One of our regular hammock campers, Allison, loves the freedom that staying in a hammock gives her and her kids:

“I love to sleep without a tarp if it’s a clear night, going to sleep looking at the stars and the moon through the trees is a beautiful way to drift off, and waking to a clear blue sky with the sun filtering through the leaves is the best sight ever after a cosy night in the hammock. Chloe and Sam (kids) love it too, it’s so great to strip away all the extra stuff of a modern life that we don’t actually need.”

Things to consider with a Hammock tent

• Space – most traditional hammocks don’t offer a lot of space other than to sleep in. Sounds obvious – but you’ll need to think about where you’ll store your clothes, food and gear, where you’ll sit if it rains – even where you’ll get dressed or changed! Luckily at Wytch Wood, we have a communal barn area where you can come and hang out if the weather really sucks. But it might be worth packing an extra tarp or a small pup tent to give you some more options on your pitch.
• How many are staying – most hammock tents only sleep one person, so if there are a few of you staying, you’ll need to make sure your pitch can accommodate more than one hammock.
• Staying warm – they can feel colder than a tent on the ground, so make sure you have some extra insulation for your back
• Staying dry – depending on the design of your hammock, you may well need an extra tarp to cover you and keep everything dry.

Allison’s top tips for cosy hammock camping:

• Always make sure your foot end is slightly higher than your head or you will slide down to the bottom by morning.
• Get an under blanket as your back will get really cold without it, hammocks are unbelievably warm once you have this and a good sleeping bag
• Sleep diagonally, then you can roll on your side or whatever you need for a good sleep. I find hammocks so much more comfy than tents as you don’t have to sleep on an uncomfortable air/camp bed

Suspended tents, tree tents and tensile tents

There are a lot of hammocks and suspended tents on the market. Traditional hammock tents are a great option and have lots of benefits, but if any of their shortcomings rule them out for you then you might want to consider a multi-point suspended tent.

One of the biggest benefits they offer is the extra space. Usually triangular, you can find tree tents that sleep up to six people. Their clever design means that they often have extra space to stash your gear and keep everything dry and off the ground. As with regular hammocks – they are super comfy too.

While a simple hammock can be quick to put up, multi-point suspended tents can be a bit more tricky! You need to find trees that are strong enough and the right distance apart for your tent to hang correctly – we can help and have put some pitch guides below. We’d advise allowing yourself plenty of daylight time for this so get to your pitch nice and early!

One of our regular tree tent guests, John, tells us why he loves tree camping at Wytch Wood:

“There is nothing like the comfort of sleeping in a hammock tent. Also, I just love pitching it, making all the adjustments it’s just great fun and it feels like a real adventure sleeping in the trees!”

Here are John’s top tips for setting up your tree tent camp:

• Make sure you are pitching amongst mature trees that are nice and strong.
• Pitching the tent level can be tricky when it’s above your head, best to pitch it loosely first, stand back and eyeball the tent from a few angles before you tighten everything.
• Bring a spare ratchet (if one fails while pitching you’ll be sleeping on the ground)
• Don’t be tempted to pitch too high. It feels great knowing you’re high up, but makes it trickier to pitch and use once up there.
• By embracing that challenge of setting up your tree-top tent, you can turn it into part of the adventure!