We have been making hammocks since 2003. Same family, same obsession, twenty-plus years of small changes to the cut, the fabric and the stitching because customers kept telling us what a hammock should feel like. Here is what we have learned about what actually matters, and where the popular hammocks land.

What makes a hammock feel good

Almost nobody buys a hammock for a number on a spec sheet. They buy it for a feeling, and the feeling comes down to four things.

How flat you can lie. This is the whole game. A hammock that is wide enough, hung with a deep sag, lets you lie across it on the diagonal and settle in almost flat, with none of the pressure points that wake you up on a mattress. Too narrow, or strung tight, and you get the banana shape everybody complains about.

How the fabric feels against you. Parachute nylon should be soft on bare skin, not slick or crunchy, and it should breathe. Ours is the piece we have spent the most time on over the years, because it is the part you actually touch.

How well it disappears. A hammock you have to think about carrying is a hammock that stays home. Ours is 18 ounces and packs to about 5 by 8 inches, small enough that it lives in a car door pocket or the bottom of a daypack and you forget it is there until you want it.

Whether it is still yours in ten years. This is where ripstop comes in, and ripstop does exactly what the name says. Add triple-stitched seams and it is the reason people still write to us about hammocks they bought in 2009. We back all of it with a lifetime warranty, including hammocks we sold before that warranty existed.

How the popular doubles compare

Read the first two columns and the decision more or less makes itself.

Ripstop. Most of the hammocks on the market are not. Given the choice between a hammock built to stop a tear and one that is not, for roughly the same money, there is not much to think about.

Straps. A hammock without them is a bag of fabric you cannot hang. Two of the four arrive that way, so the one that looks cheaper on the shelf often is not once you add the roughly $25 for suspension.

Only one of the four is ripstop and arrives ready to hang. Ours also uses the more durable of the two ripstop fabrics here, which is a choice we made a long time ago and have never walked back. A lighter hammock that does not last is not lighter, it is temporary.

The other three, honestly

ENO DoubleNest. The one you have seen in every outdoor shop in America. It is a good hammock and a safe choice. Not ripstop, and you will be buying straps separately.

Kammok Roo Double. Ripstop, thinner material, and straps sold separately.

Wise Owl DoubleOwl. The value pick, and it does come with straps. Not ripstop, and the heaviest by a good margin, which matters on your back and not at all in a car.

And ours

Twenty-plus years of making one thing well, from sunny Colorado, still family run.

What you get: ripstop fabric soft enough that people nap in it on purpose, wide enough to lie flat and sleep a full night, light enough to forget you packed it, and a No-Flip design so getting in is a sit rather than an event. It is covered for life. Every one plants two trees, the only product we make that plants two.

And it comes in prints. That sounds like a small thing next to a spec sheet, and it is the reason most people pick theirs. The camping hammock aisle is grey and forest green. Yours does not have to be.

See all the prints.

The part that matters more than which one you buy

The hammock does not make the night comfortable. The hang does.

Any hammock strung tight and flat will wreck your back. Any hammock hung with a deep sag and slept in on the diagonal is genuinely better than a bed for a lot of people. We have watched this in customer email for twenty years, and almost every "I cannot sleep in a hammock" story turns out to be a setup story.

Before you spend anything, read how to set up a hammock at the right angle. If it changes your mind about hammocks entirely, that beats a return.

Which one should you buy

• Your first hammock: a double, ripstop, with the straps included. Wider is easier to get comfortable in, and you will not have a second thing to order.
• Backpacking: compare hammock plus straps, not hammock alone. The lightest hammock stops being lightest once you add suspension.
• Car camping, festivals, the backyard: weight stops mattering. Buy the one you want to look at and hang in.
• A gift: buy something with a print. A grey rectangle is a fine hammock and a forgettable gift.
• Kids: a different question worth reading first. We cover the best hammock for kids and how to hang one safely.

Camping hammock questions we get

Is ripstop nylon better for a hammock?

Yes, and the name tells you why. Ripstop is woven so a small tear stops instead of running, which matters a lot for something holding your full weight against tree bark and buckles. Ours is 70D ripstop parachute nylon. Of the best-known doubles, only ours and Kammok's are ripstop at all.

What is the best camping hammock for beginners?

A double, ripstop, with straps included. Doubles are wider, which makes it easy to find the diagonal lay that gets you flat, and that lay is what people mean when they say a hammock is comfortable. Skip the ultralight singles until you know you love sleeping in one.

Do camping hammocks come with straps?

Some do and some do not, and it is the most expensive detail to miss. Ours include Pro Hanging Straps and carabiners. Two of the three best-known alternatives sell suspension separately, which adds about $25.

Is a double hammock worth it for one person?

Yes, and most solo hammock campers use one. The extra width is what lets you lie diagonally and get flat. Two people fit. One person gets comfortable.

Do I need a hammock tent?

No. What people mean by hammock tent is a hammock plus a bug net plus a tarp, bought separately as you need them. Start with the hammock and straps.

What else do I need for my first hammock camping trip?

Less than you think, and it changes with the temperature. Start with our winter hammock camping guide if the nights are cold, because insulation underneath you is the piece beginners always miss.

The short version

These hammocks are closer on paper than any list will admit. What separates them is how the fabric feels, how flat you can lie in it, whether it is ripstop, and whether it arrives ready to hang.

Ours is all four, and has been for twenty-plus years. Shop double hammocks with straps, or read the portable hammock guide if pack size is what you care about.

For trip ideas, see our guide to camping and hiking with a hammock. Heading out with a rod or hunting gear? Read about hammocks for hunting and fishing trips.

Short version: enamelware is metal with glass fused onto it.

What enamelware actually is

A piece of enamelware starts as a shaped metal body. That body gets coated in a fine glass slurry and fired until the glass melts and bonds to the metal underneath.

What comes out is a hybrid, and every quirk of enamelware traces back to that. The metal gives it the strength and the light weight. The glass gives it the glossy color, the smooth surface, and the fact that it does not hold flavors or stain the way plastic does. Coffee in the morning, wine at the fire, and no ghost of yesterday's cocoa in between.

It also explains the tradeoff people ask about. Glass does not mind heat, so the mug is fine near flames. Glass is hard, so it shrugs off scratches. Glass is brittle, so a real knock against a rock can chip it. Those are three faces of one material, not three separate design decisions.

Enamelware, tin, and stainless are three different things

These get used interchangeably, and they should not be.

Tin mug

When someone says tin mug, they almost always mean an enamel mug. The name is a holdover from an era when a lot of cheap camp gear really was tinned steel. Today the speckled white camp cup people picture is enamelware. Actual bare tin is rare, and you do not want to drink from it hot.

Stainless steel

Bare stainless has no coating at all. Single wall stainless will go on a fire like enamel will. Double wall stainless keeps drinks hot much longer, but it is heavier, it usually cannot go on a flame, and it will never look like anything but a piece of gear.

Enamelware

Enamelware sits between them. Fire friendly like bare metal, easy to look at like ceramic, and much harder to destroy than either. It is the reason the design has barely changed in a century.

We wrote a longer, honest head to head in enamel vs stainless camp mugs, including where stainless is the better buy.

How to tell a good enamel mug from a cheap one

Pick it up. Thin walls are the first thing a factory cuts. You can feel it immediately.

"They're really good quality, much thicker walls than other mugs I've seen." (Sarah Airozo, verified review)

Run a finger around the rim. The lip is where your mouth goes and where cheap enamelware gives itself away. It should be rolled and smooth, not sharp or gritty.

Look at the print in daylight. Color should be even and saturated with no thin patches where the coating pulled away from an edge.

"Great quality! Enameled well and no chips or anything in the print." (Isaac Worrall, verified review)

Check what it is allowed to do. If a mug is genuinely enamelware, the maker should be willing to say dishwasher, stovetop, and campfire out loud. If the listing hedges, there is usually a reason.

Living with enamelware

This is the shortest care section anyone will ever write for you: use it, then put it in the dishwasher.

No seasoning. No hand wash only guilt. No special soap. Enamel is glass, and glass does not care.

The one rule worth remembering is the microwave. There is metal under that glass, so enamelware stays out of it. Heat it on the stove or over the fire instead, which is faster anyway.

If a chip happens eventually, it is cosmetic. Campers have been wearing those as badges for about a hundred years.

What ours are

Trek Light mugs are lightweight enamel coated metal with a hand dipped, hand rolled lip, so every one comes out a little different. We think of that as personality rather than a defect.

They hold a full 16 ounces, which is 2 cups or exactly one pint, and they are dishwasher, stovetop, and campfire friendly with hot or cold anything in them.

The designs are the part people actually choose on, so browse the enamel mug collection and pick the one that makes you smile before the first sip.

Every mug plants a tree through our 1 for 1 Giveback, and everything we make is backed by our Happiness Guarantee.

More reading: the full enamel camping mug guide, or camp coffee methods ranked by fuss if the coffee is the project.

Enamelware FAQ

What is enamelware made of?

Enamelware is metal coated in a layer of glass and fired so the two fuse together. The metal underneath carries the strength and the light weight, and the glass on top gives it the hard, glossy, stain resistant surface.

Is enamelware the same as a tin mug?

In everyday use, yes. Most mugs sold as tin mugs today are enamelware. The name stuck from an era when camp cups really were tinned steel.

Can enamelware go in the microwave?

No. There is metal under the enamel coating, so enamelware should never go in a microwave. It is fine on a stovetop or over a campfire.

Is enamelware dishwasher safe?

Trek Light enamel mugs are, with no hand washing required, even after a night over the fire. Enamel is glass, so detergent and heat do not bother it.

Does enamelware chip?

A hard drop or a solid knock can chip the coating, the same as any enamelware. Everyday sipping, washing, stovetops, and campfires will not.

Here is where that look came from, and why it is one of the few pieces of old design that never needed updating.

The look is a manufacturing process, not a style choice

Enamelware is metal with glass fused onto it. Every part of the classic look is a side effect of how that gets done.

The dark rim exists because the lip is dipped, and a dipped edge leaves a band. The speckle on old enamelware came from spattering a second color over the first before firing. The slightly uneven, hand touched quality came from the fact that a person was holding each piece.

Nobody sat down and designed a retro camp mug. They designed a cheap, tough, fireproof cup, and a hundred years later it turns out that was the design.

Ours still get a hand dipped, hand rolled lip, which is why no two come out identical. Small variances are the point.

Why enamelware was everywhere, and then was not

Enamelware had a long run as the default. It was cheaper than china, lighter than cast iron, and it did not shatter when a kid dropped it. Kitchens, army kit, chuck wagons, hospital wards, camp sites. If it held liquid and had to survive, it was probably enamel.

Then plastic showed up and undercut it on price, and stainless showed up and outperformed it on insulation. Enamelware got pushed out of the mainstream kitchen and stayed alive in exactly one place, which is the place it always looked best: outside.

Why the look came back

Three things happened at once.

Camping got photographed. A ceramic mug does not read as camp. An enamel mug in a hand, in front of a fire, reads as camp instantly, which is why it appears in roughly every outdoor photo ever taken.

Kitchens opened up. Open shelving meant your mugs became decor whether you wanted them to or not. A mug that looks like something suddenly beat a mug that just holds coffee.

"It's bigger than I thought and perfect for my morning tea or coffee. It's even prettier than the picture and is displayed on a hook in my kitchen." (Sharon Wollenzien, verified review)

People got tired of forgettable. Vintage design carries a story. A mug that looks like it has been somewhere is more interesting than one that looks like it came from a shelf of identical mugs, even when it is brand new.

Vintage look, without the vintage problems

Actual antique enamelware is fun to collect and not always fun to drink from. Old pieces can carry rust under chips, unknown coatings from an era with looser rules, and rims that have taken sixty years of abuse.

A new enamel mug gives you the same silhouette with none of that. Same fire friendly build, same hard glossy surface, made to current standards, and it goes in the dishwasher instead of getting babied.

"The vintage mushroom design adds such fun personality to our campsite, and it's held up great around the fire and on trips." (Jordan Schware, verified review)

Retro does not have to mean beige

The one place we part ways with tradition is color. Classic enamelware was mostly white with a navy rim, because that is what was cheap to produce at scale.

We kept the shape and the hand dipped rim and threw out the restraint. Mushrooms, wildflowers, trout, bees, waves. The old silhouette carrying artwork that gives you something to look at while the coffee cools.

"Nice colors, enamel cups great for camping, or sitting on the deck." (jill pinder, verified review)

How to get the look right

Go for a rolled rim, not a rounded plastic looking edge. The rim is the single detail that separates a real enamel mug from something imitating one.

Do not chase a matched set. Mismatched enamelware on a shelf looks collected. A perfectly matched set of six looks like a hotel.

Let it get used. Enamelware ages well and the small marks are part of the appeal. This is not a display piece.

Every one of ours holds a full 16 ounces, is dishwasher, stovetop, and campfire friendly, and works for hot or cold. Browse the enamel mug collection and pick the design you would actually want to see every morning.

Every mug plants a tree through our 1 for 1 Giveback, and everything we make is backed by our Happiness Guarantee.

More on mugs: what enamelware actually is, or the full enamel camping mug guide.

