diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 80f4193..588ff83 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,3 +15,5 @@ mucell = "0.3.2"
 phf = "*"
 phf_macros = "*"
 mopa = "*"
+tendril = {version = "*", git = "https://github.com/chris-morgan/tendril", branch = "impl-borrow-for-tendril"}
+smallvec = "*"
diff --git a/src/headers/internals.rs b/src/headers/internals.rs
index a760286..41ecb51 100644
--- a/src/headers/internals.rs
+++ b/src/headers/internals.rs
@@ -7,10 +7,24 @@ use std::fmt;
 use std::mem;
 use std::slice;
 
+use tendril::{ByteTendril, StrTendril};
+use smallvec::SmallVec;
+
 use mucell::{MuCell, Ref};
 
 use super::{ToHeader, Header, HeaderDisplayAdapter};
 
+// Nothing even remotely fancy here like counting how many items,
+// because I don’t need it in my simple cases.
+macro_rules! smallvec {
+    [] => (SmallVec::new());
+    [$($x:expr),*] => {{
+        let mut _small_vec = SmallVec::new();
+        $(_small_vec.push($x);)*
+        _small_vec
+    }};
+}
+
 /// All the header field values, raw or typed, with a shared field name.
 ///
 /// Each item can contain a raw and a typed representation in a combination defined below; for
@@ -49,7 +63,7 @@ struct Inner {
     /// which were equivalent. Each inner vector is opaque data with no restrictions except that CR
     /// and LF may not appear, unless as part of an obs-fold rule (extremely much not recommended),
     /// though it is also recommended by RFC 7230 that it be US-ASCII.
-    raw: Option<Vec<Vec<u8>>>,
+    raw: Option<SmallVec<[ByteTendril; 1]>>,
 
     /// A strongly typed header which has been parsed from the raw value.
     typed: Typed,
@@ -176,7 +190,7 @@ impl<T: Iterator> MyIteratorExt for T {
 
 struct ValueListIter<'a> {
     current_line: Option<&'a [u8]>,
-    lines: slice::Iter<'a, Vec<u8>>,
+    lines: slice::Iter<'a, ByteTendril>,
 }
 
 macro_rules! DEBUG { ($($x:tt)*) => (println!($($x)*)) }
@@ -317,7 +331,7 @@ trait RawHeaderExt {
     fn to_value_list_iter(&self) -> ValueListIter;
 }
 
-impl RawHeaderExt for [Vec<u8>] {
+impl RawHeaderExt for [ByteTendril] {
     fn to_value_list_iter(&self) -> ValueListIter {
         ValueListIter {
             current_line: None,
@@ -331,11 +345,13 @@ macro_rules! value_list_iter_tests {
         #[cfg(test)]
         mod value_list_iter_tests {
             use super::RawHeaderExt;
+            use tendril::ByteTendril;
             $(
                 #[test]
                 fn $name() {
                     let input: &[&[u8]] = &$input;
-                    let input = input.iter().map(|x| x.to_vec()).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+                    let input = input.iter().map(|&x| ByteTendril::from(x))
+                                            .collect::<Vec<ByteTendril>>();
                     let expected: &[&[u8]] = &$expected;
                     let computed = input.to_value_list_iter().collect::<Vec<_>>();
                     assert_eq!(&computed[..], expected);
@@ -365,19 +381,19 @@ value_list_iter_tests! {
 }
 
 impl Inner {
-    fn raw_mut(&mut self, invalidate_others: bool) -> &mut Vec<Vec<u8>> {
+    fn raw_mut(&mut self, invalidate_others: bool) -> &mut SmallVec<[ByteTendril; 1]> {
         if self.raw.is_none() {
             self.raw = Some(if invalidate_others {
                 match mem::replace(&mut self.typed, Typed::None) {
-                    Typed::None => vec![],
-                    Typed::Single(single) => vec![single.into_raw()],
-                    Typed::List(list) => vec![list.to_raw()],
+                    Typed::None => smallvec![],
+                    Typed::Single(single) => smallvec![single.into_raw()],
+                    Typed::List(list) => smallvec![list.to_raw()],
                 }
             } else {
                 match self.typed {
-                    Typed::None => vec![],
-                    Typed::Single(ref single) => vec![single.to_raw()],
-                    Typed::List(ref list) => vec![list.to_raw()],
+                    Typed::None => smallvec![],
+                    Typed::Single(ref single) => smallvec![single.to_raw()],
+                    Typed::List(ref list) => smallvec![list.to_raw()],
                 }
             });
         }
@@ -388,7 +404,7 @@ impl Inner {
     }
 
