RikkiTikki Inflatable Travel Pillow — Overview

The battle between comfort and pack load is one of the most irreconcilable in backpacking tourism. Lightweight and ultralight backpacking philosophy became popular within travelers community last years and it is understandable — usually we are going outside to enjoy nature and seek to reach new mountain heights, not heights in weight carrying.

So such thing like pillow doesn’t look very necessary if we compose a list of staff for our backpack. But from other site — for a good journey you need a good rest, and if you are looking for a proper rest, especially if you’ve been traveling for a long time or hiking, a fitting rest gives you an energy needed to continue your trek and good pillow will be very welcome.

So how to choose a best pillow for backpacking and traveling?

The inflatable pillow is great choice for hikers because it is lightweight, compressible, easy yo use and comfortable.

What factors make an inflatable pillow the best for backpacking?

In this overview we show on an example of one of new brand outdoors gear — RikkiTikki — for what characteristics should respond an inflatable pillow.

Weight and Size

Bigger pillow is more stable but take a lot of place in a backpack, small pillow lighter and more compact but could be not comfortable enough for sleeping.

The best pillow size is different for everyone, and is governed by their sleeping styles (stomach, back, or side), how much they move around at night, and their tolerance for keeping their big heads on small targets during the night.

The RikkiTikki propose balance of weight and size that fit for the most of backpackers. It weights less than 4oz and are big enough for comfort sleeping (15in x 12in x 4.5in)

Comfort

If you aren’t comfortable, chances of quality sleep decrease and impact your next-day energy. Several factors play into the comfort of a pillow, such as pillow type, shape and contouring, size, and the fabric of the outer shell. 

The soft elastic cover and contoured lines in the pillow go a long way toward providing a good night’s sleep, even when deep in the backcountry.

Soft cover is slip resistant, so the pillow stays in place while you rest. It also is pleasant to touch and make your rest cozy.

RikkiTikki pillow has self-centering design that helps to keep your head centered and stabilized on the pillow so that you can sleep better throughout the night without waking up with your neck in a weird angle. You can easy adjust the desired level of inflation and regulate a pillow firmness.

Space

The perfect camping pillow should provide five-star comfort while taking up almost no space in a pack. The pillows with attached stuff sacks is preferable — searching for a misplaced stuff sack while packing up camp is less than desirable.

The RikkiTikki pillow packs into its internal stuff sack. The design is intuitive, it folds like a pair of socks into a four-inch tube (the size of Coke can) and go from back to full size in several seconds.

Easy to Use

A good camping pillow is easy to use, not a pain to deal with. Quick inflation in 3-4 breaths, easy adjustment, and rapid deflation. The RikkiTikki camping pillow is equipped with a reliable multi-purpose air valve system which lets you quickly inflate and deflate the pillow. The system solves the problem of uncontrolled air exit – it won’t happen. You can control the firmness of the camping air mattress by inflating it or deflating the excess air.

The other important thing for any travel equipment is convenience to clean.

The soft cover part of a RikkiTikki pillow is easy to remove and convenient for wash — manually or in a washing machine.

Durability

One of the most important questions regarding any inflatable product, whether a pillow, a pad, or a packraft, is whether or not it will be resistant to leaks. 

Of course, the problem with a manufacturing defect could happen with any brand and manufacturer, but the reliability of materials that are used by a producer define the  term of product lifecycle.

The RikkiTikki pillow filling part is made from a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). This is a class of polyurethane plastics with many properties, including elasticity, transparency, and resistance to oil, grease and abrasion. It makes pillows solid, comfortable and longeval.

Conclusion

RikkiTikki pillow could become irreplaceable companion in many situation — hiking, outdoor, camping, backpacking, traveling, car trip, bus, travel by train, on the airplane, sporting, concerts and many others events!

As you can see from this short overview the price for additional comfort is not very high — you always can find in your backpack additional place for small four inch tube with compressible pillow and take four more oz to your bag to provide great night rest. The reliable and easy-to-use product will serve your need for many years.