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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Accessories > NEMO Fillo Backpacking Pillow > Owner Review by Kathleen Waters

NEMO FILLO BACKPACKING & CAMPING PILLOW

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BY KATHLEEN WATERS
JUNE 17, 2017

OWNER REVIEW

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Kathleen Waters
EMAIL: kathy at backpackgeartest dot com
AGE: 66
LOCATION: Canon City, Colorado, USA
GENDER: F
HEIGHT: 5' 4" (1.60 m)
WEIGHT: 125 lb (56.70 kg)

Living in Colorado and being self-employed, I have ample opportunities to backpack. There are over 700,000 acres/280,000 hectares of public land bordering my 71-acre/29-hectare "backyard" in addition to all the other gorgeous locations which abound in Colorado. Over the past 15 years, my husband John and I have also had the good fortune to hike/snowshoe glaciers, rain forests, mountains and deserts in exotic locations, including New Zealand, Iceland, Costa Rica, Slovenia and Death Valley. My hiking style is comfortable, aiming for lightweight. I use a tent (rainfly if needed). Current pack averages 25 lb (11 kg) excluding food and water.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer: Nemo Equipment, Inc.
Year of Manufacture: 2016
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.nemoequipment.com
MSRP: US $39.95
Listed Weight: 9 oz (260 g)
Measured Weight: 9 oz (260 g)
Listed Width: 10.5 in (27 cm)
Listed Length: 17 in (43 cm)
Listed Thickness: 4+ in (10+ cm)
Measured: W - 10 in, L - 16.5 in, T - 3.5 in (25.4, 42 & 9 cm)
Listed Packed Size: 6 in long x 4 in diameter (15 cm long x 10 cm diameter)
Available Colors: Moss Green, Nimbus Grey, Stalker Stripe & Sunrise Stripe
Color Reviewed: Sunrise Stripe
Insulation Type: Air with Luxury Foam
Fabric: Cotton/Polyester Jersey
Retail packaging

LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

Since I received the Nemo Fillo in January 2017, I've used it literally dozens of times, both on backpacking trips and on car trips.

I spent time in Eagle, Summit and Fremont counties. Elevations and terrain are as follows:

Fremont County, Colorado (my home "range") - this area is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with elevations ranging from 5500 ft (1700 m) to 9900 ft (3000 m). The terrain is mostly rather rough with lots of mud, loose rock and huge slabs of granite rock. Vegetation is scrubby pinon pine, Gamble oak, juniper, cactus and prairie grasses (or weeds, depending on who is talking!).

Eagle and Summit, Colorado Counties - Breckenridge/Avon/Vail/Minturn - Rocky Mountain (proper!) with elevations ranging from 7400 ft (2260 m) to 11400 ft (3480 m), generally rather steep dirt or snow-packed trails winding through ponderosa pine and aspen forests.

FIELD USE AND PERFORMANCE

Always, getting a good night's sleep is essential for me. However, on the trail, I can usually ignore a bad night just because I'm so happy to be in the outdoors that nothing much can ruin my good mood. Even so, I still appreciate and would rather have a good night's sleep! I'm always looking to improve my sleep gear.

I used to roll up and stuff my clothes in my sleeping bag's pillow sleeve or under the hood of my sleeping bag. That never really worked well for me. I've tried several different pillows with varying degrees of success. The Fillo is a winner, hitting all my "buttons"!

First, the Fillo is easy to inflate. A simple twist counter-clockwise then pull of the plastic stem opens the valve. Three good puffs of air - I heard that snicker about "hot air"! - and the Fillo is fully inflated. Twisting the stem clockwise and pushing downward locks it. Deflating it is accomplished just as quickly, pull the stem up, twist counter-clockwise and squish! Five seconds at most.
Deflated
Deflated Fillo
Folded
Folded Fillo
Inflated
Inflated Fillo

The stuff sack which is stored inside the pillow is accessed by a hook-n-loop flap on one end of the Fillo. Once I pull out the stuff sack, I can jam the Fillo into the stuff sack using both hands. The stuff sack closes with a drawstring and a barrel lock.

The first time I tried to put the Fillo into the stuff sack, it was frustrating. Even after looking at the instructions, I was stymied! It took a couple of tries before I got it and then I just felt dumb that I didn't do it on the first go-round. Folding the corners of the Fillo in, the pillow gets stuffed into the sack by turning the sack inside out as I go. No worries, I got it now!

What is so great about the Fillo is that it has a layer of foam over the inflatable baffles so even when it is inflated, I don't feel the ridges of the baffles. Just nice cushiony foam. The foam also makes the baffles less noisy. I only wish the backside of the Fillo was also the same material as the top rather than the crinkly material that it is.

Since the stuff sack is attached to the pillow's underside, I learned quickly was to make sure the stuff sack was stored on the BOTTOM side of the Fillo else I ended up with the barrel-lock closure impressed into my cheek!

The Fillo is a good-sized pillow. It actually fills up the whole of my sleeping bag hood. It doesn't fit into the attached pillow enclosure of my favorite sleeping bag, but that's not a concern for me as I prefer to be able to move my pillow around while sleeping, often with my arm or hand underneath it.
In Bag
Fillo fills up my whole hood!
Stuffed
Fillo in Stuff Sack


CARE

Per the instructions (which I promptly cut out of the stuff sack for less "crinkle"), I've always stored my Fillo flat on a shelf in my very cool, dry basement gear closet. This is to prevent the foam from getting icky. I've washed the cover of the Fillo four times, each time with other tech wash; cold water, gentle cycle and a tech wash liquid detergent. My Fillo has only been air-dried even though the care instructions say it can be machine dried. So far, everything has held up great!

STARRING ATTRACTIONS

1.) Very versatile, can be folded and scrunched as needed
2.) Super soft fabric surface feels good against my face
3.) Does not have/hold a funky smell
4.) Packs up nicely

MINOR DISTRACTIONS

1.) While the stuff sack is a cool feature, I would prefer all-over (soft) fabric - less "crinkling" noise

SUMMARY

My husband won the Nemo Equipment Fillo in a raffle early winter 2017 and since he already has a comfy camp pillow, he graciously gifted it to me (in response to my wistful "ooo, that's nice"). I happily accepted his offering and have been using the Fillo ever since on every single overnight and also as a lumbar pillow on long car trips. I am particularly impressed with how versatile it is as I have used it in its deflated state as well as various stages of inflation depending on my need for comfort at the time. I've even slept comfortably with the Fillo deflated and rolled up! And it's survived rough and careless treatment for sure.

I heartily recommend the Nemo Equipment Fillo Backpacking and Camping Pillow!

Kathleen (Kathy) Waters

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1.5 Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.

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