We're getting old and (some) comfort is going to be important. As is sleep. As much sleep as possible. No pillow is not an option. The days of bundling clothes into a stuff sack are over, and, like, we'll be so ultralight there'll be no clothes to spare! So a pillow is needed.
I had been researching blow-up pillows and figured we'd end up buying one of these. But they can be a little unforgiving, and they tend to slide around on the mattress. Not so much fun for a side-sleeper. In the course of late-night, can't sleep, research, I came across some comments in the Ultralight Reddit expounding the virtues of a pillow made with a sponge, a buff and a puffy jacket. I was intrigued and had to try this.
Down to the local Repco store and searching for the largest car-wash sponge they had. The lady looked a little intrigued by our obvious sponge enthusiasm and enquired what we would be using it for. "Well, you're going to think this is weird", I said, "but we're going hiking and want to use it for a pillow." Her eyes lit up and she was like, "You've come to the right person!" and proceeded to tell us about buying a mattress booster with memory foam inside for her partner, and then cutting it up and the foam out to make support for them to help sleep. The lady knew her stuff! This may or may not be our next step, depending on how the sponge pillow goes.
Anyways, here's the sponge, the buff and the puffy jacket:
And here's the pillow:
It feels surprisingly comfortable and supportive. I'm looking forward to trying it out. And if it doesn't work out, the sponge was only $5. And the sponge can do double duty wiping condensation from the tent in the mornings!