Why my night in a tree tent never got off the ground

Siri Schubert

13.9.2023

Translation: Katherine Martin

Sleeping in a tree tent sounds wonderfully romantic, conjuring up childhood fantasies and notions of adventure. But my own attempt at a night in the treetops soon brings me firmly back to earth.

I love spending the night in unusual places, be it in a hammock on a Swedish island, under a tarp in the forest, or in a Bajao tent balanced on a stand-up paddleboard.

What draws me to the Tentsile Connect tree tent – besides the adventure appeal – is that it allows you to dangle in the air like you would in a hammock, safe from ants and snails. Plus, even if the ground is uneven or rocky, you can still find a comfortable place to sleep. Or so I thought.

Tent

Tentsile Connect

Tree tent, 9.50 kg, 2 persons

5

For my first attempt, I choose a small, lakeside campsite. Google Maps shows me there are some clusters of trees around there. To be on the safe side, I call the campsite owner before heading off and ask if it’s possible to set up camp between the trees. With everything seeming to be perfect, I set off. I’m not planning on doing a long hike. The Tentsile Connect tree tent tips the scales at a sizeable 9.5 kilogrammes, and with my sleeping bag, camping stove, eating utensils and personal belongings in tow, I’m soon weighed down like a packhorse. Needless to say, the Tentsile Connect wouldn’t be a suitable trekking tent.

I like the small, compact tent bag. It has room for the inner tent, rainfly and poles, as well as the gear used to hang the tent, such as ratchets and straps. If you only need to carry the tent for a short distance, you’ll appreciate the bag. Tackling longer routes over an extended period of time, however, reveals weak points in both its seams and fabric.

The tent doesn’t come with a ladder or tree protectors. In my opinion, the latter are especially important so that the suspension straps don’t damage the tree bark. I pack some into a separate bag, along with a small rope ladder to help me clamber into the tent.

Attempt 1: the search for the perfect spot

When I arrive at the campsite, I look for three trees spaced 4-6 metres apart in an acute-angled triangle formation. Finding this proves much more difficult than expected. The three trees I’d spotted beforehand on Google Maps are located in a dense thicket of brambles and nettles. No chance of hanging my tent there.

I move on to another little cluster of trees. Two trees are perfectly positioned, but the third is so small and thin that burdening it with both the tent and my body weight seems like too big an ask. The trees are supposed to have a 40-centimetre circumference to hold the tent; something the smallest of the three definitely doesn’t have. Time to move on. I try time and time again to find a suitable trio – to no avail. Between disappointments, I feel like kicking myself for not bringing a hammock. Suitably spaced pairs of trees, however, are apparently a dime a dozen.

My treetop dream descends into a mosquito-ridden nightmare

On two occasions, I attach the tent to two trees only to realise that the third is either too close or at the wrong angle to hold up the tent. Though I narrowly get one side of the tent in place, the other flaps around uselessly. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to sleep like that.

As barbecues are being fired up all around me and the aroma of camping food hits my nostrils, I still don’t have a place to sleep. What I do have are mosquito bites, an increasingly hungry belly and a heightened sense of grouchiness. It’s really not how I’d envisioned my chilled-out afternoon in my treetop bed. Eventually, I lose my patience and give up. I pitch the inner tent on the ground, cook myself a rice dish on my camping stove and go to sleep. Since it looks like the night will be clear and starry – and dry except for the humidity at the lake – I don’t bother with the rainfly, especially since I don’t have any pegs to keep it taut. Too bad I left my inflatable sleeping mat at home, thinking I’d be sleeping soundly in the tree tent. At least I’ve got the Therm-a-Rest Z-Lite Sol mat to hand, which will save me from having to sleep directly on the hard ground.

Attempt 2: will I manage to sleep in the tree tent?

After a less-than-pleasant night, I wake up feeling just about ready to call off the whole experiment. But I don’t give up that easily. I ask around to see who owns the forest on the other side of the lake. After all, it’d be ridiculous if I couldn’t find any suitable trees there. After getting permission from the owner of the forest, who smiles to himself upon hearing my question, I head off to find a place to camp. Déjà vu sets in. Where, pray tell, are all the perfectly positioned trees?

