Bird, department manager at the REI store in Farmington, Utah. "The more familiar your sleep system feels, the more likely you are to get a quality night of sleep," he says.

No matter what type of camp pillow you choose, however, rest easy that the right sleep system won't feel like a sad subsistute for your real bed. "I think a big urban legend with sleep systems is 'I'm not going to be as comfortable as I am in my home,'" says Rodriguez. "I beg to differ."

Sleep Habits

Prior to buying a camp pillow, think about how you sleep at home. Are you a side sleeper? Do you snooze on your tummy? Perhaps you do a mix of back, side and stomach sleeping. Next, consider whether you're a heavy or light sleeper. Do you wake up at the slightest noise or can you catch eight hours through a hurricane?

Experts recommend slightly different styles of camp pillows for different types of sleepers.

Position: If you're a consistent side sleeper, consider an inflatable camp pillow, Bird says. Inflatables allow you to make incremental tweaks to the pillow's density and thickness—especially if it features a quick-adjust valve like the Sea to Summit Aeros Premium Pillow—simply by adding (or letting out) more air. Stomach sleepers should consider a softer, lower-loft camp pillow that's compressible or stuffable. This will help ensure you aren't sleeping with your neck at a weird angle. A lightly filled inflatable camp pillow could be an option as well. Back sleepers tend to need medium loft and medium firmness, so any style would work if you inflate, stuff or compress the pillow to your specifications.

Heavy vs. light sleepers: Inflatable camp pillows might not be the best fit for super light sleepers, since they have a greater tendency to make noise when you move—and that noise is directly under your ear. If you're sharing a tent with someone, consider their sleeping habits too. "A friend of mine is a deep sleeper, but moves around quite a bit," Bird says. "He had a pretty loud pad/pillow combo, and no one wanted to share a tent with him."

Movement: If you tend to be a restless sleeper, explore sleep systems with a sleeping pad, sleeping bag and/or camp pillow designed to work together. Some, like the Sea to Summit Aeros Premium Pillow, use attachments on the pillow and upper portion of the sleeping bag to keep the gear together and reduce the likelihood they'll move around when you shift. These systems may be costly to buy all at once, but as the experts point out, it's hard to put a price on a good night's sleep.

For more tips on snoozing soundly in the backcountry, check out Sleeping Tips for Campers.

Sleeping Environment

You'll want to consider how you're most likely to use your camp pillow. Will it be a companion on nights deep in the backcountry or a go-to for car camping or glamping expeditions? Perhaps you plan to occasionally use it as a nap accessory when it's your fellow road-tripper's turn at the wheel. The "how" and "where" of your plans will determine how much to factor the pillow's weight and compressibility into your decision-making process.

Car camping: If you're simply toting your camp kit a handful of steps from your vehicle to your tent, weight and compressibility (how small the pillow packs down) are less of a concern. Choosing a bigger, heavier, less packable pillow—or even bringing one from home—will likely be fine for these adventures. Notably, these pillows tend to be a bit more affordable.

Backpacking: On the other hand, if you'll be trekking miles into a backcountry campsite and carrying your must-haves in a finite amount of pack space, the camp pillow's weight, size and compressibility are likely significant factors. Thus, for backpacking endeavors, you'll need to find a reasonable balance between the pillow most conducive to your sleeping habits and what you can carry comfortably on your back. "When backpacking, smaller and lighter isn't always better if it's going to be impacting your recovery or the quality of your trip more generally," says Bird, who hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2014. "We want all of our gear to be as lightweight as possible within reason, but we don't want it to be so lightweight that it impacts our trip negatively."

Dirt: Plan to sleep in an especially dusty, muddy or otherwise dirty environment? You might want to look for a camp pillow with a removable—and washable—case, like the Rumpl Stuffable Pillowcase or the Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow.

Temperature and humidity: If you often sleep in conditions that are hot and/or humid or if you tend to run warm when you sleep, it might be best to choose a camp pillow with a cooling, nylon face fabric instead of a cozy, microfiber version—or one that features both, like the Rumpl Stuffable Pillowcase.

Sleep Test

After assessing your sleeping habits and determining where you're most frequently going to take your camp pillow, visit your local REI store to test out the goods. "We're outfitters," Rodriguez says. "We are not a fast-food store for sleeping pads or backpacks or pillows. We're an experience."

As such, REI sales staff wants guests to come in, lie down and test out different camp pillows for themselves. Pair a camp pillow with the type of sleep system you already have or check out a new sleeping pad and bag to pair with your pillow. Pro tip: When you're testing an inflatable camp pillow, make sure the valve doesn't interfere with your typical sleep position.

Then, once you make a purchase, be sure to try out your camp pillow at home before taking it outside, maybe while watching TV or taking a nap. "If it doesn't work at home," Rodriguez says, "let's have a conversation before you go out on your adventure."

Methodology

We polled REI staff, members and customers for their favorite camp pillows based on their comfort, packability and portability. These are their favorites at the co-op for backpacking, camping and car camping.

Authors

Photo of Courtney Holden

Courtney Holden

Courtney moved to Boulder, Colorado, to pursue her dream of hiking, biking, skiing and writing about it. So far, things are working out. In the past four years, she’s transitioned from 100-mile days on her road bike to backpacking with a stuffed rabbit, Tonka truck and toddler in tow. Her husband comes too. She confesses to preferring Diet Coke to craft beer. REI member since 2011.