4 Tips for Those Who Are Considering Hammock Camping This Summer

Hammock camping is the newest fad when it comes to alternative ways of living and exploring nature.

This minimalist approach to shelter has become popular in recent years as a more direct, comfortable, sustainable way of experiencing the outdoors.

In this article, we offer 4 tips for people who are considering hammock camping. Within each section, we explain why the tip we selected is so important, gearing our explanation towards people who have never been hammock camping before.

While this might seem intuitive, one of the most basic pieces of advice that we share with prospective hammock campers is to do your research ahead of time.

This entails finding out the ideal locations to set up camp, looking at a weather forecast, and making sure that the terrain you are considering is amenable to this style of camping.

Many people forget to do this, embracing a more spontaneous approach to camping.

While this method can be beneficial if circumstances align, in some cases, a whimsical approach to shelter in the wild can result in disastrous consequences.

One way to research the location is to read customer reviews of the campsite. These can often be found on websites like TripAdvisor and Yelp. These are invaluable resources for anyone considering any kind of trip, let alone hammock camping.

Reading these reviews, you can get tons of insider wisdom that would otherwise take you years of experience to acquire.

In this sense, the internet offers a shortcut to enlightenment when it comes to learning about camping sites. Effectively using the internet, however, is no easy task, as there are tons of distractions you will likely encounter in even the simplest of google searches.

We recommend setting strict intentions before you begin your research, especially if you are on a tight schedule. It’s critical that your intentions be precise, as many of the sites you visit to acquire information will have other features that are attractive. You will need to be focused in your quest for knowledge.

For example, Facebook and Instagram are one way of getting a multi-media perspective on the place you’ll be camping at. Perusing through various posts, you might discover that some region is currently replete with frustrating mosquitos which could ruin your experience.

Knowing this information might empower you to purchase a hammock camping tent with a mosquito net, like this one that can be purchased on Amazon for $29.98.

If you are considering a hammock camping expedition, then we advise not doing it alone. We advise following this advice on any camping trip you go on, though especially a hammock camping trip if you’re not familiar with this style of living.

Bringing a companion or even a group of people with you can reduce the anxieties that you experience leading up to the trip, during the trip, and after the trip.

When we are alone, it can be much easier to surrender to fear and allow fear to govern our actions. When we are with others, acting out of love is easy due to the collective mind that develops among the members.

Hiking and camping in nature are already dissolving activities that will put you into deeper contact with yourself.

When you add the social element, these activities become even more cleansing and rejuvenating, as you more likely to push yourself beyond your limits and experiment with new ways of acting and living.

When you then project this energy outwards towards others, a positive groupthink develops geared towards protecting all the members and ensuring the most creatively fulfilling experience. This is a state of being that cannot be achieved on your own.

On a more basic level, hammock camping with others will minimize any danger associated with your expedition.

Multiple heads are smarter than one when it comes to brainstorming routes or trying to problem-solve. Even something as simple as trying to attach your hammock tent to a tree could be solved in a matter of seconds if you had the right companion. On the other hand, trying to solve something basic like this on your own could exhaust you both mentally and physically and put you in a vulnerable state in nature.

This tip is closely connected to companionship, as leaving your fears at home will be much easier in the company of others. This is not to say you can’t be totally fearless when exploring on your own. You absolutely can. There will just likely be more fears to deal with as the ego discovers many uncertainties related to its explorations.

One way of consciously leaving fears at home is to write down some of your fears before your trip.

This will allow you to come into deeper contact with them, preventing them from unconsciously determining your activity. Even if your fears are not totally dissolved, merely becoming conscious of them will go a long way in enhancing your experience of the outdoors.

In another sense, much of nature is so primitive and untainted that bringing your fears with you will almost be impossible. Simply being submerged in the wild will make it difficult to act from a place of insecurity and uncertainty rather than security and confidence.

Thus, while you might try to consciously weed out your fears before your outing, ultimately, they will be highlighted if you push yourself hard enough while camping. This doesn’t have to entail danger, but rather challenging yourself on a fitness or mental level.

More than anything, being fearless when hammock camping is critical for peace of mind, especially when you are with others.

This form of camping often entails sleeping in the air in a slightly precarious position when compared with sleeping on the grounding earth. Thus, there are plenty of opportunities to be fearful, and if you express these thoughts out loud, you might negatively influence the energy of the group.

In the same vein, holding your fears in could have a similarly divisive effect on the group as these fears end up spilling out in strange and awkward ways.

All in all, the best approach might be to set intentions before you begin but to not worry much more about it. This could be a simple prayer that the group says concerning their intention to act out of love rather than fear. You don’t have to think about it much longer after this initial prayer, or you could repeat it each morning.

Whatever you do, saying something out loud could really have a positive impact on your psyche and thus experience overall.

This is a no-brainer for anyone who frequently hikes and camps. We just want to emphasize how important certain kinds of food and water are.

We generally recommend bringing coconut water, as this water is full of electrolytes that you will need to replenish from being active.

Coconut water is also just delicious and full of an array of vitamins and minerals. This nutrition will keep you feeling your best so you don’t fall into some of the traps that we’ve discussed so far in this article.

In terms of food, we recommend bringing the lightest, densest foods possible.

This usually entails some kind of homemade trail mix that consists of nuts, dried fruit, granola, and other healthy goodies. Making this from home allows you to control the ingredients and concoct it in a way that aligns with your health.

Dried fruit is especially important, as this is a quick source of carbohydrates that your body will love. Dried fruit is also calorically dense, keeping you full for a long time and only requiring a handful for satiation.

We also recommend bringing plenty of food waste bags with you so that you can follow the classic Leave No Trace vision.

This is a movement that has been growing for many years that emphasizes leaving nature as close to how you found it as possible.  This means not leaving any food on the terrain but instead taking it with you out of the campsite in order to properly compost afterwards.

This will go a long way towards assuring nature that humans care about her longevity. Littering food can disturb the local ecosystem, especially when the food is loaded with preservative and pesticides. These chemicals can leach into the landscape and even poison some organisms.

We think hammock camping is an exciting way to camp that will appeal to minimalists and outdoor enthusiasts alike.

Just because you follow all the tips we’ve outlined above doesn’t mean your camping excursion will be without drama. Conflict is always on the psyche and will likely emerge regardless of what measures you take.

Still, that doesn’t mean that remembering these tips is a futile act.

Keeping all the tips we’ve outlined above in mind will certainly enhance your camping experience and lead to a more fulfilling outing. Yet, when you’re in the raw wild, anything goes, and unpredictability is the currency.

We recommend embracing this volatility, as it means your time will likely be marked by many ups and downs.

The key is to make sure the downs aren’t too exhausting and draining while the peaks are sustainable, health-promoting, and dovetail with the continuation of mother earth.