Hey guys, is it comfortable for a side sleeper to camp in a hammock? I just cannot fall asleep while I’m on my back. Should I stick to my tent?
Whenever I’m just chilling in a hammock I felt that lying on my side took a lot of work and wasn’t very comfortable, but I’m guessing it depends on the hammock.
I’m a stomach sleeper and somehow I’m completely fine in a hammock
I slept in my Hammock Gear Circadian Pro for the first time this past week. I’m a side sleeper as well, and I was very pleased to find that I could sleep comfortably on my side in this one. Before this I’d camped in a shorter, cheap/casual hammock from Bear Butt. The Circadian was a big upgrade.
Pics from a dry run last October when I practiced setting everything up: https://imgur.com/a/vvIdQZg
If you’re a fully committed side sleeper, a tent with a nice sleeping pad is probably your best bet for a reliably comfortable night.
But, if you want to give hammocks a try, I agree with what others have said about laying diagonally. I definitely prefer sleeping on my side and the Blackbird Warbonnet hammock has become my go-to for overnights because it’s designed for a diagonal/asymmetric hang and keeps you relatively flat when you get the hang right.
I will say, it took me a few tries to understand how to get the hang right on my Blackbird XLC, since you need the foot end to be like 16-18 inches higher than the head end, which was strange for me since I primarily used more basic gathered end hammocks before. But once you commit to that setup, I’ve found it to be really comfortable.
Other companies also make similar asymmetric hammocks, like Hennesy, but I don’t have any experience with theirs yet (though they look really nice and get good reviews from what i remember).