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Reviews > Sleep Gear > Accessories > Kelty Camp Pillow > Owner Review by Chad G Poindexter

KELTY CAMP PILLOW
BY CHAD POINDEXTER
OWNER REVIEW
November 04, 2009

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Chad Poindexter
EMAIL: cg-77 (at) hotmail (dot) com
AGE: 32
LOCATION: Corinth, Alcorn County, Mississippi, USA
GENDER: M
HEIGHT: 5' 10" (1.78 m)
WEIGHT: 200 lb (90.70 kg)

I started backpacking this year and have hiked a section of the Appalachian Trail in north Georgia and at a few state parks in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. As a new backpacker I have obtained mostly heavy gear, but dream of going light. I sleep in a tent and like a warm drink in the morning, as well as a warm meal at night. Since I'm still new my distance is around 10 mi (16 km) or less per day, depending on terrain. I usually hike with my fiancé or my son but wouldn't mind a solo hike.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

IMAGE 1
Manufacturer: Kelty
Year of Manufacture: 2009
Manufacturer's Website: www.kelty.com
MSRP: (US) $ 11.95
Fill type: Kelty Cloudloft Pro synthetic insulation
Shell Material: NR210T polyester double ripstop
Liner Material: polyester / cotton
Listed Weight: 10 oz (283 g)
Measured Weight: 8 oz (227 g)
Listed Dimensions: 14 in x 18 in (36 cm x 46 cm)
Measured Dimensions: 13.5 in x 16.5 in (34 cm x 42 cm)
Stuffed Size Listed: 5 in x 9 in (13 cm x 23 cm)
Stuff Size Measured: 5 in x 9.5 in (13 cm x 24 cm)
Available Colors: Blood Red, Woods Green, Nite Sky

PRODUCT DETAILS

IMAGE 2


IMAGE 3
Cotton / Poly blend
The Kelty Camp Pillow (hereafter referred to as the "pillow") is a small, light-weight pillow, designed for use during pretty much any type of travel plans. It is machine washable, and it has two (2) different textured sides. One side features a slick, cool, polyester double ripstop fabric (as seen in the picture above), and the other side features a cozy, polyester / cotton blend (see picture to the left.) The pillow has the "Kelty" logo screen-printed on the bottom right corner on the side made of ripstop, and a consumer tag sewn into the upper right hand corner while looking at the same side.

The pillow also comes with a stuff sack for easy and convenient storage and weighs 1 oz (28 g). The stuff sack is made of the same polyester double ripstop material as the pillow and has the same "Kelty" logo screen-printed on the side with "CAMP PILLOW" printed beneath it. There is another consumer tag sewn into the side of the stuff sack closer to the bottom as well. The stuff sack is closed by cinching the gray, round, nylon cord, and locking it with the cord lock.

FIELD DATA

NORTH GEORGIA, APPALACHIAN TRAIL. My fiancé and I were out for 5 nights on this backpacking trip. Temperatures were as high as 85 F (29 C) during the days and reached as low as 61 F (16 C) during the nights. I used The North Face Aleutian sleeping bag and an REI Lite Core 1.5 self-inflated air mattress with the pillow to make up my sleep system. The ground where we made camp consisted of hard, dirt ground to sandy / rocky ground. Elevations varied nightly, from 1,770 ft (539 m) on the first night out, to 4,450 ft (1,356 m) on our last night out.

SOUTHWESTERN TENNESSEE, BIG HILL POND STATE PARK (BHPSP). I have frequented this state park many times since this past spring. All of which have only been overnighters. The general elevation is listed at 500 ft (152 m). The lowest temperatures that I have experienced while here has been right at 50 F (10 C). Again, I used the same sleep system here, The North Face Aleutian sleeping bag and an REI Lite Core 1.5 self-inflated air mattress with the pillow. The ground here is typically a softer soil and even padded with lots of fallen leaves.

IMAGE 4
Our set up at BHPSP


I have also used the pillow on about 15 nights while just camping out at various campgrounds near my hometown. Elevations typically range between 400 ft (122 m) and 500 ft (152 m). The temperatures have been as low as 50 F (10 C), sometimes with rainy nights, and sometimes clear beautiful nights. The grounds where we made camp had varied from grassy fields (see picture below), to soft ground with downed leaves, to gravel and hard packed dirt. On the first few nights I had used a simple blue closed cell foam pad, but then upgraded to a REI Lite Core 1.5 self-inflated air mattress and a Therm-a-rest ProLite 4 self-inflated air mattress. I also used The North Face Aleutian sleeping bag as well as the Kelty Camp Pillow.

IMAGE 5
Field Camping

SUMMARY

I purchased two of these pillows, one in a Blood Red and one in a Nite Sky. As soon as I got them home I removed the consumer tags from both the pillows, and the stuff sacks. They were just too big and in the way, flopping around and such. I of course played with the pillows, and came to find out real quick that it was way easier to stuff them if I rolled them up with the ripstop material facing out on the pillow, it just made it slide in the stuff sacks so much easier.

I have used them for lots of trips, backpacking, camping and even in the car, and the thing is that, well, they are small. This being said, they don't provide much elevation while lying on them, for me anyway. I usually roll up any extra clothes I have and put them under the head of my sleeping pad, and then put the pillow inside the hood of my sleeping bag. So the pillow actually is providing me with a cushy place to lay my head at night, instead of elevation. With this in mind, the pillow is very nice to have after a long day of hiking.

I have found that the pillow will clump, just as with any other pillow I have used, so I find that I have to get rough with it every so often to break up the fill so it will be nice and fluffy and smooth again. However, the clumping may have something to do with storing it inside the stuff sack long term. I will start leaving it out of the stuff sack and lying flat for storage for now on.

It doesn't matter to me what side of the pillow I use to lay my head on if it's warm out, but when it does get cold I like to keep the polyester / cotton side up. Also, it does take up a good little spot inside my backpack but I don't mind it. Even stuffed you can still cram it down a little more. Here is a picture of it in its stuff sack next to a 12 oz (355 ml) Coca-Cola can for comparison.

IMAGE 6
Actual Size

THE GOOD

1. It gives my head a cushy place to rest at the end of the day.
2. It packs down fairly small.
3. It's machine washable.
4. The price is good.

THE BAD

1. The fill tends to clump up.

SIGNATURE

Chad Poindexter "Stick"

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.

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