DIY Hammock Stands For Camping: 8 Easy Ways

It has been scientifically proven that you get better sleep in a hammock. It gives you a feeling of rocking and getting nursed like a baby, just like mothers used to do for their bodies. (view source)

Hammock camping is the most comfortable, more enjoyable and, even easier to set up and take down and it’s a fact. One should at least experience hammock camping once in their lives. This is one thing, but there are always two faces to a coin.

That is the basic idea of tying your hammock between two trees is not a good trick. The strings harm the tree’s trunk and leave scars on it. Also, setting your sleeping area under a tree is not a good idea as the trees are home to large biodiversity of insects and even reptiles sometimes.

What you should we do? The first step would be getting yourself to know about hammock camping, and while you are at it you might also want to know how to get rid of spiders maybe.

Since strings hurt the trees, it is clear we should move to use stands for our hammocks. Well, one more thing added to your shopping list for camping and it might cost you a fortune. So we DIY it. What if your tent broke at the last minute, you should not waste your money on a new one, instead, build one for yourself.

Here Are Some Valid Reasons To DIY Stands For Hammock:

These are easy to use, and you can hook/unhook your hammock whenever you please.
You do need to be an expert in tieing knots with ropes.
You can move your tent anywhere you want. You can set your camp anywhere you want.
Once you are back from the trip, you can have this stand and the hammock on your balcony or in the backyard of your house.
Any type of camping hammock can be installed on these stands.

8 Ways To DIY Hammock Stands

These DIY hacks help you save a lot of money, but it also required technique. Since these stands are going to hold your hammock and you as well, they are required to be strong and steady. You can easily follow these steps and build your stand or just give detailed instructions to a hardware service provider and get it made for you.

1. The “Dabberty” Hammock Stand

The biggest advantage of this stand is that it is very convenient to carry around. This stand looks like lines of woods laid down along with each other when folded.

Its shape is like a large V extended from a base. The base o the stand supports 2 diagonal wood posts, on which the hammock is tied.

This stand is the best suited for a campaign trip as it can be folded into compact space and unfolded whenever you want to. You will require your carpeting tools and strong and long wood pieces. Also, try to get your hands on very long nuts and bolts, and long drilling tools as well.

Here is a layout of what size and how much wood you will require for this stand. Carefully examine this image for reference, to get started.

Instruction to build the foldable Hammock stand

Getting the woods ready is the first step here, cut the pieces and smoothen the ends of the woods with sandpaper or whatever tools you have to smoothen the sharp ends of the wood. This is important to prevent any accidents and injuries that could happen if you accidentally run into the stand.

The assembly of these woods is the next step. You can polish/paint the woods to prevent it from the damage of the weather. The method to assemble is the most critical part. How to assemble the woods is portrayed in the video link attached here. The image can also help in the assembly.

The last step is to test the stand by unfolding it and hanging the hammock on it. You can lay down on the hammock and test if your stand is built strong enough to handle your weight.

2. Smiling DIY Hammock Stand

As happy as it sounds, this looks like a giant smile with a hammock on it.

This stand is technique heavy and you would require one big circular piece of wood or two semi-circular pieces of wood. The detailed step by step guide to build it or get it to build is given here.

This stand seems very cool to be carried around.

3. Freestanding Stand

This stand is solid and is very easy to build and looks like just two PVC pipes holding a hammock. The only thing to take care of is this stand can only hold your hammock at a low height, a maximum of feet above the ground.

Materials required are-

10ft. of 1 ¼” diameter SCH-40 PVP Pipe
10ft. of 1” diameter SCH-40 PVP Pipe
50ft. Paracord
48” x 3/4” x 1/8” aluminum angle
(2) 1/2” screws

Material Cost: approximately $20 only.

The tools required for this stand are-

Permanent marker
Pocket knife
Lighter
Power Drill with 3/8” drill bit
Small, round file
Screwdriver
Hacksaw w/ blade

Till now, this sounds pretty simple, right? With such less material and easy tools, what kind of stand are we building. Here is the step by step easy guide on how to build and set up this stand.