After numerous attempts, I finally find a cluster of trees right by the water with the right amount of space between them. One of the trees is a bit thin, but since I’ll be sleeping in the tent alone – and since I’m way under the maximum weight limit of 440 kilogrammes, I’ll take my chances. The tent is actually really easy to put up and cleverly designed. Mind you, I can’t get it any higher than chest-shoulder height. This is pretty much in line with the manufacturer’s specifications, which recommend hanging the tent about 1.2 metres above ground. It only takes a few minutes to hang the tent using the suspension straps and ratchets. You can see how it’s done in this time-lapse video:

Finally! Mission accomplished. I’m now looking forward to a relaxing nap in my tree tent overlooking the lake. The fine-mesh inner tent keeps the mosquitoes buzzing around the water’s edge at bay. But as soon as I lie down inside the tent, I realise something’s wrong. I’ve tried to attach all three suspension straps at the same height, but since my head and torso are (of course!) heavier than my legs, the tent is sagging at the front. Making an attempt to adjust it, I realise that doing so on my own is no easy feat. The tent is also drooping under my back, which doesn’t exactly make lying down comfortable. Unlike with a hammock, the fabric gives differently in different places due to tent’s triangular shape. I find it decidedly uncomfortable. Light years away from what the manufacturer calls «the most comfortable night’s sleep you’ve ever had in a tent or hammock». I don’t even want to imagine what it’s like to arrive somewhere after dark and have to find somewhere to pitch this tent. I, for one, have had enough for the now and take down my tent before night falls. Like the assembly, this is quick and easy.

Attempt 3: will I manage it this time?

Maybe I just picked the wrong place, I think to myself as I embark on my next attempt. I head to a forest on higher ground, sure it has to work this time. But yet again, finding a group of trees of the right size is hard going. Blackberry vines and nettles get in my way, as do young trees growing right in the middle of an otherwise perfect triangle.

Then, about half an hour later, I find a suitable spot after all. Again, I’m thrilled with how easy it is to put up the tent. Within minutes, it’s suspended between the trees. The polyurethane-coated rainfly made of 70D polyester looks robust and can be quickly secured using elastic bungees.

Even if I position the two suspension straps near my head higher up than at my feet and keep all the straps taut, the fabric underneath my upper body still droops when I lie down. It’s not long before my body feels tense and things get really uncomfortable. With that, I decide to throw in the towel. No treetop slumber for me tonight, either. My body is just sagging down too much.

Verdict: the tree tent demands a lot and offers relatively little

The tent definitely has its plus points. It’s well made, sturdy, and – excluding the difficulty I, as a solo camper, had hanging the head of the tent straight – it’s easy to put up and take down. Inside, there’s enough space for me, my luggage and camera gear. Although the tent fits two people, I only tested it solo. A suspension strap in the middle can be used to create two sleeping bays, so that neither person rolls into the middle. However, the tent’s triangular shape could make things pretty tight at the foot end for two campers.

Strong points aside, I won’t be using the tent again. It’s too heavy for trekking and looking for a suitable place to pitch it is too much hassle. Not only do I find it uncomfortable, but for the size it ultimately offers, it takes up a lot of space. There are better alternatives out there. Take hammocks, for instance, which not only give you a sense of adventure, but are also much more comfortable. Plus, you don’t need to spend ages finding a place to put them up.

Keen to find out if I’d just been picking the wrong places, I asked around to see how others were using the tent. One person with a tree tent told me she’d strung it up in the yard for the kids. I can certainly picture that – getting to sleep in a tree tent is bound to be a great experience for a child. To counteract the sagging, she’d thrown in a heap of blankets and pillows. It might also be a good choice for campers who know an easily accessible spot, largely free of thorny brushes, and with rightly spaced trees. There are also a few campsites in Switzerland with pre-pitched tree tents – at least during certain seasons. At these sites, there’s guaranteed to be enough distance between the trees to suspend the tent properly. So if you want to see what it’s like to sleep in a tree tent, try it there and spare yourself the lengthy search for a good spot.

Siri Schubert

Senior Editor

Siri.Schubert@digitecgalaxus.ch

Research diver, outdoor guide and SUP instructor – I love being in, on and around water. Lakes, rivers and the ocean are my playgrounds. For a change of perspective, I look at the world from above while trail running or flying drones.

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