Whereas not so many years ago a hammock was intended for serious use as a sleeping system in the great outdoors and was made of canvas and had hemp ropes and wooden stretchers, nowadays the preference is for a hammock to be made from modern man made fabrics and synthetic ropes.
The stretcher is less often deployed allowing the hammock to wrap around the occupant who is more and more often a bushcraft enthusiast or a hiker who prefers to travel as light as possible.
Such people prefer to take the minimum of kit or at least just enough to allow them to be both comfortable and safe.
Camping Hammock A simple camping hammock will pack down to a very compact size and still offer the occupant a good night's sleep.
The small pack size and modern materials mean that even more sophisticated hammocks are light weight and easily transportable.
Useful features in a hammock Useful features are often included and built into the modern hammock to make these versatile sleeping devices.
A two-layer base in the hammock means that a sleeping mat or Therma Rest can be inserted giving additional insulation and keeping the sleeper warmer, indeed it is surprising the difference this makes.
The back of the body seems to radiate a lot of heat which is lost through the necessarily thin base layers, this lowers core temperature and leads to a very uncomfortable nights tossing and trying to turn over rather than sleep! An old style hammock only, of course had a single layer of, usually, canvas which was fairly open weave and allowed the campers body heat to rapidly escape.
This type of contraption was in widespread use in the Royal Navy aboard all fighting and support ships and even in some shore establishments.
It was an ideal way to pack as many men as possible into a confined and small space.
All those men generated a large amount of body heat thus keeping the whole space warm and removing the need for an insulated layer.
Mosquitos, Midges and Your Hammock Another useful feature found in the modern hammock is the integral mosquito and midge net, these are deployed above the sleeper to keep the flying biting stinging pests away from a tasty source of blood coursing through the veins and arteries of the bushcraft enthusiast, camper or even serious expedition member as more and more people recognise the diverse advantages of this style of sleeping or just comfortable rest arrangements.
The mosquito net is often firmly attached to each end of the hammock whilst being zipped down the sides to allow easy entrance and egress, a ridge line needs to be strung between the trees that the hammock is attached to so that the net is kept well away from the sleeper to ensure that he or she is not bitten or stung.
The hammock user can be reached by pesky critters through the base material of the hammock on which they are in close contact, so this is another good reason for using a sleeping mat of the close foam or therm-a-rest variety.
The evolution of this type of sleeping arrangement has led to the light, comfortable and widely used modern hammock.
The stretcher is less often deployed allowing the hammock to wrap around the occupant who is more and more often a bushcraft enthusiast or a hiker who prefers to travel as light as possible.
Such people prefer to take the minimum of kit or at least just enough to allow them to be both comfortable and safe.
Camping Hammock A simple camping hammock will pack down to a very compact size and still offer the occupant a good night's sleep.
The small pack size and modern materials mean that even more sophisticated hammocks are light weight and easily transportable.
Useful features in a hammock Useful features are often included and built into the modern hammock to make these versatile sleeping devices.
A two-layer base in the hammock means that a sleeping mat or Therma Rest can be inserted giving additional insulation and keeping the sleeper warmer, indeed it is surprising the difference this makes.
The back of the body seems to radiate a lot of heat which is lost through the necessarily thin base layers, this lowers core temperature and leads to a very uncomfortable nights tossing and trying to turn over rather than sleep! An old style hammock only, of course had a single layer of, usually, canvas which was fairly open weave and allowed the campers body heat to rapidly escape.
This type of contraption was in widespread use in the Royal Navy aboard all fighting and support ships and even in some shore establishments.
It was an ideal way to pack as many men as possible into a confined and small space.
All those men generated a large amount of body heat thus keeping the whole space warm and removing the need for an insulated layer.
Mosquitos, Midges and Your Hammock Another useful feature found in the modern hammock is the integral mosquito and midge net, these are deployed above the sleeper to keep the flying biting stinging pests away from a tasty source of blood coursing through the veins and arteries of the bushcraft enthusiast, camper or even serious expedition member as more and more people recognise the diverse advantages of this style of sleeping or just comfortable rest arrangements.
The mosquito net is often firmly attached to each end of the hammock whilst being zipped down the sides to allow easy entrance and egress, a ridge line needs to be strung between the trees that the hammock is attached to so that the net is kept well away from the sleeper to ensure that he or she is not bitten or stung.
The hammock user can be reached by pesky critters through the base material of the hammock on which they are in close contact, so this is another good reason for using a sleeping mat of the close foam or therm-a-rest variety.
The evolution of this type of sleeping arrangement has led to the light, comfortable and widely used modern hammock.