Vintage enamel mug FAQ

Why do enamel mugs look vintage?

Because the design has barely changed. The dipped rim, the speckled finish, and the simple shape are all leftovers from how enamelware was made a century ago, and it worked well enough that nobody had a reason to redesign it.

Are old enamel mugs safe to drink from?

Antique pieces are worth a closer look, since chips can expose bare metal to rust and older coatings were made under different rules. A new enamel mug gives you the same look with none of the guesswork.

What is the speckle on enamelware?

It is a second color spattered over the base coat before firing. It started as a practical, cheap finish and became the signature look of camp enamelware.

Are vintage style enamel mugs good for camping?

They are the original camping mug. Ours are dishwasher, stovetop, and campfire friendly, so the retro look is doing a real job rather than just sitting there.

Here is what actually matters when you are ordering enamel mugs in quantity, and the questions worth asking before you commit.

Why enamel is the right call at volume

Anything you buy twenty of will get treated worse than something you buy one of. Guests, wedding crowds, and kids are hard on drinkware in ways you do not get to supervise.

"I wanted to see the quality before ordering more for my riverfront Airbnb cabins and it didn't disappoint. So cute and colorful. Great quality, doesn't seem flimsy or cheap at all. I will definitely be ordering more!" (L Holder, verified review)

The four buyers, and what each one should optimize for

Rental cabins, AirBnB's, and Vans

You want survivable and photogenic in that order. A mug that ends up in guest photos is quietly doing marketing for your listing, and a mug that survives four years of guests is doing something better than that.

Buy a few more than you need. Things walk off, and matching a set later is harder than overbuying now.

Weddings and events

Enamel mugs work as a favor because people actually keep them. They are useful, they aren't fragile in a suitcase, and they do not read as an event trinket a month later.

Order well ahead. Anything you need in a fixed quantity by a fixed date deserves a lead time conversation rather than a hopeful checkout.

Shops and retailers

Mugs are a strong impulse restock. The price point is low enough for an add on, they display well stacked or hung, and customers who like the design come back for a second one and then a third.

If you are buying to resell, do it through Trek Light wholesale rather than a bulk retail order.

Camps, crews, and teams

You need the same mug available again next season, not a one time run. Ask whether the designs you're picking are core items or seasonal, because replacing a broken mug from a discontinued run is its own small headache.

What to check before you order in quantity

Wall thickness. The first thing cut on cheap bulk enamelware. Order a single mug first and pick it up.

The rim. Rolled and smooth, not sharp. Twenty guests will notice a bad lip long before they notice a nice print.

Dishwasher rating. Non negotiable at volume. Nobody is hand washing twenty mugs on a turnover day.

Whether you want matching. Uniform sets look institutional. A mixed shelf of designs looks collected, and it means a guest can claim one as theirs for the week.

What ours are, plainly

Trek Light enamel mugs hold a full 16 ounces, which is 2 cups or one pint. They are dishwasher, stovetop, and campfire friendly, they take hot or cold, and each one gets a hand dipped, hand rolled lip, so small variances between mugs are expected and are part of the look.

Every design in the enamel mug collection is our own original artwork, which is the reason people pick one off a shelf instead of a blank cup.

For a large order or a firm date, get in touch before you check out so we can confirm stock. For resale, start at wholesale.

Every mug plants a tree through our 1 for 1 Giveback, and everything we make is backed by our Happiness Guarantee.

More on mugs: what enamelware actually is, and the full enamel camping mug guide.

Bulk enamel mug FAQ

Can you buy enamel mugs in bulk?

Yes. For a personal quantity such as a cabin, a wedding, or a camp, order directly from the collection and reach out first if you need a specific count by a specific date. For resale, use the wholesale program.

Are enamel mugs good for rental properties?

They are one of the best choices to add style to your rental. They can chip but don't shatter, they don't stain, they handle daily dishwasher runs, and they photograph well enough that guests put them in listing photos for you.

Do you sell blank or plain enamel mugs?

Our mugs carry our own original artwork rather than being sold blank, and the design is usually the reason someone picks one up. For anything outside the standard collection, check out our custom program.

How many enamel mugs should I order?

More than you think. Order one first to check the quality in your hands, then order the full quantity with a few spares, since matching a set later is harder than overbuying at the start.

Five materials show up at camp. Here is what each is actually good at, and which one fits how you camp.

The short version

Enamel if you want one mug that goes on the fire and still looks good in your kitchen. Double wall stainless if keeping coffee hot is the whole point. Titanium if you count grams. Ceramic if the mug never leaves the cabin. Plastic if kids are involved and you have made your peace with it.

Enamel

Metal with glass fused onto it. The camp classic, and the reason the design has barely changed in a century.

Good at: direct heat, low weight, not tasting like anything, looking like something you want on a shelf. It goes over a fire, on a stovetop, and into a dishwasher without a conversation.

Bad at: insulation. A single wall mug is a single wall mug. It also gets hot to hold when the contents are hot, which is what the handle is for.

The tradeoff people ask about: a hard knock on rock or concrete can chip the coating rather than shattering the mug. Everyday use, washing, stovetops, and fires will not.

"Nice mug, good size, love that you can heat it up on the campfire or wood stove." (Claire Connor, verified review)

Stainless steel

Two very different products share this name, and the difference matters more than the material does.

Single wall stainless behaves a lot like enamel. It goes on a flame, it is light, it does not insulate. It is also plain, which some people want.

Double wall stainless is the insulated one. It will keep coffee hot for hours, which is genuinely the best reason to buy any camp mug. In exchange it is heavier, it usually cannot go near a flame, and it costs more.

If you are deciding between enamel and stainless specifically, we went deep on it in enamel vs stainless camp mugs, including where stainless is the better buy.

Ceramic

Best drinking experience of the five. Nothing feels quite like a ceramic mug in your hands on a cold morning.

Good at: feel, heat retention for its weight, looking at home in a kitchen.

Bad at: existing outdoors. It is heavy, it cannot go over a fire, and one meeting with a rock ends it. Ceramic is a cabin, van, and back porch mug. Take it tent camping and you are carrying a countdown.

Titanium

The backpacker's answer. Extremely light, effectively indestructible, and fine over a flame.

Good at: weight, durability, doubling as a small pot.

Bad at: price and heat transfer. It is the most expensive option by a wide margin, and thin titanium gets scorching at the lip fast. Worth it if you count ounces. Overkill if you drive to the campsite.

Plastic

Good at: price, weight, and not shattering when a five year old drops it on gravel.

Bad at: everything else over time. It picks up flavors and odors, it clouds and scratches, and it stays away from flames. It is a fine third set for kids and a poor mug to buy twice.

How to pick, by how you camp

Car camping and campfire cooking: enamel. You can heat cocoa directly over the flames and skip the kettle entirely.

Cold mornings above anything else: double wall stainless. Nothing else competes on heat retention and it is not close.

Backpacking and counting grams: titanium, or enamel if you would rather spend the money on something else.

Cabin, van, or the mug lives at home: enamel or ceramic. Enamel if it ever goes outside.

Kids in the mix: plastic for the toddler years, then move up. We wrote about the timing in kids camping mugs.

The thing nobody puts on the spec sheet

You will use the mug you like looking at. That sounds soft next to grams and hours of heat retention, and it is still the variable that decides which mug is actually in your hand at 6am.

"This mug is beautiful, great quality, lightweight, and good for backpacking and camping!" (Janie T., verified review)

Ours are enamel for all the reasons above. A full 16 ounces, which is 2 cups or one pint, dishwasher, stovetop, and campfire friendly, hot or cold, with a hand dipped and hand rolled lip so each one comes out slightly its own.

Pick a design in the enamel mug collection, then go make coffee. If the coffee is the actual project, we ranked the camp coffee methods by fuss.

Every mug plants a tree through our 1 for 1 Giveback, and everything we make is backed by our Happiness Guarantee.

Camping mug FAQ

What is the best material for a camping mug?

Enamel for all around camp use, since it handles direct heat, stays light, and does not shatter. Double wall stainless if keeping a drink hot for hours matters more than putting the mug on a fire.

Can you put a camping mug directly on the fire?

Enamel, single wall stainless, and titanium can go over a flame. Ceramic, plastic, and most double wall insulated mugs cannot.

What size camping mug should I get?

16 ounces is the useful default. That is 2 cups, or one pint, which covers a full coffee, a soup, or a drink at the fire without a refill.

Are ceramic mugs good for camping?

Only where they will not get dropped. Ceramic feels the best and is the heaviest and most fragile of the five, so it suits cabins and vans far better than tents.

Do camping mugs keep coffee hot?

Only insulated double wall mugs really do. Single wall mugs in any material, enamel included, hold heat for a while but are not vacuum insulated. The upside is that they can be reheated directly on a stove or fire.

This is the middle. What a first hammock camping trip actually asks of you, in the order you will hit it.

Before you go: the only two things that ruin a first night

Cold underneath you, and a bad hang. That is it. Bugs and rain are solvable and predictable. Those two are the ones that send people back to a tent.

Cold underneath you. In a hammock your sleeping bag compresses flat under your body, and compressed insulation does nothing. This surprises everyone. A bag rated to 20 degrees will feel like no bag at all if there is nothing between you and the air. Below about 70 degrees you want something under you: a sleeping pad works, an underquilt works better. We wrote the whole thing up in our winter hammock camping guide, and it is worth twenty minutes before your first cold night.

A bad hang. Hung tight and flat, a hammock folds you into a banana and squeezes your shoulders. Hung with a deep sag and slept in diagonally, it is flat. This is not a preference, it is geometry, and it is the single highest leverage thing you will learn. Read how to set up a hammock at the right angle before you leave the house, and practice once in the yard.

Where you are actually allowed to hang

The rules are less restrictive than people assume and more restrictive than people hope.

• National forests and most dispersed camping: generally fine, with tree-friendly straps.
• National and state parks: varies by park, sometimes by campground within a park. Some ban hanging from any tree, some allow it with wide webbing only. Call the ranger station. It takes four minutes and it is the difference between a trip and a citation.
• Established campgrounds: usually yes, often with a rule about strap width.
• Wherever you land: use straps at least one inch wide. Rope and thin cord cut into bark and that is what gets hammocks banned from places.

Trees want to be about 12 to 15 feet apart and thick enough that you cannot wrap your hands around them. Living trees only, never a dead one, and look up before you commit. Standing dead branches are the actual danger in a forest, and they do not care what you are sleeping in.

What to bring on the first trip

Ruthlessly short list. Add to it after you learn what you personally miss.

• The hammock and its hammock straps. Non negotiable, and check they are in the bag before you leave.
• Something insulating underneath. Sleeping pad for the first trip, underquilt when you are hooked.
• A sleeping bag or quilt for on top.
• A tarp if there is any chance of rain. Any chance.
• A bug net if it is summer and you are anywhere with standing water.
• A small stuff sack or dry bag for the things you want to reach at 2am. Gravity is not your friend in a hammock and anything set on the ground is now four feet away and invisible.

Notice what is not on that list: a hammock tent, a ridgeline organizer, a bottom entry double layer anything. You do not need a system yet. You need a night outside.

Setting up camp, in order

1. Pick your trees before you unpack anything. Walk the site. Look for two solid trunks, right spacing, nothing dead overhead, and a slight slope so water runs away rather than under you.
2. Straps on first. Get the straps ready to clip in and hang the hammock next.
3. Aim for about 30 degrees of sag in the suspension. It will look wrong. It is not wrong.
4. Tarp before dark, always. Even under a clear sky, unless you're really willing to roll the dice. Setting a tarp in the rain in the dark is a memory you'd probably like to avoid.
5. Insulation in, then bag, then you. Sit in the middle, swing your legs up, lie back, then shift diagonally until your body goes flat.

Sit height is worth a second of thought. Aim to sit in it like a chair with your feet on the ground. That is roughly right for getting in and out at night without a production.

Your first night, honestly

You will wake up at some point convinced you are cold, and it will be your back or your shoulders, not the air. That is compressed insulation. Reach down, shift your pad, go back to sleep.

You will also probably sleep better than you expected. That is not brand copy, it is the most common thing customers tell us after twenty years: the first hammock night is either the best sleep they have had outside or a lesson in what they got wrong about the hang. Rarely anything in between.

If you want the physiology behind why, we went into it in our guide to sleeping in a hammock.

Rain, bugs, and no trees

Rain. A tarp pitched with the edges low sheds weather better than a tarp pitched high and pretty. Add drip lines, a short length of cord tied around each suspension line under the tarp, so water runs off instead of tracking down the strap and into your hammock.

Bugs. A net that covers the whole hammock beats a net that covers your head. Mosquitoes bite through fabric pressed against skin, which is most of your underside.

No trees. It happens, and it is not the end of the trip. There are more anchors out there than people notice. We wrote about hanging a hammock with no trees, and if the answer turns out to be indoors this weekend, how to hang a hammock indoors covers that too.

Leave the site better

Wide straps, living trees, no cutting, no nails, and pack the whole thing out. Hammock camping has a very small footprint compared to a tent pad, and that is one of the honest arguments for it. Keeping it that way is how hammocks stay allowed.

Every hammock we sell plants two trees, which is our small version of the same idea.

