A soft place to sit. That’s what I get to tell you about today! For the first year of my many-year travels, my response when asked what I missed was “a soft place to sit.” I don’t expect that wish will be a necessary anymore, thanks to a new item in travel — inflatable ergonomic Evolution Cushion by Cabeau!
The bottom of the Cabeau Evolution soft inflatable Cushion. The top is solid black.
The Cabeau Evolution Cushion packs rather small, as you see in my hand. I don’t know the weight yet, but it’s not enough to bother me to pack and it’s well worth the packing impact. Plus, it’s well protected in its well-designed pack-bag. And the bag’s closing straps come apart to let it attach to your luggage.
Why so few soft surfaces for me? I traveled Central America for a year. Most hostels had large dogs that sat on the soft furniture. As it was often damp and I’m allergic, my throat would swell if I sat on that furniture. Thankfully I also met great friends there, so I had a reprieve when visiting them.
Excellent travel cushion features…
So now, that we know it is doable for travel, here’s the great stuff.
Notice the front of the cushion. (You know it’s the front because it’s even got a marking and arrows to tell you.) The front has two inward curves to allow for legs.
The cheek area is nicely embossed to provide support and comfort, as well as to keep the cushion strong.
The back are of the cushion is cut into. I believe it makes the cushion stronger. I think it is also part of how the cushion, as the box says, “evenly distributes to take tension off your tailbone and support your lower back and hips.”
You can’t tell from images but I can tell you that the fabric, PVC flocking, is soft and comfortable to sit on. The fabric and design are such that it won’t slide around like common travel pillows. I am not seeing a static build up so appears that it won’t collect dust, or if it does get dusty, you can easily brush it off.
Most importantly, this travel cushion is strong. The box promises that it is “Vigorously tested to hold up to 300lb (136kg).” I learned about this travel cushion at a trade show and watched grown men of all sizes sit on one, bounce on it, and move in various ways to test it. I’m 163lbs and when my leg fell asleep, I dropped down on it fairly hard — several times.
The inflation value is part of the cushion’s strength. It took me a moment to figure out. Maybe you’ve seen this type before. It’s not the pop-up valve of old. You put your mouth over it, not so much around it, and blow. Although this sounds a bit crude, I need to share that I didn’t feel like I was spitting into it. This valve felt cleaner. It’s very strong too: in order to deflate the cushion you need to press down on the valve’s spring. This keeps the air in. The flap that covers the valve also appears to be quite strong. Oh, and the valve is on the side, so you don’t need to be sitting on it and you won’t feel it.
There’s another thing about the side-positioned spring valve. It makes it simple to adjust the how firm or soft you’d like the cushion. Once you blow it up, position it, and sit down on it, you just flip the cap and press the button to slowly let air out. (Just don’t over-inflate as you’re blowing it up.)
You can clean it too. Of course that’s needed for a seat pillow you’ll be using often and on various chairs that you don’t own or control. Simply wipe it down with a moist cloth and let it air dry.
This inflatable seat cushion will be a part of my next travels. No more wishing for me. No more hard seats day after day.
This cushion isn’t listed at cabeau.com, yet. I’ll be posting its URL and price, as well as its specs as soon as I see the listing.