Bottom Line
One of the lightest backpacking pillows around, the Sea to Summit Aeros Premium has scored points with thru-hikers, ultralight backpackers, and CleverHiker’s gear analysts. This ultralight and ultra-packable pillow is extremely backpacker-friendly, and it doles out plenty of support in spite of its lightweight and compact profile.
Most backpackers will likely find the Aeros comfortable too, even though air pillows usually aren’t as cozy as foam pillows.
After comparing notes with past and present gear analysts, we’ve picked the Sea to Summit Aeros Premium Pillow as the best ultralight backpacking pillow – and one of CleverHiker’s top picks in our guide to the best camping pillows.
How We Tested
Gear Analyst Jory Brass has been backpacking with the Aeros pillow since 2015 and picked up the newest version from Sea to Summit to compare it with the 12 other camping and backpacking pillows in our guide.
Over the past few months, he’s toted these pillows to the backcountry on a series of backpacking and camping trips – including a section of the Continental Divide Trail and New Mexico’s Gila Wilderness – to compare their comfort, weight and packability, support, and ease of use.
Quick Specs
Sea to Summit Aeros Premium
Best Backpacking Pillow
CleverHiker Rating: 4.7/5.0
Price: $55
Weight: 2.8 oz.
Pillow Type: Air
Pros
- Ultralight
- Compact
- Supportive
- Good valves
Cons
- Too firm for some
- Minimally insulated
Comfort
Sea to Summit’s best-selling pillow, the Aeros Premium is lightweight and packable, but it’s still a comfortable pillow to sleep on. We like the way this sculpted pillow hugs our upper bodies with a U-shaped bend that traces the contours of our neck and shoulders. That shape comfortably supports both back sleepers and side sleepers and the face fabric is a soft, brushed polyester knit.
The Aeros Pillow doesn’t feature as prominent of a cushioned top layer as heavier air pillows. Still, its top baffles add some subtle cushioning with a thin layer of synthetic fill that also adds light insulation. The pillow’s internal air bladder is also baffled to cradle and center backpackers’ heads. All in all, this is a relatively comfortable pillow – not an indulgent one.
Gear analyst Jory Brass is a side sleeper who’s spent dozens of nights sleeping on the Aeros Premium Pillow while backpacking in Australia and the United States. Like many air pillows, the Aeros can put plenty of pressure on side sleepers’ ears, which gets uncomfortable after several hours. However, this pillow’s shape and support have worked well for his temperamental back and neck. Letting some air out of the pillow is often enough to provide a softer sleeping surface without losing necessary support.
Some backpackers might prefer a larger sleeping surface than the Aeros Premium, which measures 13.4 x 9.4 x 4.3 inches. However, we like how this compact pillow can fit inside the hood of our mummy bag – and how that 4.3-inch depth is hefty enough to hold up side sleepers’ heads and necks in a comfortable, ergonomic position.
Especially for its weight, the Aeros Premium scores well for comfort. It’s a big comfort upgrade over stuffing your puffy jacket inside a stuff sack and, overall, a comparatively comfortable air pillow.
Weight & Packability
At the same time, the Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow’s weight and packability stand out more than its comfort. With a claimed weight of only 2.8 ounces, it’s the second-lightest pillow on our list next to our favorite stuff sack pillow, the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow. The Aeros is also highly packable, smushing down to the size of large lime in its included stuff sack. That makes it 2-3 times smaller than most of the other camping pillows we recommend for backpacking.
The Aeros is lightweight and packable enough that our gear analyst stowed it away in his small day pack on the Tour du Mont Blanc to supplement the refugio pillows on his hut-to-hut Alpine hike.
Given the Aeros Pillow’s weight and packed size, we recommend it to backpackers and thru-hikers who prefer an ultralight, yet supportive camping pillow. When Gear Analyst Jory Brass bumped into southbound thru-hikers on the Continental Divide Trail while field-testing this pillow, several of them whipped out their Aeros Premium Pillows from Sea to Summit. It’s a solid weight and space saver – and also quite supportive.
Support
With most types of outdoor gear, you often need to choose either weight savings or support. However, that’s not the case with the Aeros Premium backpacking pillow. With a sturdy TPU air bladder and height of 4.3 inches, it provides plenty of support while weighing less than 3 ounces.
As mentioned earlier, this pillow is more than supportive enough for side sleepers, who generally need thicker, firmer pillows to support their upper bodies and alleviate neck pressure. Once our side-sleeping tester picked up this pillow nine years ago, his neck felt significantly better on backpacking trips than it had sleeping on a stuff sack pillow or compressible foam pillow.
The Aeros Pillow’s height holds up his head and supports his neck to keep it well-aligned, thanks to the air pressure built up in the air bladder. He also prefers this pillow’s contoured shape to rectangular air pillows, which don’t hug his neck and shoulders nearly as well as the Aeros. Many campers prefer the comfort of compressible foam pillows, but it’s hard to beat the mix of weight savings, packability, and support you get from a premium air pillow like the Sea to Summit Aeros.
Ease of Use
The Sea to Summit Aeros Premium is easy to use, thanks to its one-piece design and simple, multipurpose valve. This is a simple inflatable camping pillow with a separate stuff sack that’s clearly branded and color-matched. You don’t need to worry about removable covers, hidden pockets, integrated stuff sacks, or various pockets – there’s nothing to roll, turn inside out, hook, unhook, or toggle to pack and unpack this pillow.
The two-part, multi-functional valve makes it easy to inflate the pillow, fine-tune its pressure with the touch of a finger, and deflate quickly with the dump valve. Sea to Summit’s Pillow Lock System lets you attach the Aeros Pillow to Sea to Summit sleeping pads; however, our gear analyst couldn’t test this feature since he used NEMO and ExPed sleeping pads for field testing.
Should You Buy the Sea to Summit Aeros Premium Backpacking Pillow?
We consider the Sea to Summit Aeros to be the best ultralight air pillow on the market. This pillow tested high across the board with good comfort, excellent weight savings and packability, above-average support, and ease of use. This is Sea to Summit’s best-selling backpacking pillow for a reason. Its regular size provides a compact and highly packable sleeping surface that’s comfortable, supportive enough for side sleepers, and fits inside a mummy bag.
That ticks a lot of boxes for backpackers, which is why our gear analyst has been using it for many years without considering any other camp pillow. If you’re after a larger sleeping surface or an ultrasoft camping pillow, we encourage you to browse our full list of the best camping pillows for alternatives. However, we highly recommend the Aeros Premium backpacking pillow for anyone looking for an ergonomic and supportive air pillow that saves some weight and doesn’t take up too much real estate in your pack.
What Other Camping Pillows Should You Consider?
The HEST Pillow may be our top pick for comfort, but it hasn’t totally cornered the market on comfort. Our complete guide to the best camping pillows features several comfortable pillows for the campground or backcountry.
Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow Review: For another comfort splurge, we really like the Therm-a-Rest Compressible. It’s significantly less expensive than the HEST camp pillow and a more packable alternative for backpackers who don’t mind carrying additional weight and bulk for extra comfort.
Weekender Gel Memory Foam Pillow Review: As another memory foam pillow at a budget-friendly price point, the Weekender isn’t as soft as the HEST, but it’s an extremely supportive pillow for RVs, campgrounds, and glamping adventures.
ExPed Mega Pillow Review: The ExPed Mega Pillow is another luxury pick – a soft, insulated air pillow that’s significantly lighter than the HEST Camp Pillow and much more packable for backpackers.