Hammock camping questions we get

How do you comfortably camp in a hammock?

Deep sag, diagonal lay, insulation underneath. Those three in that order solve almost every comfort complaint. A flat, tight hang is the cause of most of the rest.

Is hammock camping better than a tent?

For a lot of people, yes, and for some, no. Hammocks win on sleep quality, setup speed, wet or rocky or sloped ground, and pack size. Tents win on very cold nights without the right insulation, on treeless terrain, and when you have gear you want to keep inside with you. We made the longer argument in tent vs hammock camping.

What temperature is too cold for hammock camping?

There is no fixed number, because it depends entirely on what is under you. With a proper underquilt people hammock camp well below freezing. With nothing underneath, 60 degrees will keep you awake.

Can two people camp in one hammock?

Two people fit in a double and it is great for an evening. For sleeping, most couples end up in two hammocks, because you both roll to the middle. Ours is rated to 440 pounds, so capacity is not the limit. Sleep is.

Do I need special straps?

You need webbing at least one inch wide, so it spreads the load and does not cut bark. Rope does not qualify. Our tree friendly hammock straps are 9.8 feet each with one inch webbing, which covers most trees you will find.

Go do it

The first hammock camping trip has a very short list of ways to go wrong, and you have now read all of them. Hang high, sag deep, sleep diagonal, put something under you.

If you still need the hammock, ours comes with the straps in the box. Shop double hammocks with straps.

Here is what actually separates one set from another, and how to not overthink it.

Why straps instead of rope

Two reasons, and only one of them is about you.

The tree. Rope and thin cord concentrate hundreds of pounds onto a narrow line and cut through bark. Bark damage is not cosmetic, it is how a tree loses the layer that moves water and food up the trunk. This is exactly why parks and campgrounds started banning hammocks, and it is why most places that still allow them specify a minimum strap width.

The knot. Rope needs a knot that holds under load and still unties in the morning after a night of rain. Straps skip the problem entirely: wrap, thread, hook, done. If you want to learn the knots anyway, we have a whole guide on how to hang a hammock with rope. Most people try it once and then buy straps.

The four things that actually differ

Width

One inch is the number to look for, and it is the number most land managers specify. Wider webbing spreads the load across more bark. Anything narrower than an inch is doing the same thing rope does, just flatter.

Length

This is the spec people get wrong. Short straps look tidy on a product page and then strand you at a campsite where the only two usable trees are 18 feet apart or three feet thick.

Around 9 to 10 feet per strap is the practical sweet spot. It handles a fat trunk, a wide gap, and the case where you need to wrap twice. Ours are 9.8 feet each, two in the set.

Stretch

Nylon comes in two behaviors. Static nylon holds its length under load. Dynamic nylon, the kind used in climbing rope, is built to stretch and absorb a fall.

For a hammock you want static. Stretchy suspension means you hang it at a good height, get in, and slowly descend to the ground over the next hour. Every strap set worth buying says static or non-stretch somewhere on the page. If it does not say, assume it does.

Attachment points

Most straps are a loop of webbing with a row of sewn loops along it, so you pick the loop that gives you the height and sag you want. That adjustability is the whole feature. Systems with a single fixed loop force you to move the strap up and down the trunk instead, which is slower and harder in the dark.

What you do not need to care about

• Weight rating, mostly. Strap sets are rated to 400 to 500 pounds. Two adults do not approach that. Buy on width and length instead.
• Carabiners versus hooks. Both work. Hooks are faster, carabiners are marginally more secure. This is not a decision worth research.
• Ultralight strap sets. Cutting three ounces off your suspension is a real thing for people counting grams, and it is the wrong place for a first buyer to spend money or fuss.
• Brand matching. Straps are universal. Any strap set hangs any hammock, including a hammock from a different brand.

How long a strap do you actually need

Rough guide, per strap:

• Backyard, two known trees, same spot every time: 6 feet is plenty.
• Campgrounds and travel, trees you have never seen: 9 to 10 feet. This is the answer for almost everyone.
• Big old trunks, or hanging between a tree and a post: 10 feet plus, or carry an extra set.

The failure mode is always the same and always the same direction. Nobody has ever stood in a forest wishing their straps were shorter.

Hanging with them, quickly

1. Wrap the strap around the trunk at head height or a bit above, higher than feels right.
2. Thread the tail through the loop at the other end and pull it snug against the bark.
3. Clip your hammock into whichever sewn loop gives you a deep curve, roughly 30 degrees of sag.
4. Sit in it. If you can sit like it is a chair with your feet flat on the ground, you are close.

The sag is the part everyone gets wrong on the first try. A tight, flat hang is what makes people say they cannot sleep in a hammock. If that is you, read how to set up a hammock at the right angle before you buy anything else.

What we make

Our tree friendly hammock straps are two straps, 9.8 feet each, one inch webbing, about six ounces a strap, rated to 440 pounds, in 100% nylon static webbing so they do not creep down over the night. They fit any hammock, ours or anyone else's, and they pack down small enough to live permanently in a car door pocket.

They are also already in the box with every double hammock with straps we sell, which is a small thing that we think should be standard and mostly is not. One tree planted for every set, same as everything else we make.

Hammock strap questions we get

Do hammock straps damage trees?

Wide webbing does not. One inch or wider spreads the load across enough bark that a healthy tree is unaffected by a night or a season. Rope, cord and wire do cause damage, which is what the rules in most parks are actually written about.

How long should hammock straps be?

About 9 to 10 feet each for general use. Shorter is fine for a fixed backyard setup where you already know the trees. Longer never hurts except in ounces.

Will any straps work with my hammock?

Yes. Hammock suspension is effectively universal, so a strap set from one brand hangs a hammock from another. Check that your hammock has carabiners or loops at the ends, and if it does not, you will want a set that includes them.

Can I use ratchet straps or tie-down straps?

Please do not. Ratchet straps are metal, heavy, and capable of crushing bark under mechanical advantage, and the hardware sits right where your shoulder goes. They are not designed for a load that swings.

Are hammock straps sold separately?

Usually, yes, and that is worth checking before you compare prices between brands. A hammock that looks cheaper often is not once suspension is added. We include them, and we also sell the set on its own for a hammock you already own.

The short version

One inch wide, about ten feet long, static nylon, multiple attachment loops. That is the whole specification. Everything else on a strap product page is detail.

Get the straps right and the hammock part takes care of itself. Shop hammock straps, or start with a double camping hammock that already has them in the box.

We have been making packable hammocks since 2003, so we have opinions about this. Here is what portable actually means, what the words on the label are trying to tell you, and how to figure out whether a hammock will genuinely come with you or quietly become furniture.

Portable, packable, collapsible, foldable: what the words mean

These four words get used interchangeably in product listings, and they should not be. They describe different things.

• Packable is the honest one. It means the hammock compresses into a stuff sack and stays there without a fight. This is the word to look for.
• Portable just means someone decided it could be moved. A 40 pound hammock with a stand is technically portable. So is a piano.
• Collapsible and foldable almost always refer to the stand, not the hammock. If a listing says "foldable hammock" and shows a metal frame, you are shopping for a stand with a hammock attached, and it is going in your trunk, not your backpack.

None of this is a scam. It is just imprecise. But if you want the kind of hammock that ends up on a plane, in a daypack, or stuffed in a beach bag, "packable" is the word that survives contact with reality.

The four numbers that actually decide it

Packed size. This is the one that matters most and the one listings bury. A hammock that packs to the size of a water bottle goes anywhere. A hammock that packs to the size of a sleeping bag goes in the car and no further. Ours packs down to about a water bottle, which is why people keep them in a glovebox for years and forget they are there until they need one.

Weight. Under two pounds for the hammock is the line between "I'll bring it" and "I'll bring it next time." Straps add weight, and most people forget to count them. Our Go Anywhere Pro straps are 6 oz each, so budget for the pair.

Setup time. If hanging it takes longer than five minutes, you will stop doing it. Knots are the usual culprit. Strap systems with sewn loops let you skip knots entirely, which is the whole reason they exist.

What is included. This is where the price comparison falls apart. Plenty of cheap hammocks arrive with no suspension at all, and then straps cost another $25 to $40. Read the box.

Ultralight is a real category, and most people do not need it

Ultralight hammock camping is its own sport, with people counting grams on their suspension hardware and sleeping under a tarp in November. If that is you, you already know what you want.

For everyone else, the honest answer is that the difference between a genuinely light hammock and an ultralight one is a few ounces you will never notice, and the ultralight version usually gives up width, durability, or both to get there. We would rather you have a hammock big enough for two people that lasts twenty years than one that saves four ounces and feels like sleeping in an envelope.

What travel actually asks of a hammock

A packable hammock is the rare piece of gear that earns its space in a bag over and over:

• Airports. A long layover plus two trees, or two structural columns, or a quiet corner of a park near the terminal. We have written a whole love letter to this one.
• The beach. Sand does not stick to ripstop nylon the way it sticks to towels and blankets. Shake it out and go.
• Campsites. Off the ground, off the roots, off the rocks. Plenty of people sleep in one full time.
• Backyards and festivals. Honestly the most common use, and there is nothing wrong with that.
• Hotel rooms and dorms. Yes, people do this. Carefully.

What if there are no trees?

This is the question behind most searches for hammock stands, and it deserves a straight answer: we do not sell one.

What we would tell you is that a stand solves a narrower problem than people expect. It is heavy, it lives in one place, and it costs more than the hammock. If your hammock is going to hang in the same backyard spot every day, a stand is genuinely the right answer and you should buy a good one from someone who makes them.

If your hammock is going to travel, a stand defeats the point. Two trees, two porch posts, two sturdy fence posts, a pair of columns, or one tree and one solid anchor will all work, and a good strap set makes any of them a thirty second job. We have a whole guide on how to hang a hammock, including how far apart the anchors need to be and the sag angle that makes the difference between comfortable and awful.

What we make, plainly

Our Double Hammock and Pro Strap bundle is currently $78 and comes with everything except the trees. Ripstop nylon, big enough for two and perfect for one, a never-flip design so you can get in without the comedy routine, and tree-friendly straps that need no knots. It packs to about the size of a water bottle. Every sale plants a tree, and we have been doing that long enough that the total is past 150,000.

We are not going to tell you it is the lightest hammock ever made, because it is not, and the brands chasing that number are welcome to it. Ours is the one that has been coming out of glove boxes and carry-ons since 2003 and still gets handed down.

The short version

Look for packed size before anything else. Check whether straps are included before you compare prices. Ignore "collapsible" and "foldable" unless you actually want a stand. And if the hammock does not fit in the bag you already carry, you will not carry it.

If you want the longer version of what it is like to actually sleep in one, start with our guide to sleeping in a hammock. If you are deciding between a hammock and a tent for your next trip, we made that comparison too.

Comparing specific models? Our guide to the best camping hammocks puts the popular doubles side by side.

A travel towel solves a narrow problem: dry a whole person, then be dry again itself before you need it next. Four things decide whether one is any good.

Size is where most people go wrong

Travel towels are usually sold small, on the theory that small is the point. Then you climb out of the water and find you're drying an adult with a napkin.

Ours run 60 x 30 in, which is bath-towel length. It wraps, it covers a lounge chair, and it still folds down to something you forget is in your bag.

"This towel is the perfect size for a backpack!" (Lauren Maier, verified review)

Dry time is the whole product

A towel that stays wet gets heavy, then it starts to smell, and then it gets abandoned in a hotel room. Fast drying is what keeps a towel usable on day four.

Ours dry quickly enough to go back in the bag the same morning, and they stay fresh between washes instead of turning a pack into a science experiment.

Weight, and whether you bother packing it

The whole towel weighs 8 oz. At that weight the decision stops being a decision, which is the only reason a towel ever makes it into a carry-on.

"I'm planning on using it in my teardrop camper as I travel since it is super light weight, dries quickly and is easy to pack down small." (Kim Sublett, verified review)

The sand problem

Beach towels bring the beach home with them. Ours shake sand off rather than holding onto it, which matters more on the car ride back than it does at the water.

"Absolutely love this towel! Beautiful design and colors, and works perfectly as a yoga or beach towel!" (Becky Fiorenza, verified review)

Look for a hanging loop

A towel on a hook dries. A towel in a heap does not, and a towel that never dries is laundry you're carrying around on vacation.

Ours have a loop sewn into the middle so the towel hangs open instead of bunched, which is the difference between dry by morning and damp by Thursday.

It stops being a travel towel

Buy one for a trip and it quietly takes over other jobs. Yoga mat towel, picnic blanket, gym bag towel, the thing you throw over a dock before you sit down.

"We bought this to use for yoga (short person!), picnics, towel, what-not on our trip. It takes up very little room in the suitcase and is beautifully printed on both sides with different patterns!" (Woosi, verified review)

The double-sided printing does real work there. Each towel carries a different design on each face, so it reads as something you picked rather than something you packed.

Care, and the habit that ruins a good one

Wash cold on a gentle cycle, then hang it or lay it flat. Skip fabric softener, which leaves a coating behind that makes any towel worse at absorbing water.

Travel towel or kitchen towel?

They're different tools and they don't swap well. A travel towel dries people, while our kitchen towels are built for dishes and countertops.

