I got into hammock camping with the Eno Doublenest. It’s probably the gateway hammock for most campers. It was ok. It was way better than sleeping on sticks and rocks with a little foam pad underneath, but really it was just OK.

Pictured here is my current setup, which is actually a bit in flux.

From left to right on the top we have:

the Warbonnet Becket straps, The straps are 15ft long, and the pair of them together weighs 2.2 oz. No carabineer or hooks are intended for this method, but as the name implies a becket hitch should be used. This means the hammock can connect anywhere from right up next to the tree trunk (if that’s the best you can find) or all the way out to the end of the 15 ft strap with as little tail as you’re comfortable with. I don’t know how little I’m comfortable with yet. I can always fall back to using these hooks with the Eno Helios straps.

Next there’s my tarp, followed by the stakes that came with it. This is the Hummingbird Hammocks “Heron” tarp. It’s super light and packs super tiny. It’s made of 0.9 oz silpoly. The cordage is 1.5ml dyneema. I’ve tested this tarp in fairly extreme rain and wind. It’s a champ. The tarp and stakes together weigh 12.65 oz

At bottom we have my hammock, the Dreamhammocks Sparrow. It’s not the lightest hammock on the market. It’s 11ft long, 70″ wide, 26.2 oz. It’s super comfortable and includes a built in bugnet and integrated ridgeline with organizers for my glasses, water bottle, hygiene kit, e-reader etc. This isn’t an asym hammock but it’s plenty wide for a good asymmetrical lay, and has guy-outs for tying off to stakes on the ground.

It’s not necessarily smaller or lighter than a comparable tent, but it’s amazingly comfortable and I love it.