Hanging between two trees in a forest under a tarp, climbing in your camping hammock and curling up nice and snug can lead to the most comfortable night’s sleep.

Why Hammock Camping is so good

Cocooned in your little woodland nest, nice and warm with your under-blanket you’ll wake to a cuckoo, owl or woodpecker to keep you company for the next hour before you ‘really must’ get out.

You’ll get closer to nature when you hang from two sturdy trees in the woodland, what you see and hear will always make you smile.

Pitching your hammock

This will be a bit different to tent camping let me tell you. Camping trips and your camping experiences will change forever! When do you ever sleep hanging?

For the last few years, I’ve been using the DD 3×3 Superlight Tarp and a DD Frontline Hammock. I think they’re ace for the money.

Get in the habit of hanging your hammock tarp first. If it were raining this would be more obvious. Make sure your ridgeline is taught so the tarpaulin doesn’t blow around with any breeze and any deadfall from the trees you’re hanging from will be deflected. Beech is a bugger for dead branches just waiting for a bit of wind.

When you’re sleeping in a hammock, you don’t want it raised too high off the ground. You want to be sitting down into it like a camping chair slowly as not to rip anything and so you can get out easily. To position it at this height, you should play around with the position of the hammock suspension straps on the trees, which should be at the same height as each other.

Tarp toggle hammock in the Forest of Bowland

If you use the DD Suspension Kit, everything is straightforward. Practice lengthening and shortening the whoopie slings before you head out into the woods.

Look into fitting your own ‘structural ridge line’ underneath the main ridgeline. This will not only give you something to hook your bug net on, but it will change the shape of the hammock by shallowing the angle of the suspension (should be about 30 degrees) and allowing a decent hang, making your position inside more comfortable.

The video Shug made on the hammock ridgeline is the best one I’ve watched, have a look.

Getting Into Your Hammock

Gently does it. If you go for the ultralight option, or go cheap and buy an Argos hammock to try, you don’t want to be bouncing around in it, take things slow, relax into the hammock. The last thing you want in the middle of the night is something breaking or ripping; it’s really quite shocking when you’re dropped onto the ground even from 18 inches or so, I know!

Sit down into the hammock and then turn, the experience isn’t like you would see in a Carry On film, you may gently rock, but the material will hug you, part of the beauty actually. Most people lie in line with the hammock at first, but I would recommend you try lying diagonally, you’re a little flatter and end up more comfortable, takes a little getting used to, but you should work your way into the best position as you sleep time and again.

Keeping Warm Hanging In The Woods

Camping in cold weather will have its challenges.

To stay warm while wild camping you really need to eat as late as you can. Your gut is what will produce ALL of the heat during the night. If you want to stop this heat from escaping, you need insulation. Of course, usually, you will think of a sleeping bag but when you squash down or synthetic material it won’t insulate you very well.

Hanging an underquilt on the underneath of your hammock stops it from being compressed and so keeps the heat where you want it. A mat just moves around and escapes out of the opening, that can be a nightmare!

Where can I camp in my hammock?

Wild camping for the first time in a tent, you can get up into the mountains and not see a soul. You wake at six and think ‘Nobody will be up here until 9’. Things are often different when there are trees; you’re usually closer to civilisation for a start.

Camping in the woods means people might be nearby so if you’re wild camping without permission you want to keep off the beaten track.

Of course, there are plenty of small woodlands that are open for a camp, take a look on social media, and you’ll soon find somewhere not too far away. A quick search in a wild camping or bushcraft group for ‘where can I camp?’ or something similar will soon reveal a few sites.

Just like camping in a tent, if you pitch without getting a nod from the landowner you are trespassing. If you are asked to move on just do it and half an hour later, try somewhere else. Don’t cause any hassle or give anyone reason to follow you or keep looking out for you.

What If It’s Windy Or The Weather Is Bad?

Play around with different tarp setups. Your tarpaulin is there to protect you from the elements; this includes wind as well as rain, you rarely see photos of a tarp acting as a windbreak because the trees do such a good job, but if you’re at the edge of woodland or by the beach your practice may come invaluable.

The rain on your tarp, of course, is beautiful and will shake off easily in the morning; all your other camping gear will be dry and put away so a waterproof bag might come in handy for the only thing wet!

You can replace the karabiners with twigs when hanging your tarp.

Hammock camping Skiddaw Dodd — Hammock camping – Skiddaw Dodd

You’ll obviously need a sleeping bag or quilt but don’t leave out the insulation underneath. For me, the under blanket is perfect because when your sleeping position is across the hammock, corner to opposite corner, a sleeping pad in the Frontline’s slip goes wonky and is a pain in the neck.

Get Out There

The best night’s sleep I ever got was in a hammock. They’re very comfortable. You’ll love it.

Being out in the forest is amazing.

The Hammock Wild Camping Experience gives you the chance to try out hammock camping, and in the fortnight before I teach you everything you need to know about wild camping to get you started, we might even cook over a real fire. I’ll also lend you all the above kit for the night if you don’t have your own, show you what you’ll need and how to use it all.

Camping Hammock Kit List

Here’s my list for the full kit:

Shelter

Hammock

DD Frontline Hammock (best value with a mosquito net)
Complete Whoopie Suspension System (great value instead of making up your own)
DD Hammock Sleeve (convenient to stop your hammock getting dirty, but not essential)
DD Underblanket (a good investment or use some old sleeping bag in the hammock’s slip)

Shop for more DD hammock camping gear here.