Honestly, there’s nothing out there that compares to a great camping trip. Most people are looking at the comfort of hotels and regular accommodation. However, they don’t know what they’re missing. A nice tent and a fin hammock on the side are all you need for a perfect vacation. Now that we think of it, have you wondered whether can you put a hammock in a tent?
The simplest answer is yes, you can put a hammock in a tent. After all, we live in times of incredible technological and other advancements. Getting a hammock into a tent shouldn’t be that hard, right? This issue has viable solutions. But, on the other hand, there are some things that we should get covered.
However, the most important thing is that this whole thing is feasible. It may take some time and effort, but you’ll be able to enjoy your time in a hammock that’s in your tent. Now, let’s dive into the topic.
Table of Contents
What You Should Know First
One thing to bear in mind is that this isn’t a standard. A hammock is intended to work on the outside of a tent. And an average tent is intended to provide you with basic shelter with some room.
There are some cases of larger tents that provide more space and comfort. However, these are, obviously, much larger and impractical. After all, you can’t have everything. It’s impossible to retain practicality and comfort when you’re out camping in nature. So you always have to compromise.
So let’s get back to the topic of hammocks and tents working together. The same rule applies here. Yes, you can make the whole thing work. And yes, there will be some difficulties that you should overcome. However, you won’t be able to make everything work.
You could probably only do it on flat soil and where you have a lot of room. But even then, you’ll have to compromise. Just bear that in mind as you won’t be able to make things work perfectly. You just can’t achieve comfort and practicality when camping.
But don’t get this the wrong way. We’re supportive if you want to experiment and try new things. Who knows, you may even come up with a very creative solution or a design that you can eventually patent. However, don’t expect the process to be easy to figure out. After all, you’re far from being the first person who asked this same question. If it was easily doable, you’d already have a simple solution to this problem.
What Kind of a Tent Do I Need?
Now, it’s pretty obvious that you can’t just use any type of tent. Most notably, we’re talking about the size here. In this case, if you want to have a hammock in your tent, larger tents will work better.
This is mostly due to the size of the hammock itself, as well as the fact that you’ll need to have it set up between two poles or two trees. Spaciousness is your priority here.
But, at the same time, it’s not like you can use a large tent anywhere. Before you proceed with this whole idea, consider your camping spot first. Will there be enough room for a larger tent? Will you be able to find a good spot for a hammock and a tent?
Now, before we get any further, let’s examine an average tent and its parts. If you’re already an experienced camper and know your stuff, then feel free to skip this part. Anyhow, the list goes something like this:
- Flysheet
- Porch
- Inner tent
- Mesh door
- Groundsheet
- Air vents
- Poles
- Pegs
- Guy ropes
Of course, not all tents come with all of these parts. But this is an overall idea of an average tent. If you have a very comfortable tent with specialized and closed construction, then just forget about this whole thing. There’s absolutely no way to proceed to put a hammock in here without butchering your precious tent.
Safety tip: It is advisable to know how to keep the insects out of a hammock, as they can turn your hammocking into a headache!
What Kind of a Hammock Do I Need?
Likewise, a hammock should be smaller. The smaller the better, it’s as simple as that. However, this also means that you’ll have to compromise on your comfort. But if you’ve already set your eyes on this goal, try to find the best compromise for you.
In addition, these things are individual. One might find comfort in a more compact hammock. Another person will see that as a dealbreaker. If you’re the second type of person, then you’ll have a much harder time with this whole thing.
Since we also looked into the basic parts of a tent, let’s also analyze hammocks. These are the basic parts:
- The fabric of a hammock (its main construction)
- Suspension, or ropes that attach it to two trees or two poles
- Ridgeline, or an additional rope that can help you put an insect net or a tarp over the hammock
The ridgeline here can help you in putting a tent over it. But this will pretty much just be a tarp or a very basic tent without any special features. Also, you should think of the longevity and quality of the hammock parts. Before you proceed, we advise that you learn about the lifespan of hammock straps.
Reasons Not to Do It: What Can Go Wrong?
To be perfectly honest, it’s hard to say whether putting a hammock in a tent will yield any good results. If you try to combine features and functions that just don’t work together, you’ll likely have a hard time figuring things out. Instead of enjoying the camping itself, you’ll end up trying to make things work.
Another thing that can be an issue is the potential damage. A hammock can potentially do some harm to your tent. Swinging, in combination with just a slightly stronger wind, can potentially result in a disaster.
Finally, we also have the issue of comfort. A smaller hammock in a confined space eventually won’t feel that great. Sure, it’s awesome to have these two things combined.
And we completely understand why you’re asking this question. However, you’ll sacrifice a lot to make it work. But even with all the sacrifice, it’s questionable whether it’s worth it at all. In the end, likely, you won’t have the comfort that you wanted in the first place. Comfort was something you looked for in the first place. So you end up having the same problems that you had in the first place.
Hammock Tents and Other Creative Products
As mentioned, you aren’t the only person that had this question on their mind. Far from it. So it’s obvious that various manufacturers have found solutions for this problem. The next question that poses is whether we should put hammocks in tents in the first place. After all, you have hammock-and-tent products in various shapes and forms.
For instance, you have small one-person closed hammocks with individual stands. These essentially look like small tents or pods that you can also attach to a tree and let them hang. It’s kind of like your cocoon. That seems pretty comfy, right?
Then there are also classic hammocks that you hang between two trees, but that also come with insect nets and other protective covers. These can be two-point and multi-point kinds of hammocks. In fact, it’s hard to draw a line between a hammock and a hanging tent here. But you get the same result that you were looking for in the first place. You get protection from rain, insects, and other outside factors. And, on top of that, you have a pretty comfortable hammock. What more could you ask for?
Other solutions include packages that include tents and hammocks as separate elements. This is probably the best solution if you were looking to find a way to put a hammock in a tent. Sure, they will take more time to unpack, set up, and pack again. But they get you the result that you were looking for.
These packages, of course, come in different shapes and forms. But almost all of them are designed to be placed in between two trees. A tent will hang in between two trees, covering the hanging hammock. But, again, these are basic tents with no special features. They’re just there to protect you from the rain and outside factors. No zippers, no windows, not any other features. Just a piece of tarp designed to work hand-in-hand with a hammock.
In our opinion, this last variant works the best. The chances of potential damage are minimal and these two things are designed to work together. Finally, it makes more sense to purchase such a package rather than to work with two completely different products that you don’t know how they’ll work together. Additionally, these tent hammocks are pretty easy to find, they’re even available through Amazon.
Nonetheless, you’re still free to experiment and try new things out. Who knows, maybe you’ll come up with a solution of your own that you can eventually sell as your own product!