If you're assembling a kit rather than buying one thing, our car camping checklist and our backpacking pack list both put a towel on the list for a reason.

One towel, one tree

Ours are made from 100% recycled materials, and each towel recovers waste from 10 plastic water bottles. Every sale plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback.

They're covered by our Lifetime Warranty and Happiness Guarantee, so if the towel doesn't earn its spot in your bag, that's on us.

Travel towel questions we get

What size should a travel towel be?

Big enough to dry an adult. Ours are 60 x 30 in, which is bath-towel length, and they still pack down small enough to live in a daypack.

Can a travel towel replace a bath towel at home?

Plenty of people end up doing exactly that. A quick-dry towel takes less closet space and dries out between showers rather than sitting damp on the hook.

How do you stop a travel towel from smelling?

Hang it open so air reaches both sides, wash it cold on gentle, and skip the fabric softener. Towel odor is almost always trapped moisture rather than dirt.

Shop wander and travel towels

The ones that survive have a job to do at home. The test is simple: would somebody keep this if the logo weren't on it?

What people keep

Blankets and hats pass that test. So do mugs and towels, because they get used on ordinary days, and the item leaves the office to join someone's actual life.

"I have 4 of Trek's blankets and every time I have company they comment on how wonderful they are." (Sherry Lewis, verified review)

That reaction is what a custom branded gift is really buying. Not the handover, but every time somebody asks about it afterward.

Where the logo goes matters more than the logo

A large logo turns a gift into an advertisement, and people can tell instantly. A small mark on something well made reads as a collaboration, which is a different feeling entirely.

We've been doing custom label work for a long time, and the version that lands is almost always the restrained one. The product carries the room and the mark just signs it.

Who already does this

Our custom work has gone out with Tom Petty, Dogfish Head, Bonnaroo, Telluride Bluegrass, Big Sky Resorts and Sequoia Parks, among others.

Past that, it's breweries, coffee shops, summer camps, non-profits, cruise ships and clubs. The common thread is a group that wants people to keep the thing rather than politely accept it.

The occasions this solves

• Employee and client appreciation. Year-end, work anniversaries, or the quiet thank-you that lands better because nobody expected it.
• Trade shows and expos. Something worth carrying back through an airport beats something worth leaving in the hotel.
• Band and event merch. Blankets and hats move at a merch table because people wanted them before a logo was involved.
• Brand collaborations. A "your brand and ours" run to sell in your own store.
• Camps and retreats. The souvenir that gets used all year instead of once.

Businesses buy them for their own rooms too. "I purchased a few blankets to use in my massage room. ... My clients have raved about them; not too light and not too heavy, just perfect." (Malerie Wenderott, verified review)

Pick the product before you pick the design

Start from who receives it and where they live. Handwoven blankets carry the most weight as a gift, and they travel from a desk to a couch without looking like swag.

Hats do a different job. Choose one when you want the item worn in public, which is a separate goal from a gift that stays inside a house.

"I waited for this hat for a long time. For good reason. Everybody wants it!" (Rebecca-Lynn Stankis, verified review)

The part that makes the note easier to write

Every item we make plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback, so a corporate gift shows up with something to say beyond the logo on it.

All of it is backed by our Lifetime Happiness Guarantee, which matters more on a bulk order than a single one. If something lands wrong, it's ours to fix and not theirs to live with.

How to start

Tell us the occasion, roughly how many you need, and the date they have to arrive by. The form on our custom branding page comes straight to us.

Buying for people rather than for a company? The blanket gift guide and the kitchen towel gift guide cover the one-at-a-time version of this.

Custom branded gift questions

What makes a good corporate gift?

Something the person would use on a normal Tuesday. Gifts that get kept have a job at home, and the logo becomes a small reminder rather than the entire point of the object.

Should a corporate gift have our logo on it?

A small mark on a good product works well. A large one turns the gift into an ad, and that's the fastest way to get the item left behind in a conference room.

What can Trek Light custom brand?

We've done custom runs for stores, festivals, breweries, camps, non-profits and companies of most sizes. Send the occasion through our custom branding page and we'll tell you what fits.

How far ahead should you order corporate gifts?

Earlier than feels necessary, especially for anything landing in December. Custom work has a production step that stock orders don't, so the calendar is usually the binding constraint.

Start a custom branding project

If someone is scaling a rock face against all odds on TV, you can be sure we're watching it in our living room. From stories about world travel to a group of ragtag kids in search of treasure, count us in.

Here are some of our favorite movies that are all about being outside and seeking adventure:

180 Degrees South

If the ethos of Patagonia and the North Face resonate with you, 180 Degrees South will surely strike a chord.

Directed by Chris Malloy, a former pro surfer, Chris and friend Jeff Johnson set out to recreate the epic 1968 adventure taken by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins in Patagonia.

Into the Wild

Based on the book by Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild tells the (ultimately tragic) story of Christopher McCandless, who attempted to unchain himself from capitalist society by living freely in the Alaskan wilderness.

It's also one of those films where the soundtrack is as good as the movie itself. Eddie Vedder's collection of beautiful songs written for the film are the perfect complement to this moving story.

A River Runs Through It

Set in 1920s rural Montana, Paul and Norman (one quiet and stern, the other rebellious and wild) have grown up under the watchful eye of their strict father. Despite the fact that diverging life paths have sent them toward different destinies, Paul and Norman find common ground in their love of flyfishing.

Directed by Robert Redford, A River Runs Through It won an Oscar for Best Cinematography.

The Motorcycle Diaries

Based on the journals of 'Che' Guevara, The Motorcycle Diaries follows Guevara's journey with his best friend, Alberto Granado, as they made their way across South America in the 1950s.

Pick out some of your favorite South American recipes and turn this into a memorable dinner and a movie night.

The Darjeeling Limited

Three brothers who've been estranged since the death of their father meet for a journey on the Darjeeling Limited train through the Indian subcontinent.

Humorous, moving, and full of surprises, this Wes Anderson film asks, what will it take for brothers to reconcile?

The Goonies

A local group of rag-tag misfits call themselves The Goonies and are always in search of adventure. When they uncover a hidden map, a journey of boobie traps, pirates treasure, and danger takes shape.

If you saw this movie as a kid and it's not still one of your favorite adventure films, honestly, can we still be friends?

Free Solo

Winner of Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards, Free Solo follows the exceptionally epic quest of Alex Honnold to free solo El Capitan.

Watching Alex scale walls and power through sheer drops of rock face makes you yearn to push your own boundaries and get out there.

The Dawn Wall

Free climber Tommy Caldwell and climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson attempt to climb a treacherous, nearly impossible rockface of El Capitan.

This doc is similar in style to Free Solo but covers an entirely different path up the mountain and different climbers, who have unique points of view.

Wild

After her mother dies of cancer and her marriage dissolves, Cheryl Strayed sets out to walk the Pacific Crest Trail, an 1,100-mile journey that stretches from the Mojave Desert to the Canadian border.

Reckoning with more than she lets on, Strayed uses the walk as a therapy of sorts and works through the difficult memories and experiences of her life.

However you queue these up, movie night is better wrapped in a handwoven throw blanket. And if the weather's good, take the whole thing outside: a laptop, a hammock, and any film on this list makes a pretty unbeatable double feature with the stars.

But don't worry! We put our brains together and came up with a few ways to turn winter into the season of romance. For ideas that will warm your heart and boost your chances of getting a second date, scroll down.

Hot-sauce showdown

We like to keep things spicy. And we mean that literally.

One fun way to keep your date (and yourself) on your toes is to bring the heat...in the form of hot sauce.

Start by finding a common food you both like to eat with hot sauce (wings, tofu, mac and cheese). Then do a side by side comparison of hot sauces, ranging from mild to out of this world spicy.

We promise things will heat up at the end of your date-night taste-test...but if not, at least you'll have tissues on hand.

Hit the hot tub

If the hot sauce showdown doesn't appeal to you, maybe a date night in the hot tub will?

No matter what the temperature is outside, a relaxing soak in the hot tub is a therapeutic way to take a break from the hustle and bustle and get to know your date underneath the stars.

Just remember to keep a warm towel nearby for when you hop out. Brrr!

Movie marathon

Being outside not an option at all? Turn to your screen for a twist on a classic date night idea.

Instead of watching a new action film or hitting the cinemas, make this date into an event by picking a trilogy or a series neither one of you has seen.

Next, get a lineup of delicious snacks, stock the fridge with drinks, wrap up in a warm throw blanket, and throw on some cozy clothes.

Now you're ready for hours and hours of date night movie magic.

Cook up a storm

Not all adventures happen outside: some happen on a plate!

If winter is keeping you cooped up, you can bring a bit of global inspiration inside by cooking new recipes and trying out cuisines from other countries.

Invite your date or partner into the kitchen for a cooking class. Whether you lead it or YouTube does, we promise a tasty and fun night.

Have a snowball fight

Kids shouldn't get all the fun.

If you're in an area where snow is aplenty, don't be afraid to turn date night into a hands-on activity.

Good, clean fun can be a great way to get to know someone and show off your silly side.

If friendly competition is right up your alley, snowball fights may be a great way to break the ice.

Go on a winter scavenger hunt

Don't be afraid of getting a bit cold and red-nosed.

All it takes to enjoy a date outside during the snowy months are some snowshoes, a few layers and a sense of adventure.

One idea to keep your mind off the cold and on other things is to create a winter scavenger hunt:

Find an easy-to-navigate trail and hide some treats your date and you can discover while walking: a thermos of hot cocoa, a mini telescope for stargazing, a hidden ice rink and accompanying skates, a Trek Light hammock for a quick moment of Zen - anything you think might add to a day in the woods would be perfect here.

Outdoor bonfire

Snow, shmo!

Warm things up this winter and keep your date night interesting by making a winter bonfire.

You'll still need coats and hats, but nothing compares to roasting marshmallows over an open fire while it snows all around you.

Romance with a capital "R".

For some, that can take the form of reading or watching TV. For others it's daydreaming of a place you love or a vacation you'd like to take. This need is kind of why Instagram exists these days - to provide an outlet for dreams and wanderlust.

As the holidays start to ramp up around here, we find ourselves craving cozy cabin times. A good book, a roaring fire, a peaceful view out the window...sounds utterly perfect.

Whether you're planning your next trip, or just looking for some daydream material - cozy cabin inspiration is where it begins.

Lucky for us, there's a wide variety of social media accounts you can follow that supply a steady stream of jaw-dropping cabin photos, cute cabin essentials, and sublime places to lay your head.

Here are a few of our favorites that keep us inspired and fuel our cabin imagination.

CABIN INSPIRATION

Cabin Porn

The name says it all. Gorgeous pictures of cabins, all over the world make up this account's content. The account also has a book of photos you can buy and place on your coffee table, should you need a midday cabin pick-me-up.

The Cabin Chronicles

Go inside some of the world's most beautiful, intimate, and special cabins. Spanning the globe, these chronicles capture interiors, exteriors, and all aspects of #cabinlife.

Project Archipelago

Two designers. One island. One cabin. That sounds like the intro to a reality show, but it's actually just the reality that designer couple Aleksi and Milla took on. On an island in Finnish Archipelago National Park, they designed and built a dream escape for themselves.

Watch the experience unfold on their Instagram and drool along with us.

Ethan Abitz

Ethan is a photographer who specializes in taking photos of treehouses, cabins, and super cozy interiors. Lucky for you, he has an account you can follow and live vicariously through, should you feel the need.

BRINGING THE CABIN VIBE HOME

Why dream about a faraway cabin when you can bring some of that cabin magic to your own home?

Here's how to do it:

First, make yourself a warm drink in a mug that makes you smile.

Coffee and Baileys? Cocoa and marshmallows? Herbal tea?

Think about what comfort drink you'd choose as the snow falls or the birds chirp outside your cabin, and pour it into an enamel mug that makes the moment feel a little more special.

Next, snag a cozy blanket.

What cabin doesn't have a cozy blanket to wrap up in?

Try our Humboldt Blanket, or be adventurous and roll the style-dice with our Mystery Blanket - a handwoven throw in either case (note: the Mystery Blanket is final sale, since you won't know which pattern you're getting until it arrives).

Wrap it around your shoulders, throw it over your legs, or just drape it on the couch and you're a big step closer to the cabin vibes you're craving.

Hang a hammock, if you've got the space.

No matter how comfy your couch is, a good cozy hammock will instantly make you feel like you're on vacation. A sturdy indoor doorway or a couple of well-placed hooks is often all it takes.

Finally, put the phone away and kick back with a good book.

We've got a great stack of reads on the blog that will help you feel like you're curled up by the fire in your favorite cabin no matter where you are.

Now relax. And enjoy your cozy cabin right at home.

The stretch between the start of the school year and Thanksgiving can feel like a long one, and care packages are a great way to give a little boost when it's needed most.

In our humble opinion, the best college care packages are the ones filled with personal details as well as handy items that make a student's time at school feel cozy and comfy.

When we put together the ultimate college care package, it looks like this:

Tasty Treats

Whether homemade or store bought, select some delicious goodies that your child, friend, or self (no one said you couldn't gift yourself!) would want to snack on.

