Australian Hiker

Rating

Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow Down Deluxe Review

When out camping we are away from our familiar bed, typically sleeping on a narrow sleeping mat inside a restricting sleeping bag, that may or may not be keeping you as warm and comfortable as you would like. In addition when we sleep in an unfamiliar location we often have difficulty sleeping for the first night or two. To help improve your sleep when spending a night or two on the trail there are certainly a number of things you can do and one of those is to have a decent pillow to improve your comfort level.

Inflatable pillows are usually considered a luxury item but having said that this would have to be one of the most common luxury items that hikers carry. There are any number of brands and models on the market but without a doubt the Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow Down Deluxe would be as close as it gets to bringing your home pillow on a hike. This pillow comes in three sizes; regular, large and deluxe with the difference being the physical size. The Deluxe size, the one we got to test out has dimensions of 59 cm x 38 cm x 12 cm which is not quite as large as a standard home pillow but its close. The 12 cm thickness is also pretty luxurious as well. Shape wise this pillow is rectangular and has rounded corners. This pillow is manufactured in a couple of colours but most stores will often tend to stock one colour, either green or grey.

Apart from the physical size the biggest thing you will notice is that the top and front of the pillow have a down layer. While this pillow isn’t the same as a home down pillow, the thin down layer provides a degree of luxury and comfort that other inflatable pillows don’t have. I like my pillows on the soft size and as an inflatable pillow you have the ability to put as much or as little air in as you prefer.

The Sea to Summit pillows have a couple of unique features that I find quite useful. The first is the pillow lock system that comes standard with new Sea to Summit mats and is essentially an extremely fine hook and loop system that stops the pillow from sliding off the sleeping mat. The second unique feature is a small dual purpose valve that allows you to blow into the pillow and remove your mouth without having all the air escape but with a quick flick you can let all the air out very quickly. In most cases all you need is a few breaths.

Now for the negatives and there really are only two. The first and most obvious is the the AUD $139 RRP. This pillow is without a doubt the most expensive inflatable pillow around although you will usually find it for sale. The pillow is also heavy as far as inflatable pillows go at 190 grams. Overall the positives of this pillow outweigh the negatives but from my own personal perspective my choice is the large which is just a bit more compact in size and weighs in at a more reasonable 95 grams. Whatever size you go for, this pillow will greatly improve the quality of your sleep and is well worth considering.

As a final comment this is the pillow that Gill and I have purchased for those times when we do carry a pillow on our camping trips.

We Like

• The comfort. This pillow is just luxurious
• This pillow is about as close as it gets to bringing your pillow from home
• Works well with the Sea to Summit sleeping mat pillow lock system that helps keep the pillow from escaping during the night

We Don't Like

• The cost. This is not a cheap pillow but what price comfort?
• There are lighter weight pillows on the market including a number from Sea to Summit

Best Uses

• For any hiker who appreciates a good night’s sleep

Buy One

You can purchase the Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow Down Deluxe online from Snowys, from Wildfire Sports or from Wild Earth

Disclosure: We may earn a small commission, at no additional expense to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Please note that our affiliations do not influence, in any way, the independence of our reviews. If we don’t like a product, you’ll hear about it from us!

If you have used the Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow Down Deluxe or if you have questions, we’d like to hear from you. Post your comment or questions below

Investment

AUD $139.99 RRP. This pillow is often sold for less than the RRP

Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow Down Deluxe. The pillow has a nice soft touch to give that extra cosy feel

Aeros Pillow Down Deluxe inflated. In my case I prefer a slightly softer pillow so don’t put a lot of air in the pillow. You can firm this up to the level that you like. This view shows the down pillow top. The green strip at the front of this image is actually the back of the pillow. The front edge of the pillow is also down covered

Pillow locke. The soft material in the centre of the pillow will grip onto the micro hook system on a sleeping mat

Pillow lock with micro hook patches on a Sea to Summit Etherlight XT Insulated mat

Multi function valve. This double tabbed valve means that you can stop blowing at anytime and not have to worry about the air escaping

Packed pillow in its stuff sack compared to a one litre water bottle

Other Versions

Sea to Summit make a number of different pillows including:

• Aeros Premium Pillow-Regular
• Aeros Premium Pillow-Large
• Aeros Ultralight Pillow
• Aeros Ultralight Pillow Deluxe
• Aeros Down Pillow Regular (34 x 24 x 12 cm) 70 grams
• Aeros Down Pillow Large (42 x 28 x 12 cm) 95 grams
• Aeros Premium Traveller Pillow
• Aeros Ultralight Traveller Pillow
• Foamcore Pillow

Sea to Summit also produce a pillow case if you can’t live without one

Disclaimer

This review was done with product provided by Sea to Summit for review. We ended up buying one for each of us after we did the review

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