Weekender Gel Reminiscence Foam Tenting Pillow Overview

Bottom Line

The Weekender Gel Memory Foam Camping Pillow is our pillow of choice when we care most about support and least about packability. This is probably the most polarizing pillow in our best camping pillow guide – a great buy for some side sleepers and weekend warriors yet a poor pick for backpackers and fans of light, fluffy pillows.   

Sleepers who prefer firm, supportive pillows may find the Weekender Camp Pillow more comfortable than their pillow at home. That’s why it’s a top choice on Amazon – and why our gear analyst snuck it into his own bed after testing. But it’s a firmer pillow than many campers like, and its dense memory foam makes it too heavy and bulky to consider carrying it in a pack.

However, the price is right and its support stands out. The Weekender Camping Pillow provides excellent value for car campers, overlanders, and van-lifers who have the space to splurge on a potentially comfortable and highly supportive camp pillow.

How We Tested

We tested the Weekender over the past few months of car camping and dispersed camping across New Mexico’s high deserts and wilderness areas. Through side-by-side testing in the Chihuahuan desert and Sandia Mountains, he compared its comfort to other camp pillows. He also weighed, measured, and stacked it against a dozen other camp pillows to gauge its cushioning, loft, support, and ease of use.

Comfort

The Weekender Gel Memory Foam Pillow will score comfort points with campers who prefer sleeping on a firm, highly supportive pillow. This pillow’s unique feel stems from its gel memory foam – a solid block of dense, sponge-like foam. As your upper body slowly sinks into this pillow, the memory foam compresses under your weight to conform to the specific contours of your head and neck. The memory foam is also perforated for ventilation and infused with a gel that supposedly keeps the pillow cooler overnight. However, we couldn’t evaluate this claimed cooling effect since we only tested this pillow in chilly, shoulder-season weather. 

Denser and firmer than the average home pillow, this memory gel foam will turn off some campers – and be a revelation for those who love firm, supportive pillows. Gear Analyst Jory Brass took to this memory foam quickly. As a side sleeper with broad shoulders and a bad back, he found the memory foam’s contour design very comfortable. As he slept on his back and side, the pillow held his head and neck in ergonomic alignment. The pillow is firm, not hard. It’s denser than any other pillow he’s tested, yet it didn’t smash his ear while side-sleeping like several air pillows do. The Weekender isn’t quite in his comfort wheelhouse – it’s a tad firmer than he prefers. However, he likes it enough that it now lives on his bed at home. 

However, we all have different pillow preferences. Plenty of people have picked the Weekender as the most comfortable camp pillow – just browse those 25,000+ five-star ratings on Amazon. However, our tester’s wife – a fan of flat pillows – couldn’t imagine sleeping on something so firm and supportive. Compared with other foam pillows we tested, the Weekender Camping Pillow is not as soft. In short, this pillow’s comfort could be a pro or a con – it all hinges on your sleeping style, cushion preference, and support needs.

Weight & Packability

The Weekender Camping Pillow is the least packable option that CleverHiker tested and reviewed. It’s built for weekend car camping and overlanding – not backpacking. 

Unfortunately, our tester received the standard-sized Weekender pillow to review – not the camping-sized pillow (which is smaller). The standard size (26 x 16 x 3.5 inches) weighed a smidge under two pounds – the heaviest measured weight in our lineup. However, if you want a standard-sized pillow for the campground or RV, this pillow would work well. Our tester paired it with his Exped MegaMat sleeping pad for a solid night of sleep at a dispersed campsite at the foot of New Mexico’s Organ Mountains. 

For a more packable and travel-friendly option, be sure to choose the “camping” size. Based on its published dimensions, the Weekender Camping Pillow (18 x 12 x 3.5 inches) weighs approximately a pound. The camping version comes with a carrying case to stuff in your trunk, cab, or the overhead compartment of a plane. However, that solid block of gel memory foam is still too heavy and bulky to stuff in or clip to a backpack – even in its camping size. 

If you put a premium on packability, you should steer clear of the Weekender Camping Pillow. However, that added weight and heft pays off in support.

Support

Hands down, the Weekender Pillow is the most supportive pillow we tested. Our gear analyst slept on it for several weeks, comparing it with the other pillows in our lineup at roadside campgrounds. Inflatable pillows are generally more supportive than foam pillows, but the Weekender’s dense memory foam matched the support of all the air pillows we tested. It conformed around our tester’s head and neck in ways that air bladders cannot.

Instead of resting on top of a pressured air pocket, our tester’s head and neck sank into dense, squishy foam that compressed against his body’s contours. That responsive, yet resistant foam cradled his upper body in an ergonomic position, placing less pressure on his neck than other camping and backpacking pillows. Likewise, the solid block of memory foam provided much more resistance than the light foam scraps inside compressible foam pillows, such as the Therm-a-Rest Compressible. For someone with a history of neck and back issues – like our gear tester- the gel memory foam is gold.   

However, this high level of support may or may not feel comfortable. Our tester’s head only made a small dent in that dense gel memory foam – and his wife calls the Weekender pillow a “brick.” Though, if you’re after support and have space in your vehicle, then this camping pillow is worth considering.

Ease of Use

Even by pillow standards, the Weekender is easy to use. It’s a block of foam that sits on your bed or sleeping pad. When the pillow arrives, you will want to unpack it a day before your first night of sleeping on it, so it can air out and decompress before you use it. Further, the smaller, camp-sized version of this gel memory foam pillow comes with a simple travel sack. All sizes include a zippered polyester cover that you can remove to wash. That’s it – no valves, straps, hidden stuff sacks, or adjustable toggles. 

Should You Buy the Weekender Gel Memory Foam Camping Pillow?

All products have their trade-offs. With the Weekender Camping pillow, you need to pick between packability and support. You also need to prefer firmer pillows for this one to work for you. If you want a light and packable pillow for backcountry camping – or find flatter or softer pillows more comfortable – skip this camp pillow. However, if you like a firmer and more durable pillow, the Weekender delivers best-in-class support at nearly the best-in-class price. It’s a no-brainer pick for your campground tent, RV, or Sprinter van.

What Other Camping Pillows Should You Consider?

If you’re not sold on the Weekender Gel Memory Foam Camping Pillow, please check out our full guide to the best camping pillows. In particular, here are some other pillows we recommend with similar features or prices.

Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow Review: This Compressible pillow is another affordable camping pillow that’s softer and more versatile than the Weekender Gel Memory Foam Camping Pillow. 

HEST Camping Pillow Review: Do you care more about comfort and support than cost? The HEST pillow might be a smart splurge. Another memory foam pillow, the HEST is not quite as supportive as the Weekender, but it’s still plenty supportive and significantly softer (and more expensive).

Trekology Aluft Pro 2.0 Review: Do you like the Weekender pillow’s price, but need a lighter, more packable option? This Trekology pillow is the cheapest pillow on our list, yet it punches above its price point for comfort, packability, and support. It’s a high-value backpacking pillow that’s also appropriate for airplanes and campgrounds.