You’ve probably been noticing more and more hammocks popping up every time you take a weekend trip out to a National Park. Hammocks have been getting wildly popular recently and for a good reason! If you’ve ever wanted to get great night’s sleep outdoors, hammock camping is the way to go. It’s a comfortable, light and very affordable solution to sleeping on the ground. So is hammock camping for you?
Here are some benefits to consider if you’re on the fence about camping in a hammock:
Easy Set up
Unlike tents, hammocks are quick and simple to set up. A good hammock set will come with tree straps and carabiners. That means, you won’t need to tie knots, bend over to put stakes in the ground or any of that backbreaking work. Just toss the tree straps around a set of trees, clip the carabiners in, and you’re good to go! The last thing you want to do after a long day’s hike is setting up camp.
Lightweight and compact
Photo Credit: Kieran Maselter
Hammocks are much lighter than tents. You don’t have the metal rods or stakes weighing you down. AND they’re much less bulky. A good lightweight hammock can weigh 13oz. Bundle it with the tarp and bug net and it’ll be around 30oz – a lightweight alternative to tent camping. Another benefit is that hammocks and their accessories are modular. If you trust the weather forecast, you can ditch the tarp and save even more weight!
Open View
Hands down the views from a hammock beat the views from inside the tent. Many campers love the open and expansive view hammock camping gives them. You can fall asleep watching the stars and you won’t have to wake up with a layer of dew and musty air trapped in the tent.
Photo Credit: Kieran Maselter
Affordability
Tents are expensive, whereas a good lightweight tent is much more affordable.
Leave No Trace
Hammock camping is a no to low impact form of camping. Because hammocks are suspended, this reduces the trampling that occurs at campsites. It’s no longer necessary to push away rocks, twigs and otherwise disturb the layout of the land. Using 1 inch wide webbing also protects the tree trunks from the weight of you and the hammock.
Hammock camping is exciting and can be a great way to enjoy the wild places in a different way. Novel, while still being very useful, you’ll stand out among the other campers when sleeping in your hammock.
I keep seeing them in stores, and wondering if they’d be comfortable-all night- I’m just going to have to give one a try!