Hammock As A Bed Experiment

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I decided to write this in the morning as opposed to my usual before bed. I wanted to squeeze in one more night of my experiment. I decided to use my Trek Light Hammock as a bed a few weeks ago. It was something I had long thought about.

Recently two things lined up that made me decide to do so. First my I finally had to get rid of my 10 year old bed. I was sleeping on the futon in the living room. Which is on it’s death bed too. Next while listening to Tim Ferriss’ podcast Kelly Starrett was talking about hammocks as a bed. He was saying to move away from hard beds and get one as soft as possible. His recommendation was to use a hammock as a bed. That’s all I needed. If Kelly was saying it would be the best for health and mobility then I was in. What did I learn in my experiment? Let’s find out!

Mike In a Hammock as a bed — Mike In a Hammock

Hanging The Hammock

To use a hammock as a bed you’ll first need a way to hang it. Unless your house is badass you probably do not have trees inside. You will have strong wall studs though. We are going to use them. You’re going to need 2 large hook screws. Find heavy duty ones they will need to support your weight. Next you will need a stud finder. Pick the place you want to hang your hammock. Use the stud finder to find the studs on both walls. Make sure you are marking the center of the stud and not the edge. I pre drilled pilot holes in the drywall and studs to prevent cracking. Next screw in your hook screw. Use some pliers to help turn it to get it in all the way. Make sure your hook is facing up. The way to hang it will depend on how it mounts and the distance between your hooks. I ran mine in the living room about 12 feet apart. I need to use straps in my setup. If you space it right, like catty cornered, you will not need straps. Now let’s get to sleep.

Hammock As A Bed

I’ve gone through a few different setups in my experiment. First I rigged the hammock tight. Then loose. I slept straight and on my back. I slept slanted. On my side. I even slept in some weird combinations of only possible in a hammock. Kelly Starrett was saying to sleep in your back with straight feet. When you have to cross one foot then the bed is not soft enough. I guess my hammock was not soft enough. I have always tossed and turned in sleep. I have also always been a side sleeper. I tried to sleep flat on my back for many nights. It was hit or miss. Some nights I’m out and others restless.

The first few nights I used a blanket under me to stop heat loss. When in a hammock whatever body part is in contact with the hammock gets cold. When camping I use a ridgerest closed cell pad. I ended up using an underquilt later. An underquilt goes outside the hammock so you are not compressing it. I rigged up a ridge line on the hammock using bank line. I used my poncho liner and wrapped around the hammock tying the strings to the ridge line. This kept me nice and warm. Also an underquilt doesn’t move out from under you.

Sleep

I’m not sure about it how great it is. I oddly have some upper back pain using a hammock as a bed. I have also been waking up early. The sleep once I’m out though seems to be deep. The hammock wraps you up like a womb. I also live the gentle swing of the hammock. Maybe I should focus on my sleep quality overall. Often I wake up and want to lay on the floor. A flat hard surface work out my back. I’m not sure that I want to sleep in a hammock full time. A few times a week seems to be best.