Choose something that reminds them of home or a treat they love to indulge in.

Ice Breakers

College is a time for making friends, and making friends can be tough. Send something that gives people a reason to gather.

A hammock is the best one we know. Hang it between two trees on the quad and it turns into a spot everybody drifts toward. It weighs 18 oz with the carabiners attached, so it lives in a backpack the rest of the time.

It also works indoors. Our loft bed hammock guide shows how students hang one under a dorm loft with straps and no drilling, which is the version housing offices tend to approve.

For more on making a dorm room feel like home, see our dorm room essentials guide.

Refills

Laundry detergent? Hair ties? Toothpaste? Getting a small refill on an essential item can feel good.

Add something super useful that will save your student, friend, or self a trip to the store.

Socks

Socks are easy to lose, so re-up your student's supply with cushy pairs that'll be perfect for fall.

A trusty blanket

Whether studying or study breaking, getting outside on the quad or at a local park is the way to do it.

A good throw blanket covers both jobs. It's a bedspread, a picnic layer and a wall hanging, it's machine washable, and it gets softer every time it goes through the laundry.

"I purchased this awesome blanket as a graduation gift for my daughter. The colors are beautiful and the theme is perfect for her future adventures at college near the mountains! Perfect throw and picnic blanket. Customer service was excellent!"

(Kelly, verified review)

Bonus: blankets are also one of the fastest ways to decorate a dorm room and score some major style points.

Stickers

Laptop lid, water bottle, notebook, the mini fridge four people share. Stickers are the cheapest personality in a dorm room, and they weigh nothing in an envelope.

"SUCH a cute sticker, it looks so cute on my owala!"

(McKayla Gilson, verified review)

More ideas on where to put them in our guide to decorating with stickers.

A hat they'll actually wear

Walking to an 8am in November is its own kind of character building. A hat they like is one of those small gifts that gets used every single day.

A mug for early mornings

Dorm coffee happens whether anyone plans for it. One good mug beats a stack of mismatched cups from the kitchen at home.

Our enamel mugs hold 16 oz, handle a campfire or a stovetop, and go straight into the dishwasher. They can chip if they hit a hard floor, which is the honest trade for that kind of range.

Not sure which to pick? We wrote a guide to enamel camping mugs.

A kitchen towel for the tiny sink

Once your student moves into a suite or an apartment, a real kitchen towel quietly upgrades the whole place. It also works as padding around anything breakable you're mailing.

A personal note

Everyone needs a reminder that they're loved and cared for.

Include a personal note with well wishes and good vibes. We promise it'll go a long way.

Need more ideas for fun items to include? We've gathered our favorites in one place on our gift ideas page.

Everything we make is backed by our Lifetime Warranty & Happiness Guarantee, and every order plants a tree through our give-back partnership. Start building a care package your favorite student will remember.

The colors! The cooler temperatures! Fewer bugs! Our favorite shoulder season is a perfect time to get outside and savor all that autumn has to offer.

Prepping for a picnic doesn't take much effort. Below are a few ways we make ours come together, but feel free to riff and plan in whichever way suits you best.

1.) Pick a picnic destination

The beauty of picnicking is that you can do it anywhere (so long as you aren't trespassing!).

From a hearty mid-hike lunch to a quick snack during a scenic drive, picking a destination will inform your picnic possibilities (and how to pack for it).

2.) Acquire the picnic essentials

• A basket or cooler for food transport. Wheels or shoulder straps make it even easier
• A couple of camp chairs, a double hammock, or one of our handwoven blankets for seating
• Cutlery, cups, and other items that make dining a cinch. Be green, and make sure you're single-use-plastic-free!
• A cutting board for items that need to be sliced and diced (and to hold your charcuterie spread)
• A sweater or an extra Trek Light blanket in case the weather is a bit chilly
  
  

3.) Plan your menu

Whether you're having a solo picnic session in your favorite city park, or enjoying the company of a dozen good friends after a long day of hiking, your picnic menu doesn't have to be mundane or routine.

Pick yummy foods that won't be hard to eat on the go, like hummus, cheese and crackers, grapes, jams and breads, pastries and cookies, prepared sandwiches, homemade cold salads and nuts.

Add some beverages to the mix to make it special: mulled wine, sparkling or hard cider, seltzer water, or beer are a great way to elevate the moment.

4.) Check the weather

Before you head out on your picnic adventure, check the weather. A little rain never hurt anyone, but a rainy picnic might not be what you had in mind.

Pro-tip: for something extra plan your picnic around sunrise or sunset. Nature's mood lighting ;).

5.) Add an upgrade

• A portable speaker for some outside tunes (a perfect chance to check out our Hammock Radio playlists!)
• Board games or card games
• A book or two
• A camera to capture the moment
• A Trek Light hammock for your post-picnic siesta

The best dates aren't the ones you buy, they're the ones you remember. A hammock turns an ordinary afternoon into an experience, and it keeps giving you new ones every time you hang it somewhere new.

So if you're looking for a fresh way to spend time with the person you love this summer, the Trek Light Team gathered seven hammock date ideas to get you started:

Date #1 - The Hammock Picnic

There's no reason to have to search around trying to find a perfectly flat, soft piece of ground to set up your next picnic.

Find a nice set of trees, bring a speaker, pack some drinks and a cheese plate, and you've got an elevated picnic experience!

Pro-Tip: Set up somewhere with a good sunset view and you've turned dinner into dinner and a show.

Date #2 - The Backyard Hangout

Have trouble finding time for a date night or just short on funds? Don't fret! You won't have to travel far to spend quality time with your significant other.

Just set up a hammock haven in your backyard and you've got yourself a new favorite spot for reading books, spending time together, and de-stressing after work.

Pro-Tip: Short on trees? A pergola, a porch post, or any pair of sturdy anchor points can turn almost any yard into a hammock haven.

Date #3 - The Camping Trip

Lighten your camping packing list significantly and pack your hammock as your new under-the-stars deluxe bed. Experience camping and nature in an entirely new way with hammock camping!

Pro-Tip: A camping date isn't for everyone, which makes this a perfect way to determine if your significant other is the right one for you!

Date #4 - The Hammock Drive-In Movie

Who needs a car? Bring your laptop or tablet anywhere and cuddle outdoors to your favorite movie or binge-watch the latest show while enjoying the fresh air.

Recommendations: Into The Wild, Moon, The Great Outdoors

Date #5 - The Hammock-cation

The best part about owning a lightweight hammock is that you feel the need to take it places. It may be the push you both need to finally take that beach vacation!

Being surrounded by palm trees is always nice, but it's even better when you're relaxed in a hammock between them.

Date #6 - The Spontaneous Spot

Sometimes the best place to bring your hammock is nowhere in particular.

Explore your hometown and find the best places to hang out together. A hammock is the new park bench.

Hammocking is a lifestyle that requires (and creates) adventurous couples!

Pro-Tip: Keep your hammock packed in the car and you'll always be ready for a spontaneous hang.

Date #7 - The Jammock

Whether it's an outdoor concert in the park or your own portable speaker, swinging between the trees is the best way to enjoy music together.

Bring a speaker, make a playlist you both love, and let the afternoon stretch out.

Grab a Hammock and Go

The easiest way to start your summer of hammock dates is with a double hammock, roomy enough for two, plus a set of go-anywhere straps to hang it just about anywhere. Every hammock is backed by our Lifetime Warranty & Happiness Guarantee, so it's built to last through every adventure you throw at it.

Two of our favorites to hang together this summer:

One time when I feel like I need a cup of coffee is when I'm camping or backpacking. Whether it's waking up knowing I've got a big day of hiking in front of me or just sitting around the campfire from the night before with some cobwebs in my head, there's nothing like a good cup of coffee when you're waking up in the woods.

Car camping makes that easy. There are plenty of metal coffee pots and percolators you can set right on your camp stove or fire grate, and we've ranked every method from cowboy coffee to French press in our camp coffee guide.

Backpacking is another story. When every ounce counts, it's impossible to justify carrying a coffee pot, and for years that meant one thing: instant coffee. Amazingly, there's a few words in the English language that sum up both how instant coffee tastes and how it makes me feel. I'll refrain, but let's just say I'd be perfectly happy to never have a cup of instant coffee again.

The good news is that the gear world solved this one. The solution I found years ago was a small screw-on filter that attaches to a wide mouth water bottle: spoon in your grounds, add boiling water, and you've got real coffee with no mess to clean and no picking grounds out of your teeth. These days there are even more featherweight options that work on the same principle:

• Collapsible pour over drippers that weigh an ounce or two and fold flat against your pack.
• Ultralight single-cup filters that sit right on top of your mug and drain while you break camp.
• The cowboy method, if you're feeling rustic: grounds straight in the pot, let them settle, pour carefully. Free, and better than it sounds.

Whichever route you take, the destination matters as much as the method. Pour it into an enamel mug that can sit by the fire and keep your hands warm, find a couple of good trees for your hammock, and drink your morning coffee swaying gently above the forest floor. I promise it beats the drive-through.

Years ago I purchased a 12qt Dutch Oven from Lodge, along with a tripod for setting it up over the campfire and, as the title says, my perspective on camping and camping meals has never been the same. From stews to chili to lasagna and baked chicken, it's amazing how easy it is to cook a big hearty meal miles from the conveniences of home with the dutch oven.

The traditional way to use the dutch oven is to place a variable number of coals underneath it and on top and just let it sit, usually in a small hole dug just for the purpose. The cast iron heats amazingly well and disperses its heat evenly, allowing you to literally bake the contents inside instead of the usual campfire style of grilling, pan frying, cooking on a stick, etc. Change the number of coals and you can easily adjust the baking temperature. Now that you've got a portable oven to cook with, it's amazing the recipes that open up to you: cornbread, cobbler, pizza, baked casseroles, roast chicken, you name it. If you cook it in the oven at home, you can make it in the woods.

The tripod accessory throws the traditional baking method on its head, but it actually tends to be the way I use it the most. With the tripod you just hang the dutch oven right over the flames. So there's a good amount of direct heat on the bottom, but thanks to the cast iron and the tight lid you still generate a lot of indirect heat inside the oven.

The first meal I ever had from a dutch oven was a delicious stew, cooked using the tripod, and it's probably no coincidence that stews are also my 'old faithful' meal in the dutch oven. It's just so easy to throw a bunch of carrots, potatoes, celery, meat, and water into the oven, set it up over the fire and kick back and wait for the stew to be ready (for real simplicity just chop all the veggies before you head out and the meal is literally as easy as adding water or soup base).

The dutch oven even adds an extra layer of entertainment to sitting around the fire. Instead of just staring into the flames you get to also watch as the stew does its thing and do the occasional stirring (and tasting of course).

I'll never forget the first time I passed out a bunch of bowls to my brave camp mates and began dishing out ladles of warm stew or soup around the campfire. Picture any old Western you've seen and you'll probably remember a scene where a group of cowboys are sitting around a campfire dishing out servings of beans from a pot hanging over the campfire. It's easy to see why the dutch oven brings along an old fashioned feel to it. But, the moment your fellow campers realize you're serving up some garlic pesto chicken, baked ziti or blueberry cobbler instead of the usual hot dogs and buns, you'll erase any notions of the rustic cowboy scene in yours or anyone else's mind.

A dutch oven is certainly no piece of gear for a backpacker, but for those car camping trips where you can load up on the cold drinks and good food, there's really no reason to go without it. And, take it from me, there's nothing like filling up on a bowl of delicious stew and then kicking back in your lightweight camping hammock and falling asleep gently under the stars.

Let me know if you already use a dutch oven and what you love to cook or, if this article inspires you to go out and get a dutch oven, be sure to report back and let me know how it's changed your culinary exploits around the fire.

A camp mug threads that needle. An enamel mug gets used the next morning, and the morning after that, for years of mornings.

Why a mug lands when other small gifts don't

Most gifts get one good moment and then a shelf. A mug earns a daily one, which means the person you gave it to thinks of you before the coffee has kicked in.

It also travels between lives. The mug that starts on a camp stove ends up on a desk, then on a hook by the kitchen sink, doing the same job in three different rooms.

"nice mug, good size, love that you can heat it up on the campfire or wood stove. going to be a fathers day gift. nice colors and design." (Claire Connor, verified review)

The vintage look is doing real work

Enamelware has looked more or less the same since the camping photos in your grandparents' albums. That familiarity is the charm, and it's why the style keeps coming back around.

Ours are hand-dipped and fired, so no two finish identically. The small variations are the part a machine can't fake, and the part people notice when they unwrap it.

"Gift for my bro. It's even nicer in person" (Shawna Dinger, verified review)

Who it's for

• The new camper. First trips go better with one piece of gear that feels earned instead of borrowed. A mug is the easiest way to hand somebody that.
• The one who works from home. Their commute is eleven feet. Give them something that makes those eleven feet feel a bit more like a trailhead.
• The host. Anyone who feeds everyone deserves shelving that looks good open. Enamelware earns its spot next to the good bowls.
• The parent who insists they don't need anything. They mean it about big things. They do not mean it about a better cup of coffee.
• The gift exchange. Useful, good looking, no sizing and no guessing. It clears the bar without trying to win the room.

