Benefits of Using Backpacking Hammocks Over Tents

Benefits of Using Backpacking Hammocks Over Tents

If you’re wondering what’s so great about backpacking hammocks and you’ve been hearing about them outperforming regular camp tents then it’s probably time to take a closer look.

First of all, hammocks for camping are not new, they’ve been around for decades but the word is getting out about how they can go places that conventional tents can’t. It’s not entirely that hammock camping is better but that it’s different and that makes for camping excursions that can be more creative and fun.

The most basic advantage for backpacking hammocks over the larger dome tents is that they are able to get the camper up off the ground. And off the ground is a good thing because that means out of the wet, off the tree roots, over the sharp and jagged rocks and off the sloped and uneven ground that many times finds their way into the campground. Who hasn’t had to battle with these annoyances while tent camping? They are all uncomfortable and sometimes difficult to avoid.

The good news it that a hammock will hang over all of them. Especially when hikers are out in the forest away from landscaped and maintained campgrounds, backpacking hammocks definitely make the grade. Sloped ground can be unavoidable during these types of treks into the wooded outdoors. Using a hammock makes any terrain underneath the trees almost inconsequential, the real importance becomes the health and strength of the trees that are being used as the anchors for the hammock.

Hiking hammocks can be set up in only a few minutes and without ever touching any wet or mucky ground. Imagine hanging over all these obstacles. Roots that stick into your back, water that seeps up into the tent from below, that one rock that always seems to poke right into the middle of your back in the middle of the night – they’re all a thing of the past when hanging in comfort from a hammock for camping.

The benefit to hanging over the obstacles on the ground is two-fold, one, it means the night’s sleep will be more comfortable. So along with the convenience of a quick setup over rough terrain, the hammock itself is in many circumstances a better type of sleep.

The slow rocking motion of the hammock while suspended can lead to a deeper and better sleep. The other advantage of getting up and over the ground in a hammock means that the ground itself isn’t going to be dug into or cleared out. That means less impact on the environment while enjoying it instead of rearranging it.

So that’s it. The three top reasons for using backpacking hammocks over tents are comfort, ease of setup over rocky terrain and an environmentally conscious and less impacting camping excursion. Any of these alone is a good reason to try out hammock camping, putting them together gives even more.