There is more to a good camp than getting it set up.
In my earlier account of hammock camping, I noted that I usually slept on the diagonal with an inflatable pillow. Sean curled up with a shirt beneath his head.
Between the two of us, we had managed to make going to sleep a matter of personal preference. Outdoor people can do that with almost anything. Give us a length of fabric and two suitable trees, and sooner or later we will have opinions.
I still enjoy the equipment conversation. But looking back at that article, I am more interested in what all the arranging was meant to accomplish. We wanted somewhere comfortable to rest.
After the work is finished
A camp requires attention. There are boats and equipment to look after, sleeping arrangements to make, and food to prepare. Those jobs matter. They allow us to spend time in a place with some comfort and consideration for one another.
Then comes the part that is easy to overlook while planning the journey: being there.
There is no particular achievement in filling every available hour. Sometimes the useful thing is to sit down, open a book, or let a conversation find its own pace. A hammock offers a rather direct suggestion about what to do next.
For someone accustomed to teaching and organizing, that suggestion is worth hearing.
Florida asks us to pay attention
My original article began with Florida’s heat, humidity, and biting insects. Those are real considerations, and I would not pretend that a pleasant attitude makes them disappear. Comfort depends on conditions as well as equipment.
What I value is the opportunity to become attentive to a place without making every observation into a task. There is a difference between watching the weather because a departure depends on it and having enough time to notice the surroundings after the necessary decisions have been made.
Rest does not excuse carelessness. It gives preparation something worthwhile to serve.
A small amount of home
Food is as important as the love of family gathered around the campfire. I put thought into camp meals because people deserve something good to eat, and because sharing food helps make a temporary camp feel like somewhere we belong.
A comfortable place to rest belongs to that same hospitality. So does leaving a companion enough room to be quiet.
Not everyone wants the same arrangement. My pillow and Sean’s folded shirt are a small example. We can share a journey without requiring identical ideas about comfort. There is room in camp for a little individuality, provided it does not become extra work or inconvenience for everyone else.
That is part of living together outdoors. Learn what matters to the people beside you. Take care of the shared work. Allow them their own way of settling in.
The trees are doing us a favor
A hammock can make a borrowed place feel briefly familiar. The word borrowed matters. Our comfort should not come at the expense of the trees or the next person who visits.
The old article discussed protecting bark with webbing straps. That concern is worth keeping, alongside the need to follow site rules and the instructions for the actual equipment. A product name alone does not establish that an arrangement protects a tree or safely supports a person.
I want the photograph and the memory to remain. I also want the place to remain worth visiting after the hammock has been packed.
What I would leave out of the old advice
The earlier version suggested hanging beside or over water for a breeze and soaking the insect net as a cooling technique. I withdraw those recommendations. This essay is not an instruction to repeat those arrangements. I have also removed the blanket recommendation to treat an entire sleep system with insecticide.
For practical preparation, use the manufacturer’s current safety instructions and Leave No Trace’s hammock camping guidance, together with local rules. Check the surroundings and suitable anchors, protect trees, and use products only as directed. The FloridaOATS shelter article explains why a comfortable camping arrangement is not suitable protection from every kind of weather.
Enough for the day
I do not measure a comfortable camp by how closely it resembles the living room. I want the practical things attended to, the people reasonably comfortable, and enough room left in the day to enjoy the reason we came.
Sometimes that means a shared meal and a long conversation. Sometimes it means a book. Sometimes it means Sean has already found a perfectly satisfactory use for his spare shirt.
There is no need to improve every part of the arrangement. Some things are ready to be enjoyed.
This FloridaOATS essay revisits the original Hammock Comfort account at Liquid Rhythm Kayaking. That older article records equipment and practices at the time; it should not be treated as current setup guidance. Safety references above were checked October 21, 2026.
Jeffrey John Fabiszewski
FloridaOATS
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