Reviews > Sleep Gear > Accessories > Design Salt HyperLight AirCore Pillow > Owner Review by Nancy Griffith

DESIGN SALT COCOON HYPERLIGHT AIRCORE PILLOW
BY NANCY GRIFFITH
OWNER REVIEW
November 29, 2014

TESTER INFORMATION

My outdoor experience began in high school with a canoeing/camping group which made a 10-day voyage through the Quebec wilds. I've been backpacking since my college days in Pennsylvania. I have hiked all of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. My typical trip now is in the Sierra Nevada in California and is from a few days to a few weeks long. Over the past few years I have lowered my pack weight to a lightweight base weight of 15 lb (6.8 kg) and use a tent, stove and quilt.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer: Design Salt
Years of Manufacture: 2012 and 2013
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.cocoon.at
MSRP: Not Listed

Listed weight: 2.4 oz (69 g)
Measured weight: 2.5 oz (71 g)
Size: 33 x 43 cm (13 x 17 in)

Color: Black / dark blue

Made in China

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The Cocoon Air-Core Hyperlight pillow is an inflatable pillow with a nylon shell and synthetic fill over an air bladder. It has a black plastic twist valve attached to one corner. It comes with a small nylon storage sack with a drawstring closure and cord-lock.

FIELD USE

I bought one pillow in late 2012 for my husband since he wasn't sleeping comfortably with my light-weight solutions of either piling up clothing or blowing up small zip-top bags. He immediately fell in love with it, so after a few trips of listening to him gloat, I decided to get my own pillow in early 2013. We have carried both of our pillows on every trip ever since. While we like to minimize our pack weight, we find the pillows to be a luxury worth having. Overall, our pillows have seen 52 nights and 58 nights respectively. This pillow has been used on trips from an overnight to a 21-night trip with overnight temperatures ranging from 19 to 55 F (-7 to 13 C). All uses have been inside a tent and atop an inflated sleeping pad. The tent has been atop deep snow, granite, sand and dirt.

Some examples of backpacking trips include:
Point Reyes National Seashore, California: 2 nights; 9.3 mi (15 km); 0 to 1,407 ft (429 m) elevation; overnight lows of 40 and 42 F (4 to 5 C); sunny to partly cloudy conditions.

Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite National Park, California: 3 nights; 32 miles (52 km); 3,900 to 7,400 ft (1,189 to 2,256 m); 35 to 70 F (2 to 21 C); mostly clear conditions.

Emigrant Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, California: 3 nights; 24 miles (39 km); 7,160 to 8,930 ft (2,182 to 2,722 m); 55 to 85 F (13 to 29 C); mostly clear conditions.

John Muir Trail, Sierra Nevada, California: 21 nights; 225 mi (362 km); 4,035 ft to 14,496 ft (1,230 to 4,418 m); 35 to 80 F (2 to 27 C); mostly sunny with wind and thunderstorms.

Two Peaks Trail, El Dorado National Forest, California: 2 nights; 6,560 and 8,220 ft (2,000 and 2,505 m) elevation; 55 to 72 F (13 to 22 C) with clear to cloudy and windy conditions.

Pacific Crest Trail, California: 7 nights; 78 mi (126 km); 7,519 to 10,870 ft (2,292 to 3,313 m) elevation; 37 to 75 F (3 to 24 C) with clear to partly cloudy conditions and extreme wind on the last day.

Lake Pleasant, Sierra Nevada, California: overnight; 13 mi (16 km); 6,300 to 6,600 (1,920 to 2,012 m); 19 to 52 F (-7 to 11 C) with clear conditions; wind gusts to 20 mph (32 km/h).

The pillow is quick and easy to deflate. I can fully inflate it with just under four breaths. It packs down very small so I carry it in my clothing bag and have never used the storage sack. Even at home I just store it loose in the gear bin. When I get to camp and set up the tent, I dump out my clothing sack and inflate the pillow. With the large valve it only takes a few breaths to get mine just where I like it which is probably just under half-inflated. My husband likes his a little thicker which is only another breath or so. For reference, I prefer pillows at home that are on the thin or squishy side while my husband likes a firmer or thicker pillow and is even comfortable with two pillows at times. Both of our sleeping styles are easy to accommodate with this pillow and neither of us have used the pillow at even close to full inflation.

The Hyperlight pillow is comfortable on my face with the smooth nylon cover but I usually wrap my down jacket or a shirt around it for added padding and to keep it cleaner. I find that the air inside wants to shift completely from side to side as I move my head and is sometimes annoying. At times it shifts so much that the pillow squirts out during the night and I have to find it later.

I haven't used other travel pillows so I can't compare them but I wonder if one with compartments rather than one big air pocket would alleviate the shifting under my head. I have tried the light-weight solution of half-filling multiple zip-top bags which simulates a multi-compartment pillow. It works better for the shifting issue but the bags make crinkling noises which awaken me.

I haven't washed the pillows yet but they have stayed clean due to covering them with other fabrics at night. There are no stains or odors. They haven't had any durability issues or leaks despite not storing them in the sack between trips. I don't roll or fold the pillow in the same manner every time. Rather I just squeeze out the air and stuff the pillow so that the same areas aren't being stressed.

The range of overnight temperatures hasn't changed the performance of the pillow at all. I didn't notice any stiffening in colder temperatures.

SUMMARY

Overall I find the pillow to be very comfortable and a nice luxury especially on cold trips where I want to wear a lot of clothing to bed and thus don't have enough clothing for stacking into a pillow.

THINGS I LIKE

Lightweight
Comfortable
Adjustable

THINGS I DON'T LIKE

Air pocket shifts

SIGNATURE

Nancy Griffith

Reviews > Sleep Gear > Accessories > Design Salt HyperLight AirCore Pillow > Owner Review by Nancy Griffith