Pair it with something

A mug on its own is a good gift. A mug with a folded towel under it looks like you planned ahead a week in advance, which you may or may not have done.

Our kitchen towels run in the same palettes as the mugs, and the kitchen towel gift guide walks through which pairings work.

What to know before you wrap one

Size. Ours hold a full 16 ounces, which comes out to 2 cups, or one pint for the campfire cocktail crowd. Big enough that a refill stays optional.

Where it can go. Dishwasher, stovetop, and straight over a campfire. You can give one to somebody who cooks over flames without a single warning-label conversation.

The honest part. A hard knock against rock or tile can chip the finish. It won't shatter the way ceramic does, and campers have worn those chips as patina for about a century.

"Awesome company, great quality, fun gift!" (Krystal Powell, verified review)

The part that makes the card easier to write

Every mug plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback, and everything we make is backed by our Happiness Guarantee.

So a small gift arrives with a story attached, which is more than most mugs manage to say for themselves.

If you want the full background on the material before you buy, our enamel camping mug guide covers how enamelware is made and cared for.

Enamel mug gift FAQ

Is an enamel mug a good gift?

It works well as a gift because it gets daily use, needs no sizing or guessing, and looks good enough to leave out on a shelf. It suits campers and homebodies equally.

What size is a camping mug?

Trek Light enamel mugs hold a full 16 ounces, which is 2 cups or 1 pint. One full mug of coffee, no immediate refill required.

Are vintage-style enamel mugs practical for everyday use?

Yes. They are dishwasher safe, they handle hot and cold drinks, and they can go on a stovetop or over a campfire. The vintage look does not come with vintage fussiness.

Parents ask us about this constantly, so it's worth answering plainly: an enamel mug works well as a kid's first camp cup, with one real caveat we'll get to.

Why enamel suits a kid at camp

It doesn't shatter. Kids drop things on rocks. Ceramic ends that story with a dustpan and a lecture, while enamelware mostly just bounces and keeps going.

It's light. Small arms hold a light mug steadier, and a light mug is one they can carry to the picnic table themselves without a spill halfway there.

It goes over the fire. Cocoa can be heated in the same cup it gets drunk from, which cuts a step and a dish out of an already busy camp kitchen.

It isn't disposable. A kid who gets a real cup instead of a paper one tends to look after it, and it keeps a stack of throwaways out of the trash bag.

The honest caveat: metal conducts heat

An enamel mug is metal under that glossy coating, so it takes on the temperature of whatever's inside it. Fill one with something steaming and the outside gets hot too.

That's manageable, and it's the part nobody should skip. A few house rules cover it:

• An adult pours, every time. No exceptions for confident eight-year-olds.
• Serve kid drinks warm rather than hot, and give a hot pour a few minutes to settle before it changes hands.
• Teach the handle. Two hands on the body of a hot mug is the habit to break early.
• Cold drinks are the easy mode. Water, milk, and juice all sidestep the issue completely.

None of this is unique to us. Any metal camp cup behaves this way, and a kid who learns it on a mug learns something useful about every pot at camp.

About size, since we won't pretend otherwise

We don't make a kid-specific mug. Ours hold a full 16 ounces, which is 2 cups, and that's a genuinely large cup for a small person to hold.

In practice that means filling it partway, which is what most parents do anyway. The upside is a cup the kid doesn't outgrow at nine, so it stays in the pack for years.

"So cute! I know my daughter will love this gift." (Shondell Hobbs, verified review)

Let them pick the design

Ownership is most of the point. A kid who chose the fish or the mushrooms or the bees will hunt that mug down at the end of the trip without being asked twice.

Because each one is hand-dipped, theirs comes out slightly different from anyone else's. Small thing, but it settles a lot of arguments about whose cup is whose.

A mug is a good first camp job

Camp runs better when kids have a role. Washing and stowing their own cup is a small one they can finish alone, which makes it a good one to start with.

Enamelware makes that easy on everyone. It goes in the dishwasher at home, and at camp it rinses clean without soap gymnastics or a hand-wash-only rule to enforce.

"I put it in the dishwasher upon receiving it and it has held up well with no issues." (Justine, verified review)

What to expect over time

A mug that lives with a kid will pick up chips. Enamel is a hard coating over metal, and a solid knock takes a small piece of it off rather than breaking the mug.

Everyday sipping, washing, stovetops, and campfires won't do it. The occasional chip is what a well-used camp cup has always looked like, and it stays completely usable.

Every mug also plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback, and it's covered by our Happiness Guarantee if something goes wrong.

Kids and camping mugs FAQ

Are enamel mugs safe for kids?

Enamel mugs are safe for kids with adult supervision on hot drinks. The mug is metal under its coating, so it conducts heat and the outside gets hot when a hot drink goes in. An adult should pour, and drinks should be served warm rather than steaming.

Are enamel cups better than plastic for kids at camp?

Enamel cups don't shatter like ceramic and don't get thrown away like paper or plastic, and they can go over a campfire. The tradeoff is heat: a metal cup warms up with its contents, so it needs a rule about hot pours that a plastic cup doesn't.

What size camping mug works for a child?

Trek Light mugs hold 16 ounces, which is 2 cups, so a child's serving usually means filling it partway. A full-size mug lasts them years rather than being outgrown in a season.

Can a kid's enamel mug go in the dishwasher?

Yes. Trek Light enamel mugs are dishwasher safe, and there's no hand-washing or special care required after a trip.

The things that make that box livable tend to be the ones you touch daily, plus a couple that make the space look like a specific person sleeps there.

These are the pieces we'd send a student, with an honest read on how each one earns its floor space.

A hammock, hung under the loft bed

This one sounds like a stretch until you see it. Almost every dorm bed lofts, and the space underneath it usually holds a desk, a hamper and a lot of wasted air.

A hammock fills that gap with the most comfortable seat in the building. A student named Nick sent us his setup years ago and it's still the blueprint we give people who email us about this.

Nick wrapped a strap around each vertical post of the loft frame, the same way you'd wrap it around a tree, with a strip of rubber between the strap and the wood to protect the finish. No drill, no hooks, no hardware.

The carabiners on our hammocks clip straight onto the straps. Under a loft you're hanging low to the floor anyway, which makes getting in and out easy. Ease your weight in slowly the first time and make sure the frame doesn't shift.

Lay across it at an angle rather than straight down the middle. That's how a hammock flattens out, and under a loft bed it's also how you dodge the desk. We walk through the full setup in our loft bed hammock guide.

One honest caveat: dorm policies vary, and some housing offices have opinions about anything hanging in a room. A strap-based setup with no drilling and no permanent hardware is far and away the easiest version to get a yes on. Ask your RA first.

The other reason it works for students is portability. Our hammock weighs 18 oz with the carabiners attached, so the same one living under your bed goes to the quad, the tailgate or a weekend trip. Our doubles are rated to hold up to 440 lbs.

If the loft frame isn't an option, a stand works in a corner and moves out at the end of the year. We cover both routes in how to hang a hammock indoors.

A blanket that survives the year

Dorm blankets take a beating. They go from the bed to the quad to a friend's floor to the trunk of a car, and they get washed a lot more than anyone plans for.

That's the whole case for a throw blanket built to be washed. Ours are machine washable and they get softer every time they go through the laundry, which is the opposite of how most dorm bedding ages.

"These blankets are great for every thing! Picnic ing, car blanket, bed spread, Even fort making!!! They wash up very well in gentle cycle, cool- warm water washing machine. They also soften up as you wash them more."

(Anita Peterson, verified review)

A big patterned blanket also does something a comforter can't. Thrown over the bed or hung on the wall, it's the fastest way to make a room read as yours instead of as issued.

A fanny pack for the walk across campus

Campus days are a series of short trips. Class, coffee, library, dining hall, back again. A backpack is overkill for most of them and a pocket isn't enough for a phone, keys, a charger and a snack.

A fanny pack splits the difference. Worn at the waist or slung crossbody, it holds the daily kit without committing you to hauling a bag around all afternoon.

What goes in it? We keep a whole fanny pack packing list for exactly that question.

"I love this bag! Lots of space and is very comfortable to wear! I now own three."

(Tracy Gooden, verified review)

Stickers for the laptop and the mini fridge

Stickers are the cheapest personality in the room. A laptop lid, a water bottle, the door of a mini fridge that four people share, the lid of a plastic bin under the bed.

They're also the easiest thing to mail. A card with a note and a couple of stickers tucked inside costs almost nothing to send and shows up as a small piece of home on a random Tuesday.

One good mug

Most students end up with a stack of mismatched cups from home. One mug you actually like changes the morning more than it should.

Our enamel mugs hold 16 oz, go on a stovetop or over a campfire, and go in the dishwasher after. They can chip if you drop one on tile, which is the honest trade for a mug that handles real heat.

What we'd skip

Anything that only works in one spot. Furniture sized to a room you'll leave in nine months, appliances your roommate already brought, decor that can't survive a move.

The stuff worth buying for a dorm is the stuff that keeps working after the dorm. A hammock, a blanket, a bag and a mug all move into the next apartment without a second thought.

Dorm room questions we get

What do you actually need for a dorm room?

Less than the checklists suggest. A comfortable place to sit that isn't the bed, bedding you don't mind washing constantly, a small bag for daily campus trips, and a few personal things that make the room feel like yours. Everything else can wait until you've lived there a few weeks and know what's missing.

How do you make a dorm room feel like home?

Texture and color do more than furniture. A patterned blanket on the bed or the wall, stickers on the things you use every day, and one comfortable spot that's yours will change a room faster than anything you can assemble. Choose items that move out with you at the end of the year.

Everything we make is backed by our Lifetime Warranty & Happiness Guarantee, and every order plants a tree through our give-back partnership. Good things for a small room, made with heart.

Both materials are good. They're good at different things, and the choice comes down to whether you care more about keeping coffee hot or about how the cup looks doing it.

The short version

Buy insulated stainless if your priority is a drink that stays hot for hours in cold weather, or if your mug lives in a pack that gets thrown around.

Buy enamel if you want to heat a drink over the fire in the cup you drink from, carry less weight, and own something with more character than a canister.

Where stainless wins

Insulation. A double-wall vacuum mug holds temperature in a way no single-wall cup can match. On a freezing morning that difference is the whole ballgame.

Dents beat chips. Drop stainless on rock and you get a dent that nobody notices. Drop enamel hard enough and you can take a chip out of the coating instead.

Lids. Insulated mugs usually come with one, which matters in a truck bed or on a trail where an open cup is a spill waiting for a bump.

If you're headed out in cold weather camping conditions and coffee needs to survive an hour of setup, that's an easy call. Go stainless.

Where enamel wins

Direct heat. An enamel mug goes on a stovetop or straight into a campfire. Boil water in it, heat cocoa in it, then drink out of the same cup you cooked in.

Insulated stainless generally can't do that, because sealed vacuum walls and open flame are a bad combination. Check what the maker says before putting any insulated mug near a fire.

Weight. Two walls and a vacuum add mass. A single-wall enamel mug carries lighter, which registers when it's clipped to a pack instead of sitting in a cupholder.

Looks. This one is subjective and it's also the reason most people choose enamel. A camp shelf of enamelware looks like something. A row of steel canisters looks like a gym bag.

"These mugs are awesome! I bought this one for my wife for our camping trips. We debuted them this weekend. They're really good quality—much thicker walls than other mugs I've seen. Highly recommend!" (Sarah Airozo, verified review)

It ages instead of wearing out. Scratched stainless looks tired. Chipped enamel looks like it's been somewhere, which is why old enamelware ends up in photographs and old thermoses end up in the garage.

What people mean by a tin mug

Camping tin mugs, tin cups, enamel cups, and camp mugs are mostly the same thing described four ways. All of them point at a light metal cup with a coating on it.

True bare tin cups are a museum item at this point. What's sold today under those search terms is nearly always enamel over metal, which is the version you want anyway.

"Nice colors, enamel cups great for camping, or sitting on the deck" (jill pinder, verified review)

The heat question, answered fairly

A single-wall enamel mug holds heat better than a thin ceramic one and worse than an insulated stainless one. Anyone claiming otherwise is selling you something.

What it does instead is let you top up from the fire whenever the cup cools. On a slow morning at camp that's a feature, since walking back to the pot is half the ritual.

In a hurry, in the cold, with no fire going, stainless wins. We're comfortable saying so.

How to pick, by how you camp

• Cold-weather trips, alpine starts, long drives. Insulated stainless, with a lid.
• Fire-centered camping, car camping, cabins, backyard. Enamel, every time.
• Backpacking where the mug doubles as a pot. Enamel, since you can heat in it.
• The mug that lives at home and visits camp twice a year. Enamel, because you'll look at it far more than you'll camp with it.

What ours are

Trek Light mugs are enamel-coated and hand-dipped, 16 ounces each, which works out to 2 cups or one pint. Dishwasher, stovetop, and campfire friendly.

Every one plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback and carries our Happiness Guarantee. For the deeper dive on the material, read the enamel camping mug guide or what enamelware actually is. Weighing more than two options? We compared all five camping mug materials.

Enamel vs stainless FAQ

Are enamel or stainless steel camping mugs better?