     // Moo!
-    fn raw_cow(&self) -> Option<Cow<[Vec<u8>]>> {
+    fn raw_cow(&self) -> Option<Cow<[ByteTendril]>> {
         match self.raw {
             Some(ref vec) => Some(Cow::Borrowed(&vec[..])),
             None => match self.typed {
@@ -531,7 +547,7 @@ impl<'a, H: ToHeader + Header + Clone> TypedListRef<'a, H> {
 
 impl Item {
     /// Construct a new Item from a raw representation.
-    pub fn from_raw(raw: Vec<Vec<u8>>) -> Item {
+    pub fn from_raw(raw: SmallVec<[ByteTendril; 1]>) -> Item {
         assert!(raw.len() > 0);
         Item {
             inner: MuCell::new(Inner {
@@ -583,7 +599,7 @@ impl Item {
     /// fashion, it will be parsed from the raw form.
     ///
     /// Only use this if you need to mutate the raw form; if you don't, use `raw`.
-    pub fn raw_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Vec<Vec<u8>> {
+    pub fn raw_mut(&mut self) -> &mut SmallVec<[ByteTendril; 1]> {
         self.inner.borrow_mut().raw_mut(true)
     }
 
@@ -597,7 +613,7 @@ impl Item {
     /// dereference to get your raw reference.
     ///
     /// See also `raw_mut`, if you wish to mutate the raw representation.
-    pub fn raw(&self) -> Option<Ref<Cow<[Vec<u8>]>>> {
+    pub fn raw(&self) -> Option<Ref<Cow<[ByteTendril]>>> {
         self.inner.try_mutate(|inner| { let _ = inner.raw_mut(false); });
         Ref::filter_map(self.inner.borrow(), |inner| inner.raw_cow())
     }
@@ -605,7 +621,7 @@ impl Item {
     /// Set the raw form of the header.
     ///
     /// This invalidates the typed representation.
-    pub fn set_raw(&mut self, raw: Vec<Vec<u8>>) {
+    pub fn set_raw(&mut self, raw: SmallVec<[ByteTendril; 1]>) {
         let inner = self.inner.borrow_mut();
         inner.raw = Some(raw);
         inner.typed = Typed::None;
@@ -711,11 +727,11 @@ impl<'a, T: ToHeader + Header + Clone> Get<'a> for TypedListRef<'a, T> {
 
 #[doc(hidden)]
 pub trait GetMut<'a> {
-    fn get_mut(entry: hash_map::Entry<'a, Cow<'static, str>, Item>) -> Self;
+    fn get_mut(entry: hash_map::Entry<'a, StrTendril, Item>) -> Self;
 }
 
 impl<'a, T: ToHeader + Header + Clone> GetMut<'a> for Option<&'a mut T> {
-    fn get_mut(entry: hash_map::Entry<'a, Cow<'static, str>, Item>) -> Self {
+    fn get_mut(entry: hash_map::Entry<'a, StrTendril, Item>) -> Self {
         match entry {
             hash_map::Entry::Occupied(entry) => entry.into_mut().single_typed_mut(),
             hash_map::Entry::Vacant(_) => None,
@@ -724,7 +740,7 @@ impl<'a, T: ToHeader + Header + Clone> GetMut<'a> for Option<&'a mut T> {
 }
 
 impl<'a, T: ToHeader + Header + Clone> GetMut<'a> for &'a mut Vec<T> {
-    fn get_mut(entry: hash_map::Entry<'a, Cow<'static, str>, Item>) -> Self {
+    fn get_mut(entry: hash_map::Entry<'a, StrTendril, Item>) -> Self {
         entry.or_insert_with(|| Item::from_list_typed::<T>(vec![])).list_typed_mut()
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/headers/mod.rs b/src/headers/mod.rs
index 141399c..d447d12 100644
--- a/src/headers/mod.rs
+++ b/src/headers/mod.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ use std::mem;
 use std::collections::hash_map::HashMap;
 use std::collections::hash_map::Entry::{Occupied, Vacant};
 
