Sleeping under the night sky in a cozy tent can be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to be with the best camping pillow. Car camping allows you to bring the most comfortable gear to get the best chance at a good night’s sleep, whether that’s a camping cot , cozy sleeping bag or a squishy camping pillow that might rival the ones on your bed. I tested 13 camping pillows from well-known brands like Nemo, Sea to Summit, REI Co-op, Exped and more.

I analyzed each pillow’s overall comfort, packed size, weight and ease of use. After sleeping on every camping pillow, only one stood out as the go-to to add to your camping checklist . Best camping pillow: REI Co-op Campwell Camp Pillow I slept with each of these camping pillows for at least one night and used a camping cot to really get the full camping experience.

Thanks to my overnight testing sessions, it became easy to cut out some pillows immediately due to their small size and lack of comfort. On the other hand, the REI Co-op Campwell Camp Pillow quickly stood out and eventually became our winner thanks to its larger sleeping surface area, affordable price and comfortable squish. It was easily in the top three pillows tested when it comes to how plush it was to sleep on the whole night.

When I go car camping, I don’t necessarily want to take my regular pillow, even if I have the space. It can get dirty and gross or smell like campfire smoke, so using a camping pillow is my preferred choice. But most camping pillows I t.