Insulated stainless keeps drinks hot longer and resists dents, which makes it better for cold weather and rough packs. Enamel is lighter, can be heated directly on a stove or campfire, and has the classic camp look. Pick based on whether insulation or fire-safety matters more to your trips.

Can you put an enamel mug on a campfire?

Yes. Trek Light enamel mugs are campfire and stovetop friendly, so you can heat water, coffee, or cocoa directly in the mug.

Do enamel mugs keep coffee hot?

A single-wall enamel mug holds heat better than thin ceramic but not as long as a double-wall insulated stainless mug. The advantage is that you can reheat it over the fire in the same cup.

Do enamel camping mugs chip?

Enamel is a hard coating over metal, so it won't shatter like ceramic, but a hard drop or knock can chip the finish. Everyday sipping, washing, dishwashers, stovetops, and campfires won't chip it.

Parents ask us the same handful of questions before that first hang. What age is old enough. How low it should sit. Whether it survives two kids launching into it at the same time.

What age can a kid use a hammock?

We don't publish an age cutoff, because the setup matters more than the birthday. A toddler in a hammock hung a foot off the grass with a parent standing there is a different situation than a seven-year-old alone at chest height.

The rule we'd give any parent is simple. Small kids get supervision, and the hammock hangs low enough that falling out means rolling onto grass. The rest of our guidance lives on the kid friendly hammocks page.

How low should it hang?

Lower than you'd hang it for yourself. Adults like to sit at chair height, which puts the fabric around knee level. For kids, drop the whole setup so the lowest point sits just above the ground.

The curve matters as much as the height. A hammock strung tight like a tightrope is tippy and uncomfortable. One with a deep, relaxed sag cradles a kid in the middle like a bucket seat, which is also why they fall asleep in it so fast.

Spacing and the right amount of sag are both covered in our guide on how to hang a hammock.

Will it hold all of them?

Our double hammocks are rated to 440 lbs, which covers the whole family plus the dog who assumed he was invited. Two kids at once sits well inside that.

The design also won't flip. There's no spreader bar holding the sides apart, so the fabric wraps and settles instead of rolling over when a kid leans out to grab a stick.

One dad settled the durability question for us: "every time I climb in mine the kids maul me until I get out so they can have it." (Ben W., review of our retired Aqua & Charcoal hammock)

Can a kid hang it themselves?

Usually, once they've watched you do it twice. The straps wrap around a tree and clip into the carabiners, so there's no knot to learn and nothing to tighten with tools.

One parent told us: "It’s easy enough to put up that she can do it without help (she’s 11)." (AC, review of our retired Aqua & Charcoal hammock)

Younger kids can still own the job with help. Ours mostly want to be the one who clips the carabiner, which is the part that feels like real equipment.

Where to hang one without two good trees

Swing set posts are the most underused hammock anchor in America. If the frame is solid enough for a swing, it will usually take a hammock strung between the uprights.

Porch posts and deck posts work the same way. A freestanding stand is the answer for a patio with nothing to tie to, and it moves indoors when the weather turns.

Wherever it goes, look at what's underneath before the first swing. Rocks and sprinkler heads are the two things kids find with their elbows.

Two kids, one hammock

A double is wide enough that sharing is the normal way it gets used. Most of the hammock photos parents send us have more than one kid in the frame.

One grandmother bought a second hammock for exactly that reason: "We spent this weekend outdoors and the girls had as much fun sharing in our little breaks as I did. It easily fit all three of us." (Jennifer Hogan, verified review)

The short version

• Hang it low, with a deep sag.
• Supervise small kids every time.
• Clear the ground underneath before anyone gets in.
• Check the anchor points as often as you check the hammock.

The longer version, including what to look for in a tree or a post, is in our hammock safety guide.

One hammock, one tree

Every hammock we sell plants a tree through our 1-for-1 giveback with Trees For The Future, and it's backed by our Lifetime Warranty and Happiness Guarantee.

That last part matters more than usual with kids involved. A backyard hammock lives a rough life, and the guarantee outlasts most of their other obsessions.

Kids and hammocks: common questions

What age can a child use a hammock?

There's no fixed age. Younger children can use one with an adult present and the hammock hung low to the ground. Older kids who climb in and out on their own need less hands-on help, though the low hang still applies.

Are hammocks safe for kids?

Ours are built without a spreader bar, so they don't flip when a child leans toward the edge, and there's no rope or netting for an arm to catch in. Supervision and a low hang still do most of the safety work.

How high should a hammock hang for a child?

Low enough that falling out means landing on grass from sitting height. Hang the ends high, let the middle sag deeply, and check the lowest point with a kid actually in it.

Can two kids share one hammock?

Yes. A double hammock is rated to 440 lbs and is wide enough for two kids, or for a parent and a kid reading together.

Buying a good one takes about thirty seconds once you know what to look at. Four things decide it, and price is not one of them.

The test that settles it

Splash water on a counter and wipe once. A towel that works lifts the water off. A towel that doesn't shoves it toward the edge and calls the job finished.

Absorbency is the entire product. One reviewer described the good version better than our copywriters ever have: "it's like it just sucks water up with no effort." (Valerie Smith, verified review)

Thin outperforms thick

A thick, plush towel feels expensive in the store and then leaves lint on every wine glass you touch. Flat, tightly woven towels pull water off dishes and wring out fast enough to use again ten minutes later.

Thickness also decides how long a towel stays damp. A heavy one holds moisture all day, which is how a kitchen towel starts to smell by Thursday.

A reviewer put the balance in one line: "It’s super absorbent but still thin." (Stephanie Lanni, verified review)

Size, and why most towels are too small

Our kitchen towels run 18 x 30 in, which is longer than the dish towel most people picture. The extra length matters for the two jobs towels actually do: folding in half over an oven handle, and laying flat as a drying rack for hand-washed pans.

People notice it in the box. "Much larger than expected. Great quality, beautiful print, love the hanging loop!" (Jessica Wilson, verified review)

Look for a hanging loop

A towel on a hook dries between uses. A towel crumpled next to the sink stays wet, and a wet towel stops absorbing, which is the whole reason it exists.

Every kitchen towel we make has a loop sewn in for this reason. It's a small feature that decides whether the towel is dry when you reach for it.

The glassware job

Drying glasses is where cheap towels get exposed. Lint sticks to wet glass and stays visible after the water's gone, so you end up rewashing or buffing with a second towel.

One reviewer uses ours for both ends of the spectrum: "Whether it is general clean up or buffing out my favorite wine or pint glasses these towels are the tool for the job !" (Brian Acker, verified review)

Care: the one habit that ruins a good towel

Fabric softener. It leaves a coating behind that repels water, which is the exact opposite of what you bought the towel for. We tell people to wash warm, skip the softener, and let the dryer do the rest.

Ours are made from 100% recycled materials and go through a normal machine wash. No special cycle, no hand washing, no rules to remember.

How many you actually need

Two per kitchen keeps a rotation going: one on the hook, one in the laundry. Three if you cook most nights or have a dog with opinions about the back door.

Beyond that, people buy them for the art rather than the drying, which is a perfectly good reason. Ours print on both sides, so the towel looks deliberate whichever way it lands over the handle.

Pick a print that fits your kitchen

Most people know the look they want before they know the towel, so we group ours by theme. Start with coastal kitchen towels for lake houses and beach kitchens, floral and botanical kitchen towels for something quieter, animal kitchen towels when there's a dog or a bird or a bear involved, western kitchen towels for the boots-by-the-door crowd, or states and places kitchen towels when you want the towel to say where you're from.

Kitchen towel or travel towel?

They're different tools. A kitchen towel dries dishes and hands. For drying a person after a swim or a shower, our wander towels are the ones built for it, and they pack down small.

If you're buying for someone else, our kitchen towel gift guide covers which prints land with which people.

One towel, one tree

Every towel we sell plants a tree through our 1-for-1 giveback with Trees For The Future, and it's covered by our Lifetime Warranty and Happiness Guarantee.

Kitchen towel questions we get

What size should a kitchen towel be?

Bigger than the standard dish towel. Ours are 18 x 30 in, which folds over an oven handle without looking skimpy and lays flat as a drying mat for pans.

What's the difference between a tea towel and a dish towel?

In practice, not much anymore. Tea towels were traditionally thinner and used for drying delicate dishes, while dish towels were heavier all-purpose rags. A good modern towel does both jobs, which is why ours are labeled for both.

How do you keep kitchen towels absorbent?

Skip the fabric softener, wash them regularly, and hang them where air can get at them. Softener and permanent dampness are the two things that turn an absorbent towel into a decorative one.

Which is how people end up unpacking a trunk for forty minutes looking for a lighter. The list below is what keeps earning its space in ours.

Sleep is where car campers cut corners

Most people spend the money on the tent and then sleep on whatever pad was cheapest. That's backwards. You'll spend more hours asleep out there than doing anything else.

A hammock solves it for one person and packs down smaller than a folded camp chair. Hammock camping makes the case for skipping the ground entirely.

"Only had the chance to use it on one camping trip so far, but the difference between the hammock and sleeping on a pad on the ground was amazing." (Michael Gillispie, review of our retired Aqua & Charcoal hammock)

If you've never hung one, our guide to hanging a hammock covers height and distance, so you're not relearning it at dusk.

Bring the good blanket

Sleeping bags are for sleeping. The hours between dinner and bed belong to a blanket, and a sleeping bag is a miserable thing to wear around a fire.

Pick one you'd happily leave on the couch at home, because that's where it'll live most of the year anyway.

"I keep them all over; in the car, in my camping gear, in my house. They are sturdy and still super cozy." (Amanda, verified review)

The spec that matters more than any other: can you shake it out and throw it back in the car dirty? Camp is not a delicate environment.

What makes a great camping blanket goes deeper if you're choosing one.

The fire hours are the trip

Dinner takes an hour. The part everyone remembers is the two hours after it, when nobody has anywhere to be and the temperature drops faster than the forecast said.

"We took our blankets on our road trip and for camping! Cozied up by the fire in style and kept us warm all night." (Cassia Gardner, verified review)

Pack for those two hours specifically. It's the only part of the day where being cold is optional and people still get it wrong.

The camp kitchen, kept small

Two burners. One pot, one pan. A real mug for each person. Everything past that gets used once and washed grudgingly at a spigot in the dark.

An enamel mug goes straight on the fire, which means coffee never waits on a kettle. Our enamel camping mug guide covers the care side.

The towel nobody packs

Lake swims, dish duty, spilled everything. One quick-dry travel towel per person handles all of it and dries before you pack out.

Bath towels are a trap. They go in the trunk damp and come home smelling like a basement.

The short list

• Shelter, plus a sleep setup you'd choose twice
• A blanket for the hours around the fire
• Headlamp per person, and spare batteries
• One pot, one pan, a mug each
• Quick-dry towel per person
• Water jug, bigger than you think
• Firewood bought local, never hauled across state lines
• A tarp, for ground or rain or the muddy gear pile
• Trash bag, plus a second one for wet clothes
• Camp chairs or a hammock, ideally both

What to leave home

Anything with a single job. The lantern that only lanterns, and the second cooler you fill up purely because you brought it.

Also the speaker, if anyone's camped within earshot. Nobody drove three hours to hear your playlist.

One more thing

Every hammock and blanket we make plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback, and all of it is backed by our Happiness Guarantee.

Heading out with a pack instead of a trunk? Hack Your Pack is the lighter version of this list.

Car camping FAQ

What do you actually need for car camping?

Shelter, a sleep setup you'd choose twice, a blanket for the evening, light, water, a small cook kit with one mug per person, a quick-dry towel, and a tarp. Everything else is preference.

Is a hammock better than a tent for car camping?

A hammock beats a tent on comfort and setup speed wherever there are two solid trees. A tent wins in open campsites, in heavy rain, or when more than two people are sleeping.

How many blankets should you bring camping?

One good blanket per person, on top of whatever you sleep in. Evenings run colder than the forecast suggests once the sun drops behind the ridge.

Can you use a regular bath towel for camping?

You can, but it stays wet. A quick-dry travel towel packs smaller and is dry again by the time you're ready to leave.

Five methods below, from no gear at all to the one that takes a countertop's worth of kit.

Cowboy coffee, for when you brought nothing

Boil water, pull the pot off the heat, dump the grounds in, wait about four minutes. Then splash in a little cold water to sink the grounds and pour slowly.

It needs a pot and patience and nothing else. Stop pouring before the sludge arrives and it's a good cup, which surprises people who've only had the version made by someone in a hurry.

Instant, for the dark mornings

Instant got good, which wasn't true ten years ago. Hot water, a stir, and nothing to clean or pack out.

Keep a few sachets in the glovebox for the mornings you're breaking camp before sunrise and you want coffee more than you want a ritual.

Pour over, best cup per ounce of gear

A collapsible dripper and a filter weigh almost nothing and make the cleanest cup on this list. Pour in slow circles for about three minutes.

The catch is that you're standing there performing a small ceremony while everyone else already has coffee. Some mornings that's exactly the appeal.

French press, best for a group

One press makes four cups at once, which is why it wins as soon as more than two of you are awake. Coarse grind, four minutes, push the plunger slowly.

