Hammock School — Free Hammock Camping Course

Free hammock camping course — from your first hang to a winter night out. This is where we teach you to hang properly: where you’re allowed to camp, how to get it flat and comfortable, how to stay warm, and how to work your way down toward winter conditions. No sales pitch — just what we’ve learned hanging in the Nordic outdoors ourselves, plus what actually works according to the people who do it best.

The course is built in six modules. Take them in order if you’re new, or jump straight to what you need. We’re filming each module this autumn (in Lofoten), so this text is the foundation — the video is coming.

Module 1 — Basics & the Right to Roam

What you need

A complete hammock system is really just a campsite in a stuff sack. The basic setup:

• Hammock with tree-friendly straps — wide webbing, never thin cord that bites into bark.
• Tarp (rain cover) with a line to pitch it on.
• Bug net for summer.
• Underquilt below + topquilt or sleeping bag above — that’s the warmth system, more on that in Module 3.
• Sleeping pad (foam) as backup margin and emergency fix.

Where you’re allowed to hang

In Sweden, a law called allemansrätten — the right to roam — lets you camp freely in nature almost anywhere, for free. It comes with responsibility, and it’s a good model to know even if your own country works differently:

• One night, maybe two, in the same spot. Staying longer: ask the landowner.
• Stay clear of private homes. Don’t hang within sight or earshot of a house. Sweden’s rule of thumb is roughly 70 metres (about 230 ft) — if you’ve found a spot where nobody’s disturbed, you’re in the right place.
• Never on a garden, field, meadow or planted crop. Pick durable ground: forest, bare rock, common land.
• Never damage a living tree. No nails, no screws, no thin cord that cuts into bark. Wide straps spread the load and protect the tree.
• Take everything home. Cord ends, food scraps, all of it. The spot should look untouched when you leave.

Camping outside Sweden? The specific rules change country by country — some places require permits or restrict camping to marked sites, others are nearly as open as Scandinavia. The principle underneath doesn’t change: leave no trace, respect private land, and check the local rules before you go.

Choosing the right two trees

• Spacing ~3–4.5 m (10–15 ft) apart. Closer makes the right angle hard to get; further needs more strap length.
• Living and healthy. Avoid dead, rotten or recently storm-damaged trees.
• At least ~15–20 cm (6–8 in) diameter — thick enough to hold you without flexing.
• Look up. Dead branches directly overhead (“widowmakers”) can fall in the night. Don’t hang under them.

What we’ll film: walking up to two trees, showing webbing against bark (wide strap vs. thin cord), pacing off the distance, pointing up at a dead branch and explaining why we move.

Module 2 — Hanging Right

Most people who find hammocks uncomfortable have just hung wrong. Four things decide everything:

1. Height

Attach the straps at roughly shoulder to head height on the tree. Get that right and you land a sitting height of about 40–45 cm (16–18 in) off the ground — easy to get in and out of, and low enough that a bad step doesn’t hurt.

2. Hang angle ~30°

Aim for straps that sit around 30° off horizontal. That’s a starting point, not a law: taller people often prefer a flatter ~25°, shorter people a steeper 40–45°. A common rule of thumb — tie in around “palm-to-fist” height and adjust until it feels right.

3. Structural ridgeline

A fixed line between the hammock’s two ends that sets exactly how much sag you get — the same curve every time, no matter how the trees are spaced. It should run at roughly 83% of the hammock’s length, and when you’re lying in it, it should be neither slack nor guitar-string tight. With a ridgeline, you stop fussing with the angle every evening.

4. Lie on the diagonal

This is the whole secret behind lying flat: lie on the diagonal — feet toward one corner, head toward the other. Your body straightens out and you skip the banana shape that leaves your back and knees aching. Only lie straight if you enjoy sleeping folded in half.

Common beginner mistakes

• Pulling the hammock tight “to make it flatter” — that actually turns it into a narrower banana.
• Hanging too high (hard to get in) or too low (drags the ground once loaded).
• Lying straight instead of on the diagonal.
• Thin straps or cord that damage bark.
• Forgetting to check overhead for dead branches.

What we’ll film: showing the 30° angle against the horizon, tensioning the ridgeline and plucking it (“this is how it should feel”), getting in and lying straight first (banana), then diagonal (flat) — the difference shows immediately.

Module 3 — Staying Warm

The system: below + above

Warmth in a hammock comes in two layers: insulation below you (an underquilt, hung outside the fabric) and insulation above you (a topquilt or sleeping bag). Below is the one people miss — and it’s the one that matters most.

Cold butt syndrome

When you lie in a hammock, everything underneath you gets crushed flat. A sleeping bag you’re lying on compresses and stops insulating — the trapped air in the down is gone. The result: your back, shoulders and backside go cold, usually worst around four in the morning. It’s called cold butt syndrome, and it’s why a sleeping bag alone doesn’t cut it in a hammock.

The fix is an underquilt: it hangs outside the hammock fabric, is never compressed by your body weight, and actually insulates. In a pinch, a foam sleeping pad inside the hammock works — worse, but better than nothing.

