Thread: Using hard items as rests

You only need enough padding to stop the rifle from rolling/rocking when on a hard surface.

Think of it it terms of contact points, if your rifle has a rounded forend and you are on a fence post the contact patch is tiny and the rifle will cant sideway very easily.
Or if you have a flat forend and try to shoot off an angled surface you'll also have a very small contact patch only on one side.

You could always try it on you living room floor, place your rifle on your pack and see how steady it sits. If it's rolling all over the place then try a few different soft items and see what works the best.
You preferably want something like a pillow that can move a bit to conform to the different surfaces, if you gett something too rigid them you'll end up with the same problem.