Cleanup is the tax. A press full of wet grounds at a site with no sink is a chore you'll think about next time you pack.

Percolator, the loud one

A percolator sounds like camp. It sits right on the fire, it makes a lot at once, and it'll keep going as long as you leave it there.

That last part is the problem. Perked too long, coffee turns bitter, which is where the percolator's bad reputation came from. Pull it when it's done, not when breakfast is.

The mug does more work than you'd think

Whatever you brewed goes cold fast in a thin cup. An enamel mug can sit at the edge of the fire, so a cup that cooled off gets warmed back up instead of dumped.

"Keeps hot liquids hot for a decent amount of time, lightweight, colors really pop and overall design/quality is impeccable! I love it!!" (DMGB, verified review)

Ours hold a full sixteen ounces, which works out to two cups, so a refill is optional rather than mandatory.

"I make sure this mug is clean for my morning coffee every single day. It holds an insane amount of coffee and I love the mountain detail. Also, not super heavy!" (Anna Brunt, verified review)

What actually ruins camp coffee

Grind size first. Too fine and anything that steeps turns bitter, and out here most methods steep.

Water second. Boiling water scorches coffee, so let the pot sit off the flame for half a minute before it touches the grounds.

Beans third, and this one's easy. Grind them the morning you leave rather than three weeks earlier, and the same method makes a noticeably better cup.

If you're camping cold

Below freezing, nothing single-walled stays hot for long, and that's worth knowing before six in the morning arrives and disappoints you. Brew smaller, drink faster, reheat on the fire.

Our guide to cold weather camping handles the rest of that morning problem.

One more thing

Every mug plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback, and it's covered by our Happiness Guarantee.

Not sure what to brew it in? Here is how the camping mug materials compare.

"I love everything about it!!! You need this campfire mug ;-)" (Maria Jamison, verified review)

Camp coffee FAQ

What's the easiest way to make coffee while camping?

Instant. Hot water and a stir, with nothing to clean and nothing to pack out. Instant coffee has improved enough that the tradeoff is small.

How do you make cowboy coffee without grounds in your cup?

Pull the pot off the heat before adding grounds, steep about four minutes, then splash in a little cold water. The grounds sink, and you pour slowly and stop short of the bottom.

Can you boil water in an enamel mug?

Yes. Trek Light enamel mugs are campfire and stovetop friendly, so you can heat water or reheat coffee in the same cup you drink from.

Does an enamel mug keep coffee hot?

A single-wall enamel mug holds heat better than thin ceramic and not as long as an insulated stainless mug. The advantage is that you can set it back on the fire instead of starting over.

That gap is the whole opportunity. Below is who to give a handwoven blanket to, and what to say on the card when you do.

The newlyweds

Wedding registries are full of things a couple picked under duress in a store on a Saturday. A blanket is the rare off-registry gift that does not compete with anything on it.

It also ages the right way. The couch changes, the apartment changes, the blanket keeps showing up in the background of photos.

"This order was a wedding gift for friends in Minnesota..I know they will love it." (Karen Gunkel, verified review)

Someone who just moved

A new place is mostly boxes and bad lighting for the first month. A blanket is the first thing that makes a room feel like theirs instead of a rental listing.

It is also the housewarming gift that survives the next move, which candles and framed prints of the city skyline do not.

Pick a design that reads as art from across the room. Ours are woven, not printed, so the pattern runs all the way through and looks the same on both sides. If you want the long version of why that matters, we wrote about what makes a handwoven blanket different.

A parent

Parents are hard because they say they want nothing and mean it. The move is to give them something they will use every single evening without ever having considered buying it.

The other move is to buy for the car, not the couch. A blanket that lives in the trunk turns a soccer sideline, a beach afternoon, or an unplanned stop into a better time.

"The leather carrier and blanket are a terrific gift. Our son and daughter-in-law love it. They keep it in the car for beach picnics, bonfires,etc." (Mary M, verified review)

Grown kids who live outside

The camper, the surfer, the one who disappears every weekend. They own gear, so gear is a bad gift. They rarely own one good blanket that works at a campsite and in a living room.

"I bought 2 of these blankets as Christmas gifts. Both of my adult kids are outdoor loving explorers" (Wendy S, verified review)

Ours are machine washable, which is the spec that decides whether a blanket gets used outside or stays folded on a chair. What makes a great camping blanket covers the rest of that test.

The friend who needs nothing

Birthdays for adults are a genre problem. They have the kitchen stuff, they buy their own books, and a gift card says you gave up.

A blanket works because the design carries the message. Match the pattern to the person and the gift stops being a blanket and starts being a small piece of them.

"Bought this blanky as a bday gift for a bud. Of course she dug the desert saguaro design (lovely cacti btw)." (John John, verified review)

A whole team

Company gifting usually ends in a branded item people leave in a drawer. A blanket is one of the few things that goes home, and it does not need a logo on it to be remembered.

"I bought 18 of these blankets for my employees just a little over a week before Christmas." (Tamara Levi, verified review)

If you want your mark on it, we do that too. Our custom branding page has the details, and our guide to custom branded gifts people actually keep covers how to choose one that survives the drawer.

How to pick the design

Go by their room, not by your taste. Look at what is already on their walls and pick a blanket that would sit next to it without arguing.

If you genuinely cannot choose, start with the bestselling blankets and give the one with the color they wear. It works more often than it should.

Every blanket is handwoven from recycled materials, so no two are exactly alike and the one you send is not going to show up at their cousin's house in March.

What makes it a good gift and not just a nice one

A gift that gets used daily beats a gift that gets admired once. Blankets soften with every wash instead of wearing out, so the thing you hand over is the worst it will ever be.

Every one plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback and is backed by our Lifetime Happiness Guarantee, so if it lands wrong, that is on us to fix and not on them to live with.

Shopping smaller? The kitchen towel gift guide is the same idea at a different size.

Blanket gift FAQ

Is a blanket a good wedding gift?

Yes, and it is one of the few good off-registry options. It does not duplicate anything on the list, it works in whatever place the couple lives in next, and a handwoven one is unique enough to be a real gift rather than a household supply.

What is a good gift for someone who has everything?

Something they use every day but would never buy at this quality. A good blanket is the clearest example. Match the design to their taste and it reads as personal instead of generic.

What size is a throw blanket?

Ours are big enough for two people to share on a couch and will cover the top of a full-size bed. Exact dimensions are listed on each blanket's page.

Can you wash a handwoven blanket?

Ours, yes. Cold water, delicate cycle, and let it have the machine to itself. Our washing guide has the full routine.

How many blankets should you give?

One is a real gift. People who buy them for a household often end up sending a second one later, because the first blanket gets claimed within a week.

Shop handwoven throw blankets

And then there's a version that a handful of people carry around on their actual skin.

This is about the second kind.

The dare I never expected anyone to take

Meet Chad Patzer. Mr. #1.

Back in the early 2010s we ran a Hammock Day giveaway, and at the last minute I added an "instant win" option, mostly as a joke: get a Trek Light themed tattoo somewhere on your body and you win on the spot.

I never expected in a million years that anyone would step up.

Then a bearded champion named Chad Patzer did exactly that, and the first Trek Light tattoo entered the world.

A year later, we ran it again. Another fan stepped forward.

Then came 2014, when the Tattoo Challenge went from "one brave soul a year" to a full-on movement.

As I announced in the original post, four more fans, two men and two women, left their mark on Trek Light history that year: Casey Shoemaker, Chad Allison, Ashleigh Nicolle, and Jefferey Robinson.

Six tattooed Trek Light heroes, back when we were a scrappy little hammock company running on word of mouth.

About that logo

Here's the part I love most, all these years later: every one of those tattoos is the original Trek Light logo. First-era branding, permanently archived on human beings.

And I'll say this proudly, not sheepishly. When I started Trek Light in 2003, I didn't hire a branding agency. As I told it in the original post, I wrote names down on paper and repeated them over and over until they stopped making sense and one rose to the surface.

The Colorado Hammock Company, Haber's Hammocks, and Happy Hammock Co. all nearly made the cut, which means somewhere in an alternate universe, Chad has "Haber's Hammocks" tattooed on his body. 

We all dodged something there.

Logos evolve. Companies grow up. But the first logo is the one people fell in love with when this was just a small idea about showing people that life is better in a hammock.

Those tattoos aren't outdated. They're founding documents.

Why people ink a hammock company on their body

I've thought about this a lot, because it's objectively a strange thing to do, and I mean that with all the love in the world.

The stories I heard in those years explain it better than I can. As told in the original post: couples who first met while using their hammock. Couples who got engaged in one. A couple who lost their home to a fire and made sure their Trek Light hammock was the first thing they replaced when they rebuilt.

Nobody tattoos a product on themselves. People tattoo the afternoons, the trips, the person in the hammock next to them. The logo just happens to be the shorthand.

That's also why we've kept the same promise running underneath all of it, including planting a tree with every sale.

The people willing to put us in permanent ink deserve a company that acts like it plans to be around as long as the tattoo is.

The commitment-friendly option

Not ready for needles? Fair. We also make stickers, which are basically tattoos for people with boundaries. Slap one on a water bottle and you're an honorary member of the club, no aftercare required.

The archive is still open

Here's the thing about calling this a living archive: it only lives if it keeps growing.

So this is an open invitation. If you've got Trek Light ink, old logo or new, faded or fresh, I'd love to see it.

If you're one of the original six, I really want to see how it's held up, and I'd love to hear where life has taken you since. And if reading this plants a tiny reckless seed in your brain, I'm not telling you what to do with your body. I'm just saying the archive has room.

Send a photo and the story behind it through our contact page or email it to hey@treklightgear.com. With your permission, we'll add it to this post so the archive keeps growing.

To the six who started it, and to everyone who's ever loved this brand hard enough to even consider it: thank you. You made a small idea permanent, beyond my wildest imagination.

Given that it’s now spring, and we’ve got a groovy and uplifting playlist for you, this quote makes a WHOLE LOTTA SENSE.

Click through and press play.

This is the story of the opposite kind of blanket: what makes a handwoven blanket different, and why people who own one tend to get weird about it.

Woven, not printed

Most budget throws are made one of two ways: fleece with a design printed on top, or machine-knit fabric cut and hemmed at speed.

A handwoven blanket is built differently. The pattern isn't printed on the surface, it IS the blanket. Every color you see is a thread that runs all the way through, woven on a loom by a person who's done it a thousand times. Flip it over and the design is still there. It shows up clearest across our pattern blankets, where the design and the weave are the same thing.

Ours are handwoven in Mexico by weavers we've worked with for years, and because a human made it, no two are exactly alike. We consider that a feature. So do the people who name their blankets. (You know who you are.)

The texture thing

Handwoven fabric has a substance to it that machine-made throws can't fake: a weight that drapes instead of clings, and a surface with actual texture instead of uniform fuzz. It's the difference between a tortilla from a bag and one off the comal.

And it gets better with age. These blankets soften with every wash. The one you buy today is the least soft it will ever be, which is a strange and wonderful thing to be able to say about a product.

"It’s large and cozy enough to sit around the fire pit on a chilly evening, but not so heavy or bulky that it’s awkward." (Christopher Tate, verified review)

Made from recycled materials (really)

Our blankets are woven from recycled materials, which means the thing keeping you warm on the couch already had a first life somewhere else.

"It's the rich, saturated colors that draw me in, but these blankies are also practical. They are large enough to be a great picnic/lawn blanket and will cover the top of a full-size (aka double) bed." (Robin, verified review)

The all-terrain blanket

A proper handwoven blanket refuses to pick a lane. It's a couch throw, a picnic blanket, a car blanket, a beach blanket, a concert blanket, and bedding for the guest who swears the floor is fine.

One family took theirs on the road: "We bought our Durango blanket last spring and brought it on our 10,600 mile cross country trip this summer with our 13 year old and 1 year old." (William Maxwell, verified review)

Serial collectors, we see you too: "I am an admitted blanket hoarder. I have no less than 10 blankets at any given time in the living room basket, and many more in the linen closet." (Xandra Kopecky, verified review)

How to care for one

Toss it in the machine. Seriously, that's it: our handwoven blankets are machine washable, and washing is how they get softer. For the full routine (water temperature, drying, the works), we wrote a whole guide: how to wash a handwoven blanket.

Is it worth it?

A printed fleece throw is disposable by design. A handwoven blanket is the kind of thing that ends up in the background of two decades of family photos and then gets fought over.

Every blanket we make plants a tree through our 1-for-1 Giveback and is backed by our Happiness Guarantee, so the only real risk is becoming a person with a living room basket situation.

Giving one away instead? We sorted the line by recipient in the blanket gift guide.

Handwoven blanket FAQ

What does handwoven actually mean?

It means the blanket was woven on a loom by a person, thread by thread, rather than mass-produced by machine.

The pattern is woven through the fabric itself, not printed on the surface, and small variations make each one unique.

Can you machine wash a handwoven blanket?

Ours, yes. They're machine washable and actually get softer with every wash. See our full washing guide for the details.

What size is a handwoven throw blanket?

Ours are sized to be big enough for two people to share on a couch, and they'll cover the top of a full-size bed. Exact dimensions are listed on each blanket's page.