Why wind matters more in a hammock

On the ground, half your body is shielded from wind. In a hammock, air moves all the way around you — including underneath. That’s why you lose far more heat to wind in a hammock than in a tent, and why blocking it (tarp, or natural shelter) is such a big part of staying warm. More on that in Modules 4 and 5.

Clothing as margin

Dry, breathable layers, a hat or balaclava, and dry socks add margin — but they don’t replace the underquilt, they top it off. Change into dry clothes before you crawl in, never the sweaty layers from the day’s hike.

Not sure which underquilt you need for a given temperature? Run our warmth calculator — it works out your approximate margin from temperature, wind and gear.

What we’ll film: pressing a sleeping bag flat by hand (“this is how flat it goes under you”) next to an underquilt holding its loft, showing the underquilt hung outside the fabric, and feeling where the cold sneaks in when it’s windy.

Module 4 — Tarp & Weather

Basic setup

1. Pitch a ridgeline (tree-to-tree line) above the hammock, taut.
2. Hang the tarp on the ridgeline, centred over the hammock.
3. Stake and guy out the corners — pull it tight so it doesn’t flap.

Order matters: a taut ridgeline first makes everything after it easy.

Doors / porch mode

Does your tarp have end panels (“doors”)? Then you steer your coverage to match the weather:

• Rain and wind: close the doors for effectively 360° coverage — the end panels seal in around the hammock.
• Good weather: open one side into porch mode for a view, airflow, and less condensation.

Catenary cut vs. asym tarps

• Catenary cut = curved edges. Gives a taut, flap-free pitch in wind — less noise in the fabric overnight.
• Asymmetric tarp = lighter and smaller, covers the hammock on a diagonal. Great in summer, less margin in real weather.

Condensation

A tight tarp with no airflow fogs up on the inside — especially on cold, still nights near the dew point. Fight it by not pitching too low, letting a little air through (crack a door if the wind allows), and wiping the tarp down in the morning before you pack it. Condensation isn’t a leak — it’s moisture from inside.

Want to know if tonight’s a good night to hang? Check Hammock Weather — it reads temperature, wind and humidity and tells you if it’s a good call.

What we’ll film: pitching the ridgeline and hanging the tarp in order, closing the doors into “rain mode” then opening to porch mode, and showing condensation on the inside on a cold morning.

Module 5 — Winter Hanging

Hanging in winter is entirely doable — but the margins shrink and mistakes get more expensive. Here’s how we build warmth step by step.

Cold-weather strategies and rough margins

The numbers below are rough, additive guidelines — not guarantees. They help you plan, but weather, wind and your own body have the final say.

• The right underquilt for the temperature — matters most of all. Start here, not with the tricks.
• Double underquilt (two layers stacked outside each other): +8–12°C (+14–22°F) extra margin.
• Foam sleeping pad inside the hammock: +3–6°C (+5–11°F).
• Windbreak (tarp with doors, or natural shelter): +3–6°C (+5–11°F) in wind — more the harder it blows.

Margin

Dress and pack to wake up warm, not exactly comfortable. Expect worse margins in the field than on paper: damp gear, fatigue and wind all eat into the numbers. Err on the side of too warm.

Test at home first

Run your full winter system on a cold night in the yard or on the balcony before you sleep far out. That’s where you find the cold spots — with the door five metres away, not a mile from the car.

Safety — for real

Frostbite and hypothermia are real risks, not theory.

• Know the signs: shivering that fades, confusion, slurred speech, clumsiness — a body that “gives up” is a warning sign, not a sign of things settling down.
• Have a retreat. A car, cabin or building within reach for your first few times.
• Tell someone where you are and when you’re due back. Don’t push the edge of your experience alone.
• Turning back isn’t failure. If you’re cold, pack up and go home. The outdoors will still be there next weekend.

What we’ll film: adding the second underquilt and the foam pad layer by layer, showing the windbreak in wind, and an honest “how was the night” check the next morning in sub-zero temperatures.

Module 6 — Pack Up & Leave No Trace

Leave no trace

• Only hang from healthy trees with wide straps — the bark should be undamaged when you leave.
• Move camp if the ground starts to show wear; stick to durable surfaces.
• Only light a fire where it’s allowed and safe — otherwise, a camp stove.
• Take everything home: cord ends, tape, food scraps, all of it. “Pack it in, pack it out.”

Pack smart

• Store down and quilts loosely at home (not compressed for months) — otherwise they lose loft and warmth.
• Pack your quilt and sleeping bag in a dry bag in the field — wet down doesn’t insulate.
• Keep a fixed packing list so you never forget straps, stakes or the bug net.

Take everything home

Do one last sweep of the site before you leave. The goal is simple: it should look like nobody was ever there. That’s how we keep the right to hang free.

What we’ll film: packing the system down in order, showing the dry bag and the packing list, and doing a leave-no-trace check on the site before we go.

Tools & Further Reading

Four free tools that pair with this course:

• Warmth Calculator — which underquilt do you need for a given temperature and wind?
• Hammock Weather — is it a good night to hang? Temperature, wind and humidity in one place.
• Hammock Glossary — every hammock camping term explained.
• Underquilt Guide — everything you need to know about choosing and using one.

Got a question we haven’t answered? Email us at [email protected] — we hang out there too, and we’re happy to answer.