Hammock camping: how to lighten your load

Unlike donkeys or horses, the human body was not designed to carry heavy loads. That’s why each time you carry a heavy backpack you feel like the earth is ending. Now if you are going hammock camping deep in the woods you will have to carry a lot of weight, the problem is carrying can cause spinal injuries, muscle injuries, cardiovascular problems, fatigue and most importantly it sucks not being able to stand up straight.

This means that it is in your best interest to reduce or lighten your load when you are out camping, if you are going hammock camping it means that you must carry a hammock. The best thing to do here is to find a light weight hammock that you can carry easily without hurting your back; I guess it’s safe to assume that you know that Brazilian hammocks and other similarly heavy hammocks are a no-no. Click this site to know more about hammocks.

When you buy a camping hammock make sure that you buy the ultra light varieties, you should also make sure that everything that comes with the hammock is ultralight.

Remember when you are out camping you will have to sleep in the hammock, therefore make sure that you buy a strong comfortable hammock.

The cold

The cold is your enemy this means that you will need insulation; you should note that it is not a must that you carry the warmest bulkiest insulating materials in the market. You simply need light weight under quilts (to help you avoid the cold butt syndrome), self inflating pads/ mats or any other light weight materials.

A good option to beat the cold and reduce your load is to go camping during the warmer months, look at it this way, the colder the weather the more insulating materials you will have to carry.

Your wardrobe

You are going into the woods not a fashion contest; therefore a good way to reduce your load is to limit your wardrobe. It is not a must that you carry an entire extra change of clothes; just carry the essentials, besides the critters in the woods won’t worry about how bad you smell. If you have to wash your clothes you can cover your shame with your rain coat and chill as they dry.

This also applies to things that you don’t need, for example, there is no need to carry books, your laptop, tablets or three pairs of shoes. A good option here is to create of must have list, once you have all that you need, you can decide whether or not to carry those other things that are non essential.

Food

Humans run on food, this means that you will have to carry food. If you are going into the woods for a long time e.g. a week you will have to carry lots of food, what you can do to lighten your load is repackage your food into re-sealable bags. This will reduce the weight you have to carry and give you more space to pack more things.

Creative ways to hang a hammock

Most people assume that hammocks can only be hung from two trees, but there is a problem, trees take a very long time to grow. This means that if you bought a hammock today and plant two trees to hang your hammock, it will take you at least five years to use the hammock, or let’s assume that you reside in an urban area like Vancouver BC, Canada. If that’s the case you may not have enough space to plant trees, therefore if you are a proud owner of a hammock you will be in a conundrum.

 

You will have to decide whether to move to the woods to use your hammock, or to find creative ways to hang it in and around your home. Moving to the woods is obviously not a good option because there are cougars and bears out there that may or may not eat you. If I were you I’d go with the second option.

Option 1: the bunk bed

Now this is a good option if you want to add extra space in your bedroom and save cash, the idea is to hang your hammock from the walls on top of your bed. But, make sure that the hammock you use is made of a sturdy material or the person sleeping below you will have an eyeful of butt each time he or she tries to get some shut eye.

To hang your hammock from the wall you will have to drill hooks into your wall or ceiling and use a rope to link the hooks to the hammock, make sure that the hooks are of good quality because you don’t want someone falling on you in the middle of the night.

A single tree

If you have a tree in your compound that has strong branches you can hang your hammock on it, how you ask? Take note this is not as straight forward as it sounds, you will have to find a tree that stretches wide enough. The idea is to hang your hammock on the branches of the tree.

I think it’s safe to assume that you know that you should never hang your hammock on a dead branch, here’s why, if you hang your hammock on a dead branch there is a high chance that the branch will crack and you will land on your butt. No one wants that, oh except for YouTube and viral videos.

Extra sitting space 

It is possible to bring your hammock into your living room, all you have to do is find the perfect spot preferably the corner section of the living room and hang it. This will bring an outdoorsy feel to your home, you can also buy a kitty hammock and hang it under let’s say a table for your feline companion.

If you are into knitting or have a collection of stuffed animals you can use hammocks to store them, this will reduce clutter in your home. Another great option is to buy a hammock chair , believe me hammock chairs are way more comfortable than normal chairs.