Pillow ideas?

[brianb]

Thanks brianb, That sounds similar to Bladerunner'l idea above.

Sorry, missed that in the thread. I'll keep an eye out for his response. Hopefully he comes up with something good.

What's the water you're on in your avatar?

I'm in NC, and I'm pretty sure that's A little lake we used to camp near off the Blue Ridge Parkway during fall. Pretty area.

[dingbat]

Looks wonderful. Thanks. Gonna be down there in a month or so....maybe permanently. Looks like you guys get some fall color down there too. Good to know.

[JacobAllison]

Good find! Assuming that's the price AG and JRB are buying them, AG's mark up is right in line with standard retail practices, JRB is priced far below. They should be selling the smaller size for $3 something. When cost per piece is under $1, margin should be somewhere around 80% in order to cover overhead. That is the cost of being able to buy a single piece and good customer service. Interesting though...They are intended to be disposable.

Good point! While I'd ask if anyone wants to get in on a group buy, they're just so cheap from JRB there isn't a point.

[Parker77]

REI sells a 15 or 25 liter pillow stuff sack. They are fleece lined on the inside, empty your contents at night turn inside out and fill with spare clothing/down jacket etc. 15 liter weights 5 oz 8x18" and 25 is at 7 oz 10x20". Also very inexpensive. I have the 15 liter and like it, haven't used in a hammock yet though as that is being delivered tomorrow.

[Kaerous]

My old Kelty sleeping bag I bought in college has a stuff sack that is fleece lined on one side. It makes a decent pillow when you stuff an extra couple articles of clothing in it. I typically throw my change of socks, hoodie, etc. in it and punch it until it conforms to my head. Best part about it is that it adds no extra weight or volume to my kit since I carry it anyways.

[OneClick]

At home in my hammock, I use my old tent camping pillow. You can get them at Meijer (but probably at Walmart, Target, etc). $2.99, ~7oz, about 10"x16". It's still going to take up some space, but on the bottom of your pack you may not notice it.

[Lynx_Gen]

I didnt read everything.. I just wanted to toss in my inititial thoughts on the op..

If you`re up for DIY stuff, and the main issue is shoulder squeeze, just add two loops or hooks or straps and grab a small pole. I use a dd jungle hammock, which has poles at each end. there is no shoulder squeeze, and the hammock is always nice and open and spacious. Just have a quick look at it, and you`ll see what I mean. easily DIY it for your self.

As far as pillow itself goes, once the shoulder squeeze is gone, use the softest, comfiest clothes etc in your bag. I got a coleman -20 sleeping bag the other day that came with a tiny pillow and it works perfcectly! lol

[SemperFiGuy]

Thanks for the replies and ideas fellas.

I have tried longer and larger hammocks. Unfortunately, they don't seem to make a noticeable difference as far the position of my right arm is concerned. I've also messed around with stringing my hammock everywhere from having a sagging ridgeline to tight as a drum and played with angle of lay too. None of it eliminates or greatly reduces the shoulder/arm issue. I think it's more a body shape thing than anything else.

The Nemo I was looking at is an air pillow. It just has a layer of memory foam on one side. I've been knocking ideas around for a while and haven't been able to come up with anything beyond inflatable, or high volume. If i'm going inflatable I'd like it to be dual purpose, thus the thermarest idea. I like the water bladder and ziplock ideas, hadn't thought of those. As much as I'd like to go with a down or compressible foam pillow, they don't do anything for the shoulder/arm issue due to the nature of being compressible. Otherwise, I'm thinking whatever I end up with needs to be 20-24 inches wide for the same reasons which knocks out many of the commercial offerings, though I was surprised to see the exped mentioned above has a 20" model. Gonna look into that. I'm gonna play around with using my jacket too but it seems that's a solution only good for the colder weather. An additional pull out on the hammock might be a solution but I'd really like to avoid that if at all possible. Currently toying with ideas to remove the pullouts my hammock has or go to a hammock without them.

Bladerunner, Anxious to see what you come up with.

Mark,

If you're going to the NEHHA Spring Hang in Ashby, you can try out my Exped XL inflatable. It's 20" wide and might just do the trick for you. It folds down to nothing and weighs in at 3oz. stowed. Thermarest also makes an inflatable too that's (I think) 19 inches wide.

Otherwise, keep experimenting. You'll find the magic solution soon enough.

All the best.
Gl

[dingbat]

Thanks Gil. I'm gonna try and make it to NEHHA, but work schedule has just gotten real wonky with the winter sticking around. It kinda sucks because I'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for the snow to melt, which as you know isn't happening, then my transitional season is going to be a rushed, hot mess. If I do make it, I'd love to check out your Exped. Hopefully I'll see you there.

[Snowball]

This is my idea to make a pillow.
In a hammock I don’t need a lot of support so I have been thinking a few layers of synthetic material would do perhaps in a combination with a fleece layer. Nylon on the outside.
Sadly I never got around to making one.
pillow.png