Can you side sleep in a hammock?

[Glenn MacGrady]

Never had a hammock, but am intrigued by low their low weight and airiness for summer trips. I'm a side sleeper who rolls over from one side to the other during the night. Can you side sleep that way in a hammock? I visualize being hammocked in the the shape of a banana, which seems only good for back sleeping.

 

[kahel]

the keyword here is. Bridge Hammock or HavenTent
Both are hammocks in which you can sleep both straight and flat on your back or stomach. Also on the side.
What a great thing that is!

Bridge Hammock

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HavenTent XL

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[Crawforde]

Hennessy hammock is fine for side sleeping.
I’m not sure stomach sleeping would be possible.

 

[snapper]

I've slept comfortably on my side in a variety of hammocks. One of the keys to doing so is to lie diagonally across the hammock. If you lie in it straight, you'll get that banana-like feel you're talking about. It does take a bit of futzing to get it right the first few times but it can be worth it in the end.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Yeah, I sleep on my side. If your hammock is an asymmetrical design like the Hennessy Hammock, it's easy to lay diagonally in the flat trough. The trick is to have the right amount of "swag" in the hang. Once you've done it a couple times, it's not hard to set it up right the first time.

Never tried sleeping on my stomach in the hammock, and I doubt that it's possible.

 

[Pseudonym]

I’m another Hennessy Hammock user and sleep very comfortably.

The asymmetrical hang is perhaps 20 degrees or so off the ridge line axis. You can side sleep, but it’s not quite as easy as in flat a bed. Instead of rolling, you sort of have to shimmy and rotate to stay in the trough of fabric that allows for the flat hang. I side sleep at home in bed, but generally end up about halfway in between in my hammock.

It’s bug free inside the hammock, but you can’t cook, eat, easily change your clothes, or put on your boots inside, so there’s some loss of utility relative to tenting. And you really want to be totally ready when you go to bed. Urine bottle saves the trouble of getting in and out at night, but that requires a funny shimmy too.

 

[Cruiser]

Whether you pick a "Gathered End" style or a "Bridge" style, you can lay flat and side sleep.

In the gathered end style, you lay in a diagonal position and the hammock creates a trough, creating a long flat lay for sleeping or lounging. The sides do tend to rise above the body and block the outside views and I find they do tend to be a bit more snug ... but not squeezing. You can see the extra fabric folding up as the ends narrow, when you get in and lay diagonally, the extra fabric comes under tension and provides support ... this style looks completely different under load versus empty.



The Bridge type will naturally be flat under load once setup correctly. The body tends to have much less material rising up, so looking out gives a great view, especially if you hang your tarp a little higher, just wake up, turn your head and the outside view greets you. This is my latest design and it gives a pretty open/airy feel to sleeping.



The new Amuk Dramur is a side support variant that really is a category by itself ... lends itself to flat lay, side sleeping and arguably the best hammock views. It does take a little bit of practice to master using it, but those who take the time swear it is by far the best sleep they have ever had. https://amokequipment.com/products/draumr-5-0-hammock

One of the best hammock features (IMO) is that to get out you just swing your legs over and sit up .... you now in a position similar to sitting in a chair, just rock forward and you are standing. No more crawling in or out.

 

[Patrick Corry]

One can sleep in any position with this hammock/tent. The mat is held tight by force multiplying climbing strength webbing, and is quite stable and taut. The tent is capable of being used on the ground as a 'normal' tent if there are no trees around. One downside is that I don't think anyone over 6' tall will like this tent. I'm 5'10" and fit nicely.

OPEONGO Tree Tent / Hammock - AERIAL A1, the best way to sleep outside

The AERIAL A1 is lightweight tent with a flat, stable sleeping surface that can be suspended between two trees like a hammock. Get off the ground with the AERIAL A1 Tree Tent / Hammock

opeongo.camp

The only drawback in my mind is the length of the end bars which spread the mat. The weight is around 5 pounds if I recall correctly. For storm protection I suppose the tent cover is most protective, but I prefer to use the net tent and a tarp for 3 season use, both for visibility and ventilation.

Here, in the Adirondacks, you can see that the packed hammock is quite long. Annoying a little, but for canoe camping... no big deal.

Like all hammocks I suppose, it's great for uneven ground. The orange sheet below is a gear storage hammock. It works, but stuff falls out if you're vigorous getting in and out.

