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.