How to hang a hammock: Here's our advice for the most comfortable rest

Jun 09, 2025

The hammock is the symbol of summer. Of all that is blissful, restful, peaceful, slothful.

It is also the most fabulous piece of technology since the internal combustion engine.

Did you know that hammocks can protect you from snakebite? Promote sleep? Save lives in battle? Did you know that they were the first shock absorbers, and the last word in astronaut gear?

Did you know they are the boy- or girlfriend of your dreams?

"The hammock is your partner," said Derek Hansen, author of "The Ultimate Hang," and one of the hammock's most enthusiastic boosters.

"It's almost like creating a relationship," Hansen said. "It's like you've found someone who knows you, who knows your body, who knows your shape, and that you're comfortable in. Everybody would want to have somebody or something like that."

Most of us like hammocks, if not quite to that extent.

They are a throwback to a simpler time. A time when people lounged away their summers, playing croquet on the lawn and sipping tall glasses of iced tea on the verandah. And sleeping, of course. Definitely sleeping.

"In the summer, you could relax under the trees, be comfortable, and love that experience," Hansen said.

But there are certain people for whom hammocks are not just a pleasant summer accessory. They are a way of life. Hansen is one of these.

"At the height of my conversion, I installed hammocks in all of my bedrooms," said Hansen, a veteran camper and scoutmaster. "My wife was in a queen bed next to me. I have been as weird as that — because it was such a great comfortable sleep."

There are cities that have hammock gardens where any passersby is free to stop in and sack out (Philadelphia has one at Spruce Street Harbor Park). And there are "hammock hangs," big events like music festivals that attract thousands of people to Florida, Denmark and other places where they can hammock-out together.

"Everyone does it differently," he said. "Some people have hammocks that are ultra light. And then on the other end of the spectrum, it's like watching a sheik. They've got this entire Bedouin experience with this huge tarp — it's like a hut they've created. And they have carpet, tables, lights."

Hammocks have been hung in deserts, in dorm rooms, in jungles, in campgrounds, on ships, and under the sea. Hammocks have been to the moon. In all the Apollo missions, from 12 on, the astronauts slept in hammocks. Or what is, in principle, a hammock.

"I don't know if people would say it looks like a hammock," Hansen said. "But it is a piece of fabric, stretched between different points, that people lay in."

Hammocks have a history. "Hamaca" is a Spanish word, derived from the Taino and Arawak "hamaka." But the idea is at least two millennia old.

Folks were apparently using them in 5th century B.C. Greece, and in the 10th century A.D. Mayan empire. An 11th century A.D. century English illustration shows a chariot with a hammock, slung between two posts affixed to the chassis. Riders, laying in it, were treated to an early form of shock absorber.

In tropical climes, where snakes, scorpions, stinging ants and other critters are a constant threat, a hammock that kept the sleeper off the ground was a lifesaver. Though a hammock can't protect you from everything, Hansen notes.

"I have so many stories of skunks and ringtail cats scurrying beneath me, and not bothering me at all, which is great," he said. "I'm not going to say that it's going to protect you from being gored by a deer."

It was in the age of seafaring that the hammock really came into its own.

Before the advent of the hammock, sailors in European ships slept in bunks. When the sea rolled, so did they. Some, in violent storms, fell to their deaths.

When Columbus brought back the hammock from the Caribbean in the 15th century, it was a game-changer. Now sleeping sailors, snug in their hammocks, could rock gently with the motion of the ship. No wonder, Hansen said, that sailors put great store in their hammocks.

"The hammock became the center point of a lot of activity on ship," he said. "When you got out of the hammock, you would put all your belongings in your bedroll, and then you would tie it in a very superstitious way. It would have to be hitched seven times, to represent the seven seas."

The hammocks would then be hung on the gunwales — the top edge of the hull — as extra protection for the sailors. "If a cannonball came through, instead of getting the wooden shrapnel, the shrapnel was absorbed by the hammock," he said.

A hammock, in short, was a sailor's best friend. It helped him sleep, stored his worldly goods, protect him in battle. And it also served a final function. It was his coffin. "They would be tied up and bundled up, and buried at sea in their hammocks," Hansen said.

All of which is to say, there's a lot of tradition woven into that simple piece of material slung between trees. So you'd best know how to hammock.

A hammock might seem like a no-brainer: bring it and sling it. But there is actually a whole science connected with these things. First of all, you have to choose the right one.

Do you go with cloth — a tightly woven cotton or nylon?

Or do you prefer the kind of loose rope netting with gaps big enough to pass an apple through? Hansen has a definite preference. "Those are probably my least favorite, because you get a waffle print on your back," he said. "You can only sleep in those for a certain amount of time."

More important, you have to decide whether you want a "gathered-end" or "spreader-bar" hammock.

The gathered-end hammock is the older, simpler hammock. Basically a single piece of cloth, gathered in at the two ends, creating a pouch that you nestle in like a cocoon.

The spreader-bar hammock has two cross-pieces, one at either end. These open out the hammock into something a little more like a bed. Less primitive, more comfortable. Or so you would think, to look at. But there's a catch.

"The real problem with spreader-bar hammocks is that they raise the center of gravity," Hansen said. "Anybody who's laid in one knows this instinctively, because they're so tippy. You get in one and rock back and forth."

On any kind of hammock, a good sag is essential. "The lower the center of gravity, the more stable they become," he said. And while it is possible to mitigate the spreader bar effect by giving them a good droop, most people don't do that — and most ready-made hammock stands don't allow for it, anyway.

"Most hammock stands that are sold in conjunction with those spreader bar hammocks do no favors, because they essentially keep the hammock spread as tight as possible," he said. "They're very dangerous. I'm not a fan."

So how do you hang a hammock?

You should find trees, between 12 and 15 feet apart. Trees with trunks at least as wide as your spread-out hand. And most important, trees that are alive, that have "give."

"People have hung their hammocks on what seem like very stable and secure places: brick walls, chimneys," he said. Such supports don't bend with your weight.

"People have been killed when the lateral forces pull the chimney and all those bricks on top of them," Hansen said. "Same is true of a dead tree. You never know how rotted out it is. The last thing you want, in the middle of the night, is to have a tree fall on you. It has happened."

You should hang the hammock about six feet off the ground — about the height of a standing adult.

And you should let it sag so that, when you plop down in it, it comes down to a few feet off the ground. About the height of a chair, Hansen said.

Do it right, and you'll have the best sleep of your life. He promises.

"When you lay on a normal bed, you toss and turn," he said. "You'll be on your shoulder, and then your shoulder will start to strain, and then you lay on your back, and then you roll on your other shoulder. I call this the rotisserie chicken approach. You're slow cooked all night."

Compare this to a delightful hang in a hammock.

"The first time I slept on a true camping hammock, I slept on my back the entire night," he said. "Which never happens. And I I woke up so refreshed."

∎ Choose the material and weave that's right for you. Cotton is pleasant. Nylon is sturdy. And a rope weave has the advantage of not making you too comfortable. When you have to go back to work, you'll be ready.

∎ Chose the right kind of hammock. A gathered-end hammock, which wraps around you, may take some getting used to. But a spreader-bar hammock is a lot less stable.

∎ Hang the hammock between trees 12 to 15 feet apart. Make sure the tree is strong (trunk should be at least the width of your hand), alive, and has "give."

∎ Hang the hammock six feet up; make sure it sags, for stability. At its lowest point it should probably be 2 feet off the ground.

∎ Forget any plans you have for the rest of the day.