My favorite configuration: used with net tent and a tarp. Just adjust tarp up or down as weather dictates.

Ground mode:

On a 4'x8' sheet of plywood for size comparison:

And, with full tent cover on a pretty steep side hill installation.

 

[ppine]

Maybe if you are young and flexible. I have back issues and avoid hammocks.

 

[Gamma1214]

@Patrick Corry I've wondered about that set-up and I really like the idea... The biggest issue that's kept me from buying is the size. I'm so used to the roominess of a 3 man tent (I take it backpacking also) that I doubt I'd be comfortable in the tighter confines. Good to know that my concerns seem valid and also good info about stuff escaping from the bilge storage. I flop around a good bit while sleeping (or so I'm told) so I might be liberating gear all night long.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I have an electric bed with which I can raise the head or foot or both. If I raise both to create a concave banana surface, I cannot comfortably side sleep. This is especially so because my lumbar spine arthritis will undoubtedly complain all the next day from such nocturnal pretzling.

In my bed I also can bring my knees up into a semi-fetal position, which I also can do on the ground in a tent. I'm not sure I could do that in a taco-ing or otherwise side-constricted hammock.

Just from looking at pictures and videos, I continue to have doubts about gathered end hammocks, and somewhat less so for bridge hammocks, for my side sleeping and knee gathering sleep posture in the context of my bad lower back. @kahel's Haven Tent and @Patrick Corry's Aerial tent look somewhat promising, although they necessarily must compromise on the light weight and compactness factors.

I suppose the only rational and empirical way to answer my questions, and to confirm or refute my doubts, is to actually try out all these various hammocks. But where can one do that? I'm not going to buy-to-try them all. Is there a WPASH(ammock)R event?

 

[Gamma1214]

Is there a WPASH(ammock)R event?

I was just thinking that there should be.

 

[Tryin']

@Glenn MacGrady I am an Amok Draumr user and exclusively side sleep. My son uses a Superior Gear gathered end and sleeps 50/50 with proper diagonal lay.

There are hammock hangs around, here's the biggest:

HangCon 2026 | Hangcon

The worlds largest hammock gathering event!

www.hangcon.com

 

[Cruiser]

There are hammock "Hangs" quite frequently, Google MAHHA and HANGCONs and you should find enough to get the idea of what a hang is, you could go there and look around and talk to the folks about the various types/setups etc, there are vendors and DIYers and people there to have a good time.
You could also checkout HammockForums ... there is a very large community that is actually fairly similar to CanoeTrippingNet ... the site has a withering amount of info on almost anything Hammock related.

Brian

 

[yknpdlr]

Right. Not as convenient for many things as a tent on hard ground, but hammocs have has other advantages that best meet my needs. Many of my early wilderness exploration days were spent far off trails between remote ponds, with a canoe or not. Suitable flat open tent space is near impossible to find where I tended to go. Then the derecho 100+mph straight line wind struck the Adironcack wilderness in 1995. hardly a standing tree remained in many areas of the former woods, making things worse for tenters but islands of hammock safe trees did remain, although beneath them and the ground everywhere was covered with dead logs and confused mats of twisted branches.

But the trees along the Yukon River are no more than willow whips, so it was small light tents there every time I raced there.

 

[boy&hisdogs]

I am a side sleeper, one who generally has a very hard time falling asleep at that (1 hour or more even at home in bed) and a hammock is the best sleep I've ever gotten. I find that I don't really need to side sleep, and I don't need much of a pillow, where usually I would use 2-3 pillows. If I feel the urge to lay on my "side" I only need to rotate about 30 degrees, not the full 90.

My setup is fairly simple and light but effective. I have just a simple backpacking hammock, a tarp over it for a shelter sometimes, and a mummy bag with a small inflatable pillow tucked into the hood.

 

[Crawforde]

The hammock is worth a try.
It’s wonderful for my bad back, and it’s easy to set up and lightweight. It takes a lot for me to get comfortable on the ground or in bed.
I did one Isle Royale trip with a tent. Maybe 10 more weeks there with the hammock and years up and down the east coast working as a field biologist working in wetlands most of the time.
For me tents became something for when car camping with my wife, or for cold weather or places without trees. Often in the places where I have been, no trees can mean low bugs so I often just slept on a pad on the ground and enjoyed the sky.