Sleep Well on Your Fishing Trips

Imagine you are out on the water early on a Thursday morning.

The water gentles ripples around your waders, the sun is painting the sky as it rises, and the birds are beginning to sing their songs. You reach for your hip pack, and what is that you feel? A kink in your neck…you should have brought some Tylenol.

 

You Neglected To Plan

We have all been there. We schedule our fishing trip with our buddies and spent all of our time researching the lakes, rivers, and streams we would be fishing to makes sure we brought the right gear. We made out packing list absolutely perfect.

• Fishing rods (x2) - √
• Fishing reel (x3) - √
• Boat bag - √
• Hip pack - √
• Sunglasses - √
• Beer - √
• Waders - √ 
• Cash - √
• Tent - √
• Pillow
• Extra clothes - √

 

You forgot to pack your pillow!

 

Don’t Neglect Your Neck

Muscle pain can turn an awesome day on the water into a nightmare. Every cast, every release, every high-five hurts your neck and upper back. Sitting in a boat all day? No thank you. Standing in the water? Nope. You just want to lay down and feel better.

While it isn’t exactly a sexy topic, having a quality pillow is a key piece of a happy fishing trip.

As we age, we all feel it in our joints a bit more - no matter how in shape we are. When sleeping in a tent, making sure we also save space in the car for a pillow and a sleeping pad is always a good idea.

 

Your Pillow Options for Sleeping in a Tent

I have tried many pillows over the years while camping, hiking, or simply resting while out on fishing trips. None of them are perfect; they all have their trade-offs. Let’s dive in here:

 

Option 1: Bring your pillow from home.

This is certainly the most comfortable and the cheapest option. You are already used to your pillow, so bringing it along with you on your fishing trip adds an extra level of comfort.

The downside is that you can easily get your pillow dirty, wet, or downright stinky while on your trip. When we sleep in a tent, our breath causes condensation to form nearly everything inside our tent, including our pillow. If you aren’t airing out your tent during the day, after a couple of nights, your pillow will be damp and uncomfortable.

We also get dirty on our fishing trips, especially if we are not at a local campground that has showers nearby. Many of us resort to either not showering at all or having to bathe in the body of water nearby. Doing so does leave some level of stench on us, which we then transfer to our clothes, sleeping bag, and, yes, our pillow. While you may not mind the smell because it reminds you of the awesome trip you just took, I am guessing your wife probably does.

Finally, bringing our big pillows from home may not be possible if we have to backpack or hike out to our camping location. Strapping a giant pillow to your pack just adds weight and bulk.

 

Option 2: Air-filled pillows

Air-filled pillows such as the Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight pillow are inflated with your breath or a pump and have no internal padding (just air). This makes these pillows extremely compact when storing them in a car, backpack, or on a boat. They are also relatively comfortable, but some are prone to slightly deflating throughout the night and may need to be refilled before sleeping on them again.

 

Option 3: Foam pillows

Foam pillows such as the REI Campwell pillow are filled with small foam pieces and act very similarly to your pillow at home. These pillows also compress down to a small size to fit in a car, backpack, or boat but are not as compactable as air-filled pillows. While the prospect of sleeping on an all-foam pillow sounds nice, the foam does have a tendency to space around your head while sleeping and does not provide enough comfort for my liking.

 

Option 4: Hybrid pillows

Hybrid pillows such as the NEMO Fillo pillow have a soft eggshell insert and a valve to let air in through your breath or a pump. These combine the best of both worlds, where your head rests on the eggshell insert (or foam insert) but has the added cushioning of air. While they do not compact down as much as air-filled pillows, I do find these to be the most comfortable.

I purchased the NEMO Fillo pillow and have fully converted to hybrid pillows. There will always be space for this type of pillow in my backpack.

 

Bonus Option: Stuff your clothes into a T-shirt

A final option available, and a surprisingly effective option, is to stuff your clothes into a T-shirt.

Let’s say you do forget to pack a pillow. Taking a spare t-shirt and stuffing a few spare items into the t-shirt will serve as a decent pillow for the night - a much better option than sleeping with your head on the ground directly. The nice thing about this option is that you can determine how thick and padded you want your pillow, but the downside is that if you use all of your clothes, you are out of a pillow.

I don’t recommend banking on this as an option, but it is a good thing to remember just in case.

 

How about you? What type of pillow do you use on a fishing trip or while camping? Let us know in the comments!

 

See you out there,

John Jay Thomas

 

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