+use tendril::{ByteTendril, StrTendril};
+use smallvec::SmallVec;
+
 use self::internals::Item;
 pub use mucell::Ref;
 pub use self::internals::TypedListRef;
@@ -56,8 +59,13 @@ pub trait Header: Any + HeaderClone {
     /// present that there may be cases where there is a better choice. It might be shifted out of
     /// the trait later.
     // unstable: might be removed from the trait
-    fn to_raw(&self) -> Vec<u8> {
-        format!("{}", HeaderDisplayAdapter(&*self)).into_bytes()
+    fn to_raw(&self) -> ByteTendril {
+        use std::io::Write;
+
+        let mut out = ByteTendril::new();
+        // Meh, nothing is allowed to go wrong here.
+        let _ = write!(out, "{}", HeaderDisplayAdapter(&*self));
+        out
     }
 
     /// Convert the header to its raw value, consuming self.
@@ -70,7 +78,7 @@ pub trait Header: Any + HeaderClone {
     /// present that there may be cases where there is a better choice. It might be shifted out of
     /// the trait later.
     // unstable: might be removed from the trait
-    fn into_raw(self: Box<Self>) -> Vec<u8> {
+    fn into_raw(self: Box<Self>) -> ByteTendril {
         self.to_raw()
     }
 }
@@ -450,7 +458,7 @@ impl Header for &'static Header {
 /// item.
 #[derive(PartialEq)]
 pub struct Headers {
-    data: HashMap<Cow<'static, str>, Item>,
+    data: HashMap<StrTendril, Item>,
 }
 
 impl Headers {
@@ -465,7 +473,7 @@ impl Headers {
     ///
     /// The interface is strongly typed; see TODO for a more detailed explanation of how it works.
     pub fn get<'a, M: Marker<'a>>(&'a self, _marker: M) -> M::Get {
-        internals::Get::get(self.data.get(M::header_name()))
+        internals::Get::get(self.data.get(M::header_name().as_bytes()))
     }
 
     /// Get a mutable reference to a header value.
@@ -512,8 +520,8 @@ impl Headers {
     ///
     /// The returned value is a slice of each header field value.
     #[inline]
-    pub fn get_raw<'a, M: Marker<'a>>(&'a self, _marker: M) -> Option<Ref<Cow<[Vec<u8>]>>> {
-        self.data.get(M::header_name()).and_then(|item| item.raw())
+    pub fn get_raw<'a, M: Marker<'a>>(&'a self, _marker: M) -> Option<Ref<Cow<[ByteTendril]>>> {
+        self.data.get(M::header_name().as_bytes()).and_then(|item| item.raw())
     }
 
     /// Get a mutable reference to the raw values of a header, by name.
@@ -522,15 +530,15 @@ impl Headers {
     #[inline]
     pub fn get_raw_mut<'a, M: Marker<'a>>
                       (&'a mut self, _marker: M)
-                      -> Option<&mut Vec<Vec<u8>>> {
-        self.data.get_mut(M::header_name()).map(|item| item.raw_mut())
+                      -> Option<&mut SmallVec<[ByteTendril; 1]>> {
+        self.data.get_mut(M::header_name().as_bytes()).map(|item| item.raw_mut())
     }
 
     /// Set the raw value of a header, by name.
     ///
     /// This invalidates the typed representation.
     #[inline]
-    pub fn set_raw<'a, M: Marker<'a>>(&'a mut self, _marker: M, value: Vec<Vec<u8>>) {
+    pub fn set_raw<'a, M: Marker<'a>>(&'a mut self, _marker: M, value: SmallVec<[ByteTendril; 1]>) {
         match self.data.entry(M::header_name().into()) {
             Vacant(entry) => { let _ = entry.insert(Item::from_raw(value)); },
             Occupied(entry) => entry.into_mut().set_raw(value),
@@ -540,12 +548,12 @@ impl Headers {
     /// Remove a header from the collection.
     /// Returns true if the named header was present.
     pub fn remove<'a, M: Marker<'a>>(&'a mut self, _marker: M) -> bool {
-        self.data.remove(M::header_name()).is_some()
+        self.data.remove(M::header_name().as_bytes()).is_some()
     }
 
     /// Returns true if the named header exists in the collection.
     pub fn contains<'a, M: Marker<'a>>(&'a self, _marker: M) -> bool {
-        match self.data.get(M::header_name()) {
+        match self.data.get(M::header_name().as_bytes()) {
             Some(item) => item.is_valid(),
             None => false,
         }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 7bead7b..8b2dc1c 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ extern crate mucell;
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate mopa;
 
+extern crate tendril;
+extern crate smallvec;
+
 pub mod method;
 pub mod status;
 pub mod headers;