4. 3-Person DIY stand

It is clear from the name of it that this stand is designed to hold 3 hammocks in one frame. Now you have the solution to having company while hammock camping. Imagine how fun that would be.

Building this stand takes you a maximum of 5 steps. Namely,

Find/collect requirements of the stand-

look for the following materials in the hardware store-

three 1-inch-diameter
10-foot galvanized steel pipes with threaded ends
six threaded 1-inch pipe caps
six 3⁄8-inch-diameter
4-inch eyebolts
with 11⁄2-inch eyes
nuts and lock washers
nine ratcheting tie-down straps 12 feet long
three 18-inch ground stakes.

2. Prepare pipes– how to do the pipes is given in this link
3. Attach bottom straps
4. Mount more straps
5. Stake and nap
How to carry out all of these last 3 steps is also given in the above link. You can either get it to build beforehand or assemble it on the campsite. Here is the shaded version for the same.

5. Tripod hammock stand

This stand looks like a hammock hanging from a rod kept resting on two tripods. If you still cannot imagine the stand what looks like then here is the image.

Here is the list of requirements and steps to follow on how to build this pretty easy stand for your hammock.

6. Car Camping Hammock Stand

This stand is similar to the dabberty stand, but it does not require the wood for the base part. Also, you would require a rain tarp to lay on top of the hammock. Strong strings play an important part in setting up this hammock stand.

This short (less than 5 minutes) youtube video guide will help you in understanding how it should be set and how to build it.

7. Tensahedron DIY Hammock Stand

This stand is named after the shape it makes. This is one of the simplest looking stands for the hammock. This looks like 2 large V-shaped pipes standing against each other intersecting at the ends of the V’s open side. The intersection is the point where the hammock will be hanged upon.

Here is the youtube guide to this stand.

8. Pipe Stand (Easy Rectangular Frame)

This is the easiest to build and easiest to assemble. You will know when you see this very useful guide in form of an image-

It’s easy to set up and use makes it very convenient to carry around on any camping trip. For proper measurements use this guide as a reference.

Tips For Hanging The Hammock

Make sure you hang the hammock on the hook carefully, so that your hammock doesn’t fall while you relax.
These stands would be of no use if you do not tie the hammock properly.
Set these stands as per the requirements, what we mean is if your stand has a base then make sure to lay it on a plain ground, but if not, then just ground or grass is enough to embed it in the ground.
Adjust your posture for laying in the hammock, this will reduce your chances to fall while you sleep.
If you are not used to sleeping with an open roof at night then consider laying a tarp over the hammock.

FAQs

How does a hammock stand works?

Well, it acts as a support and frame for your hammock. You have hooks to hold your hammock in place. You can even your stand’s position as per your requirement.

Can any hammock go on any stand?

Most of the time yes. Most hammocks come with a mechanism to be hooked on both sides. But if your hammock is in any way unique or different mechanism then you might face some problem.

How do you hang a hammock anywhere?

Telephone poles, fence posts, or porch supports all make great hammock hangs in a pinch. You can find great posts to hammock from all over the place if you know where to look. Just be careful to choose posts that are big enough and strong enough to support your weight!

Are hammock bad for your spine?

For most people, occasionally napping in a hammock is considered safe. But if you’d like to do it nightly, talk to a doctor first. The practice might cause side effects like back pain or poor posture.

Can a hammock stand be left outside?

Yes and no. It depends on your material of the stand if it should be left outside in harsh conditions. If the stand is made of steel rods, and proper rust insulated iron then it fine to keep it outside, but if it is made of wood, you would have to take care of it, in the rain and in sun.

Conclusion

I hope these super-easy and super-cool practical ideas to DIY your hammock stands give you enough courage to for camping and be able to sleep in a hammock, without worrying about the stand falling, or hurting the trees. You will have to take care that you do not fall off the hammock.

Hammock camping stories can be funny sometimes. Feel free to share your camping stories or more DIY stand ideas in the comment section below. We would love to hear those.

Check out other camping guides on our website.

Until then happy camping!