My wife and I bought two of these for plane travel based on the glowing reviews. The concept was pretty compelling, and I have to say that the pillow works almost as well as advertised.
***UPDATE***
This product deserves a minimum of 4 stars. My original review failed to take into account some additional ways to use the pillow effectively.
First off, the excellent:
1. The pillow is very easy to inflate, and only takes 3-4 puffs of air depending on your lungs. It is also very easy to deflate, rolls up, and takes up a minimum of space in your carry on bag.
2. The pillow is comfortable enough for an inflatable. It is covered in a soft faux velvet that doesn't irritate the skin or cause discomfort due to pressure points. You can make it even more comfortable with a small cotton pillow or even by putting a cotton pillow case over it, if you prefer that.
3. When it used properly it will support your head and neck very well and will allow you to sleep on an airplane, car, or even sitting in the airport lobby.
4. The 'arm' of the pillow resting along your chest and mid section is very comfortable. I found it soothing since I tend to sleep holding a pillow anyway. Your mileage may vary on that one though.
A Few Problems:
The pillow can be hard to keep in one place if you use the rope to fasten it to the seat back. There are two bands that connect the pillow to your chair: the first is a loop that you can put around your belt, your seat belt, or even a belt loop. This connection works well and is fastened in place by a quality metal snap. However, the top is held in place by a nylon piece of rope that you can adjust with a plastic thump clasp. It is intended to go around the backside of your seat and then tighten down to hold the pillow in place. This can work pretty poorly on certain airplanes because A. the seat backs in are sometimes slick, B. the nylon rope doesn't have any traction to it (although this is intentional because it allows the thumb clasp to move easily), and C. The top of some airplane seats are angled and as time passes the rope works itself free. My experience was that it was very hard to make the cushion stay in place for more than an hour at a time, and it required readjustment frequently. This may frustrate the person sitting next to you, or the person behind you who you keep turning around and looking at while you make adjustments!
***UPDATE***
After receiving some additional information from the makers of the TravelRest pillow, I've learned that there is an alternative (and far superior in my opinion) way to use the pillow that involves wearing it like a messenger bag by connecting the pillow strap to the bottom strap. This forms a loop you can put around your body and which keeps the pillow much more stationary. Using the pillow in this fashion is easier and more secure. I'd recommend using the pillow this way virtually all of the time.
2. The pillow only gives you support on one side at a time, unlike traditional neck pillows. If you shift while sleeping, you will find yourself with a massive neck cramp.
***UPDATE***
However, you can easily shift the pillow from one side to the other if you're 'wearing it' messenger style. This alleviates that problem pretty satisfactorily.
Advice and Observations:
1. Don't over-inflate the pillow. It is actually more comfortable at about 80-90% capacity.
2. It is easy to let air out once the pillow is in place, but it is much harder to add air because the access point is on the bottom of the pillow. Go for a little over full and then let air out as necessary.
Conclusions:
This is pretty solid invention for sleeping on a plane. In my estimation, it is superior to a traditional neck pillow, but has its share of advantages and disadvantages. I'd recommend it if you prefer strong directional support to softer universal neck support provided by a traditional neck pillow, and if you like the comfort of having a pillow 'hugging' you as you sleep. This pillow also works really well in the car, and if you've got kids who have a hard time sleeping on road trips, these are probably a must buy.
***UPDATE***
I'd like to thank TravelRest for their customer service. This company went out of their way to assist with my pillow by providing additional information on how to use the pillow effectively. They have produced a short video on using the pillow that I have put a link to in the comments section. It is pretty PR-ish, but does show the various ways to use the pillow. I'd also like to say that TravelRest in no way bartered for any changes to this review. They were straight shooters who wanted to make sure I understood their product and was using it properly. I've got no problem recommending them to anyone. It's actually pretty amazing when a company goes above and beyond to provide solid customer service as they did for me.
My wife and I are currently in Rome having just flown from LA. I am a terrible sleeper on planes and always wake up from trying to sleep with a stiff neck. I saw the reviews here on Amazon and thought I would try this pillow out (I also bought one for my wife). On the plane we felt a little silly blowing them up and strapping them to the back of our seats (our planes had video players on the back of them, so we had to strap them on the groove that runs along the top of the seat where the built-in-pillow meats the seat. That worked just fine). After we started using them, however, we didn't care what they looked like. Now, I am not going to lie and say it felt like sleeping on a bed or anything like that, but it was a huge improvement over U-pillows. I still had a hard time sleeping (because I do not like flying very much), but at least now I had a comfortable neck. If I were a more relaxed flyer, I would have slept well. The thing I like the best is that it offer a stable place to rest your head supporting both your head and neck.
When I ordered from the company, I called them up because I was in a rush and needed to confirm a shipping date. I actually talked to the inventor for a few minutes. He is a great guy and is proud of his product. If you fly a lot of have a long flight upcoming, I would give this pillow a try.
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I think the TravelRest Pillow is OK. It is definitely better than those pillows that go around your neck.
It is very easy to inflate and very easy to pack with your carry on bags.
I found if inflated fully, it was too big for my liking. I let out some air and it was more comfortable for me. I also turned it upside down at times. The skinnier side was more comfortable for me. At times, I even leaned forward in my seat, folded the pillow in half, rested it on the tray table and rested my head on it, it was a good height for that.
Basically, I rarely used it as it as shown in the picture, but it still worked for me, better than the around the neck pillows.
I would not call this a miracle pillow though, and it was way more expensive than it should have been.
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This pillow is A-MAZE-ING! I did 310,000K miles last year in the air and have the bad back and neck to prove it. This year...I got smart and ordered the TravelRest Pillow for my treks and trips. The device is simply wonderful. I use it all the time not only on long flights to aid in my sleep and comfort but at home too. It's a great pillow to form around the body to hold a laptop or reading material. I also like it when folks stop me or reach over on a flight and ask me "where did you get that cool pillow".
Thanks TravelRest!!!!!!!!!
JYerton
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Compared to the standard travel pillow, this design suits me much more. I tend to lean forward and over with my whole body as opposed to just my head rolling from side to side (which is what helps with a standard travel pillow. I used this on an overseas flight to Japan where I found I had my first issue the TVs in the economy class were situated on the backside of the seat in front of you so if I was to use my pillow as instructed, I would have put a lace right in the middle of the screen of the person behind me (something I obviously was not willing to do.) I tried to tie the cord around the headrest part of the seat (without going all the way around the seat) but that made the cord rest awkwardly on the exposed part of my neck. I tried to follow the instructions for use without a backrest, but this wasn't incredibly useful as I couldn't put my full weight on it to prevent me from falling asleep and leaning forward over the person next to me. Eventually with some playing around I was able to jimmy the cord around the back corner of the seat to give me some support without blocking the other person's tv (although the set up process must have bothered them to no end so I apologize fellow passengers) and I could fall asleep very comfortably. Another downside is that if your neck gets tired from resting to one side, you can't very easily switch sides.
Once settled, it worked very well very easy, quiet and quick to blow up and deflate. Small for storage in carry on. Clip is convenient and useful, so despite my struggle, I am still very pleased with the purchase.
We bought these sheets to go with the comforter. Haven't used them yet, since child has nice microfiber sheets for colder weather. I will say that the sheets come prewashed and the pillow case has a different animation on both sides. So sheets compliment the comforter very well, since it's reversible too. Lego Ninjago is the craze right now, and it gives my child something other than Spiderman to like.
