Around this time last year I published a how-to guide for making your own wild camping hammock using a home sewing machine to an expedition quality finish. In discussing this article with a colleague he mentioned that without a sewing machine or experience in using one, the project was daunting, and suggested he’d simply buy a hammock instead of make his own. Fair enough I thought, but some of the good quality hammocks on the market go for more than £60 it seemed a steep price to pay if on the first few nights camping you decide ham mocking isn’t for you.

So I got to thinking, could be make a functional hammock for under £15 without using a sewing machine or any real craft skills at all… to produce a super cheap, usable hammock for trailing it as a sleep system. That’s just what I did:

What you’ll need:

A length of ripstop nylon approximately 2x your height in length.

4x zip ties

2x lengths of rope or webbing approx. 4 metres in length each

With our items to hand, set out by fixing a loop of rope to each end of the hammock by doubling the fabric back and zip tying it in place.

When you’ve done this at each end, half your 4m rope/ webbing and tie it onto the loop with a Larks foot knot.

And you’re done! Simple and effective.