I am sure we must all have looked at ‘travel pillows’ and probably tried some but felt a bit cheated as so few really do what we need them to, writes Mike Gormley.
You know what it’s like trying to get comfy on trains and boats and planes, not to mention cars and trucks, so you can gain a bit of shuteye when the situation allows. The majority of the travel pillows I have tried are mostly too small. They fall down the gaps and, in the end, don’t help a great deal.
Enter the Cocoon Air-Core family. The pillows in this range are significantly larger than most but still pack down small into their own very compact stuff sack so you can easily stash away until required. I first used this one, the Full-size Ultra-Lite model, on a long road trip ‘up north’ – which from where I live in the south-west is a long trip! The Cocoon made all the difference when I moved over to the co-drivers seat.
If, like me, you have a bit of a dodgy back a Cocoon travel pillow also makes a very good, and adjustable back support for both vehicle seats or, of course, any others. I can see this also making it into my pack when I go camping as well. Much better than the normal scrunched-up jacket.
The microfibre material is very nice on the user side but I must say Cocoon could make an improvement to the other side as it is shiny nylon, I guess this is to make it easy to clean but it is a bit slippery so sometimes a little tricky to keep in place. The pillow is inflatable, with a replaceable air core, but also has a synthetic fill for added comfort; a down version is also produced. It is available in three sizes and three two-tone pastel colour combinations (light green over grey being the closest to a military shade).
{ images © Mike Gormley }