After a relaxing day of hiking, fishing and futzing around your campsite, snuggling up in a hammock with your sweetie might be the perfect cap on your adventure with nature. That is, if the mosquitoes aren't too bad and you aren't at each other's throats over the forgotten pasta, the missing tent stakes and the fact that it's cold, you're hungry, bears might eat you while you are sleeping in nothing more than a flimsy tent and, damn it, why did you drag me out here anyway?
Ahem.
Assuming your camping trip isn't going like that, the DoubleNest hammock might be just the thing. It is a roughly 6.5-foot-wide nylon hammock made for two and weighing a mere 1.4 pounds. It stuffs into a compact little sack about the size of a small melon.
In reality, it's not that comfortable for two people, and if the weather is hot, the DoubleNest's solid nylon fabric is a bit stifling, unlike the netting traditional hammocks are made of. But it is light, easy to transport and easy to set up.
You'll definitely want to get the optional $20 SlapStrap, a clever pair of 7.5-foot nylon webbing straps with built-in loops to make hammock hanging simple. Loop each one around a tree, pull one end through a loop, and hook the hammock onto a free loop to secure it. Sure beats trying to remember Boy Scout knots.
And that's assuming you remembered to pack the rope, Grizzly Adams. Thank the FSM that someone remembered to bring the whiskey, at least.
