The Blue Ridge Camping Hammock was originally purchased last year with the idea of eventually doing some solo backpacking and camping.
There were a number of things that originally caught my attention. The fact that I could hang in a tree, well… really… who wouldn’t love that!! It was lightweight, absolutely necessary for backpacking. And versatility, let’s now assume I’m on a beach and the trees are sparse, well, I could put this puppy on the ground just like a regular tent! Ha, love it! Oh and the Blue Ridge came with a rain fly. Most rain fly’s come separate for some reason, so I just factored that into my cost analysis. Anyway, after combing what seemed like a million reviews of more experienced backpackers I decided upon Lawson. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to test it because it arrived a day after my last camping trip! Frown face.
This year however, I was intent on trying this thing out. I admit to being just a bit nervous, just because I was going to be hanging from a tree and I only vaguely recall being in a hammock over my lifetime (note: someone else always had the hammock setup before I got there).
The setup was eazy peazy just a couple polls to put together and you’ve got yourself a hammock tent. The reviews recommended straps (yet another million reviews for the “perfect” straps). All pretty simple! Now the true test., could I even get in without it tearing, falling apart, or trees falling on top of me. I held my seven (7) year old daughter’s hand to try and slide in. It must have been a sight because she thought I was hilarious, and even called over her twin sister to look at my face.
Laughter and a bit of humiliation aside, I squiggled in and nothing snapped or fell apart and miraculously I was off the ground, hanging from trees! Success!!
My straps were not set up evenly and my trees a bit close together but overall I enjoyed the experience. At one point I woke up and could see an abundance of twinkling stars through the canopy of trees. It was exactly what I had hoped for. Because of my setup I was slanted, head high and feet low. While I slid down a few times in the night it wasn’t too uncomfortable. My next
chance I will try an even setup and let you know if the sliding dissipates as I imagine it will. I had no fear of tipping or twisting and even took the time to lean a bit on each side.
The next night, I wanted to try the ground setup. Again, very easy, I just unhooked from the tree and used one tent stake on each side to keep the middle somewhat taught. One very nice feature is that the opening is flush with the ground. I took off my shoes outside of the tent and rolled right in. It isn’t very high so I did sort of roll in. The other thing I noticed was that my feet touched the bottom end of the tent (I did not notice this while I was using it like a hammock). Again, not uncomfortable but I wonder if a taller person would find it problematic.
Overall I loved it, I could see through the mesh as if it were not there. It was awesome at keeping away the pine needles, mosquitos, spiders, pine needles and various other bug like creatures.
I would certainly recommend and buy the Lawson Blue Ridge Camping Hammock again, though I hope I won’t need to! To learn more about this tent visit the Lawson Hammock website by clicking here.
chixhike 