Aeros or Turtl?

No, I'm not talking about some fancy new chocolate bars, but rather the hot topic of travel pillows. One of the main things that I hate about long-haul travel or long travel days is not being able to get a decent sleep whilst sitting in an upright position (unless you travel posh class, which we don't!). Now I'm not saying I get crabbit and tetchy, but I do get rather grumpy when I'm tired and/or if I have a sore/stiff neck because I can't sleep properly. You know what it's like - it doesn't matter if you have the window seat or you're stuck in the middle seat in the plane, but sleeping in that position can be hard.

The Turtl

Thus, as part of my research into 'travel pillows', there was one that I was drawn to - the Turtl, which claims to provide great head support without the discomfort and pain that comes with travel bobbling about. So you are supposed to get a more restful sleep, which is backed by some scientific data; they have too. It's targeted for travel and is lightweight (it's not quite as compact as I'd like, as it's a bulky shape). Although it is certainly more compact than one of the normal big neck pillows you see people carrying on their bags.

The Trtl now comes in 3 different models with slightly different features and prices accordingly. The original base model is the one I went for, which is normally about £50 (but I got it discounted and eventually paid about £34 for it, which I thought was a more acceptable price). The product is mainly a bit of shaped plastic, which is inserted inside a fleece envelope and secured with velcro fastening.

The online reviews on the Trtl are quite mixed, with some people loving and raving about it and others detesting it and saying it's a complete waste of money and doesn't work. I did note that some of the complaints were about the height not being well suited for people with short neck sizes (i.e. short arses like me) and the company may have tried to address this with their latest model which is more adjustable (but more bulky and fiddly in my opinion). However, the suggestion seems to be that if you were a shorter-sized adult, then the kids Trtl (original) would potentially be a better option, so that's what I went for (and hence why it was also slightly cheaper because it was for a kid). Of course, the fleece wrap around is not quite as generous in the children's size, so beware, you may look like a strangled turkey wearing it if you have a somewhat generously proportioned neck like me...

The Aeros

Now I was quite chuffed with my research and choice of travel pillow until I saw R's pillow. After a wee quick comfort test of his Aeros, my little green monster of envy and doubt emerged - had I made a big error in my choice of travel pillow, and how did I miss this one in my research?

Suffice to say, I was impressed to the point that I had to get one of these too (and not because I can't see green cheese - as that's not me at all) but because I do hate not being able to sleep on long hauls so I decided it was worth the gamble. I mean, can you imagine how grumpy and irate I would be if I couldn't sleep and had his nibs blissfully snoring away right next to me in the land of travel nod?? I also really loved the compactness of this pillow, which is more in line with my idea of a compact travel pillow.

It's made of a super soft, light weight material with a sturdy valve which you blow up to inflate the pillow and it folds up and stores in a tiny little pouch (which I love). The total weight is 70g. I can't remember the UK price of this at the moment but I think it's around the £30 mark from Amazon.

The Verdict

So I gave both the Turtl and R's Aeros a try on the 1st long-haul leg of our journey (6hrs 40mins) and neither of them worked for me. However, there could have been some reasons for this which included: I wasn't tired enough to sleep (possibly still quite hyped and excited), the plane seats (which was a fairly new plane) was not as comfortable (compared to the next flight) and I was occupied enough with the excellent entertainment system that I was not 'in the mood to sleep', even though I was tired and I did try to sleep. R also tried to sleep with the Aeros, but he didn't fully inflate it, and rather than inflate my Aeros (when I already had the Trtl out), I just gave his a try as it was (I would probably have preferred to have used it fully inflated though).

However, on the 2nd leg of the journey (6 hrs 20 mins), we were both a lot more tired at this point. The plane was an older model, but it was great for comfort as it had much thicker seats, more leg room, a leg raise and feet support (R's leg raise didn't work). My entertainment system wasn't working for sound, so that was pretty mince, but using the Turtl, I slept for about 4 hours in total in 2 batches. I was delighted but I'm not sure if I can fully claim it was due to the Trtl, the plane or my exhaustion - so I think the jury is still out on both pillows until I can do some more testing of both devices but at least I didn't have a sore neck and was no more grumpy than my usual charming self. I will update again in due course.....