Pat Clements

I just got my Exped Pillow Pump that I ordered from Campmor. Of course I had to open it and see what’s up with the thing. First impression, it’s very light. It has a thick foam in it, which is not unexpected. The part that attaches to the air mattress has an adapter that reduces the size of the opening. I might glue it in, then the plug wouldn’t fit and I couldn’t use it as a pillow as well.

Here’s the weird part. It has a big "dump valve" on it so it will fill up quickly, but it doesn’t have a check valve. So it looks like it’s a lot of opening the valve to let it fill, then close it so you can squeeze air out of it into the pad. I’ve searched all over the Internet for instructions on how you’re supposed to use it, but there are none, at least in English. There is a check valve on the outlet. At 4.x ounces, I think I’d take another ounce for a flapper or even a ping pong ball inside it so it would check automatically.

When I get home, I’ll try to fill my Big Agnes sleeping pad with it. That’s the reason I bought it – it’s not self inflating. And after a long day of riding, my lungs don’t want to fill a full length sleeping pad. On the other hand, the pad is very light and very compact, and very comfortable.

More later…