Hammock Tent as Travel Shelter

Hammock Tent as Travel Shelter

Below is a photo of the hammock tent that is similar to the one that Bicycle Luke travels with. Since traveling with him I have been thinking quite often about picking up one of these shelters the next time I pass by a military surplus shop.
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Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Gyor, Hungary- July 16, 2008
Travelogue — Travel Photos
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I think that these hammock tents could be a good alternative to sleeping on the ground style camping. The shear advantage to these shelers is that they hold you up off of the ground, so that you do not have to worry as much about being flooded out in a rain storm, insects, or small hungry mammals.

Photo taken from

I believe that when camping it is best to be propped up off of the ground. I look at the houses of jungle people all over the world and I have noticed that, almost invariable, they are all on stilts and up off of the ground. This is for obvious reasons, and I think that many of these reasons hold true when camping anywhere in the world.

In A Vagabond Journey Around the World Harry Franck once blamed sleeping on the ground in the jungles of Siam as a cause for fever. This simple statement stuck with me and I thought about it from time to time over the years. Then, in the spring of 2008, I camped out on the ground in a field in Tikal, Guatemala and was feasted on by nightime grass insects. The following morning, as I inspected the hundreds if not thousands of bites that covered my body, Franck’s words rang a little more true:

It is not good to sleep on the ground.

Therefore, I think this hammock shelter could be a good piece of travel gear for travelers who often find themselves camping out on the sly.

The only disadvatage to the hammock tent is when you find yourself in a place where there are no available places to tie it up. But, as bicycle Luke readily replied, you can just tuck yourself in it and zip it up as a bivy sack.

I think that these hammock tent shelters could be good for traveling. Now I just need to locate one.

Links to previous entries:

• Hobohideout.com Mission Statement
• Modern Architecture in Hungary
• Words of the Dead