Advice for Packing a Pillow When Camping?

Q: Do you have advice for packing a pillow when camping?
— Brad, Easton, Massachusetts

A: Try strapping your pillow around your sleeping bag using rope or elastic bands so it doesn’t take up space inside your pack. Or leave your pillow at home and just bring a pillowcase. When you get ready for bed, stuff the pillowcase with your extra clothes — instant pillow! It hardly takes up any room in your pack. A nylon stuff sack also works.

Camping pillows are generally smaller than a bed pillow, making them good options for fitting in a pack. You can find luxurious foam-filled ones that support and cradle your neck — or pillows that transform into microfleece blankets, like the SeatDreamzzz pillow/blanket combo ($50, seatdreamzzz.com).

If you do buy a pillow, get one that provides some support and doesn’t go flat when you lie down on it, like the Klymit Drift ($50, klymit.com), which is filled with shredded memory foam.

If you’re going backpacking, look at inflatable pillows. They’re inexpensive and fold down small when deflated. The Klymit Pillow X Large ($30, klymit.com) expands from 4-by-3 inches to 17-by-12 inches when inflated.