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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Accessories > Sea to Summit Aeros Premium Pillow > Test Report by jerry adams

SEA TO SUMMIT AEROS PILLOW
TEST SERIES BY JERRY ADAMS
LONG-TERM REPORT

INITIAL REPORT - July 11, 2014
LONG TERM REPORT - February 01, 2014

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Jerry Adams
EMAIL: jerryaadamsatyahoodotcom
AGE: 61
LOCATION: Portland, Oregon, USA
GENDER: m
HEIGHT: 6' 1" (1.85 m)
WEIGHT: 195 lb (88.50 kg)

I started hiking about 45 years ago. My first backpack was 40 years ago. I currently try to do one backpack trip of 1 to 5 nights every month (which can be tricky in the winter). Mostly I stay in the Western half of Oregon and Washington. In recent years I have shifted to lightweight - my pack weight without food and water is about 12 lb (6 kg). I make a lot of my own gear - silnylon tarp-tent, bivy, synthetic bag, simple bag style pack.


INITIAL REPORT

PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Sea to Summit
Year of Manufacture: 2014
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.seatosummit.com
Listed Weight: 2.8 oz (79 g) size Regular
Measured Weight: 3.0 oz (85 g) size Regular

The Sea to Summit Aeros pillow is an inflatable pillow for travel and backpacking.

It comes in two sizes:
Regular - 14 x 10 x 5 in (35 x 25 x 13 cm) - 2.80z (79g)
Large - 16.5 x 11.5 x 5.5 in (42 x 29 x 14 cm) - 3.7 oz (105g)

I got the size Regular. I measured the dimensions 13.5 x 9.5 x 4.5 in (34 x 24 x 11 cm) slightly less than advertised.

It has a brushed 50D polyester knit cover. It's yellow/green on the bottom with a "SEA TO SUMMIT" logo. It's grey on the top.

There is synthetic fill between pillow case and the bladder for comfort. It has curved internal baffles that create a curved shape that cradles my head.

The edge of the pillow that touches my shoulders has a curved shape to better fit around my shoulders and center the pillow under my head.

It takes a couple breaths to inflate. The opening has two caps. One cap is labeled "inflate" and has a valve. With this cap opened, I blow into it and the valve keeps air from leaving. A second cap labeled "deflate" has no valve. When it is opened, the pillow will deflate. The first cap fits into the second cap which fits into the pillow. Little plastic pieces keep the caps attached to the pillow so I won't lose them.

The pillow comes with a tiny stuff bag which weighs 0.15 oz (4 g).

Top of pillow (the side against my head):
IMAGE 1

Bottom of pillow:
IMAGE 2

Close-up of valve with both caps closed - ready for sleeping on:
IMAGE 3

Inflation cap opened - ready to blow more air into it:
IMAGE 4

Inflation cap closed, deflation cap opened - pillow deflating:
IMAGE 5

Wow! - I got it back into that tiny bag:
IMAGE 6


INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

The Sea to Summit Aeros pillow looks to be well made. The fabric feels good. All the stitches are good.

The valve feels firmly attached. I opened the "inflate" cap and blew it up. I opened the "deflate" cap and let the air out. I blew it back up and closed all caps. The pillow feels good. The fabric against my face has a good feel. I deflated it and managed to get it into the storage bag.

I use my pillow resting directly on my self inflating mattress that has sort of a plastic feel. It seems like maybe the pillow will slide around too easily, but I'll find out during the testing.

One problem I have had with inflatable pillows is that they "roll". My head will shift from side to side with no resistance. The Aeros pillow has internal baffles that largely prevent this. It feels like this will work. I'll find out better during the testing period.

SUMMARY

The Sea to Summit Aeros pillow is a small, inflatable pillow for backpacking and traveling.

The 3 ounce (85 g) weight is very light for a comfortable pillow.

It packs into a tiny storage package.

Preliminarily, it feels like it will be comfortable.

I'll be testing it on two backpacking trips in each of the Field Report and Long Term Report periods.

Thanks to Seat to Summit and BackpackGearTest.org for letting me test this.

Look forward to my Field Report in a couple months.


LONG-TERM REPORT

LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

July 30, 2014 - 4 night car camp on Southwest Washington coast. 50 to 70 F (10 to 21 C).

August 18, 2014 - 2 night backpack and 2 night car camp at the Olympic Peninsula beach in Northwest Washington. 33 miles (53 km). 2200 feet (671 m) elevation gain. 55 to 75 F (13 to 24 C).

August 28, 2014 - 5 night backpack and 2 night car camp around Three Sisters in central Oregon. 40 to 75 F (4 to 24 C).

I took it in the car on about 6 other trips, thinking I should test it a little more, but I just prefer my foam pillow so I left the Aeros in the car. I guess this says something about my preference for the Aeros.

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

I used the Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow for 7 nights of backpacking and 15 nights total.

Overall, the pillow worked quite well (for an inflatable pillow).

I have not liked other inflatable pillows I've used because my head rolls around sideways. The baffles in the Aeros largely prevent this, but not completely. I prefer my foam pillow. But the Aeros is good for an inflatable.

The size of the pillow (length, width, and height) were good for my side sleeping. I like it to be as small as possible to save weight, but if it's too small, it's not comfortable. I think the Aeros is about perfect.

I have fairly easily got the pillow back in its little bag. The bag is the perfect size. If it was smaller, it would be too difficult to get the pillow into it. If it was bigger, it would be unnecessarily big to fit into my pack.

The curved edge of the pillow that fits against my shoulder is good. It provides a bit more support.

Inflating and deflating it has been okay. It's a bit tricky, but doable, to fit my mouth over the valve and blow. It would have been easier if the valve stuck out like typical valves on air mattresses and pillows. It was a bit difficult to pry open the valve stopper. I think this unique design is actually a detriment - better to just have a normal valve.

After my use, the bag shows no sign of wear or leakage.

The surface of the pillow was comfortable against my face and head. It has sort of a micro fleece/fabric feel. After each trip I washed it with a damp, soapy washcloth. It's slightly easier to throw a cover in the washing machine, but just barely.

One negative, for me, is that I use my foam pillow for padding next to my back in my pack. The Aeros does not provide this functionality. The main advantage of the Aeros, that it deflates to take less space in my pack, is not applicable to me.

SUMMARY

Overall, I was satisfied with the Sea to Summit Aeros pillow.

For an inflatable, the Aeros is comfortable, but my head still rolls around a little - a foam pillow is better.

Inflating and deflating was a little tricky but doable. I would have preferred a typical valve to the unique Aeros valve.

The small weight and size of the deflated pillow is very good compared to other pillows.

The fabric of the surface was comfortable against my face and easy to clean (although it's slightly easier to throw a cover in the washing machine to clean).

I am a little unique in that I prefer the padding of a foam pillow next to my back in my pack, so the main advantage of an inflatable is of no value, and a foam pillow is slightly more comfortable, so I will not be using this in the future. Maybe I'll throw it in the bag I keep in my car for backup.

Thanks to Sea to Summit and BackpackGearTest.org for letting me test this.

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1.5 Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.

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