We've seen hammock stands before, some even atop vehicle roofs or inside the car itself. But it's a different ballgame when the hammock is actually a large triangular tent for three people. Tentsile's new stand weighs nearly 100 lb (45 kg) and stretches out more than 15 feet (4.6-m). It looks something like a spacecraft on the verge of takeoff, but if you find yourself needing to hang a Tentsile tent in an open field, beach or yard, it's a piece of kit you'll be happy to have on hand.
We've taken both hammock and tree tents on camping trips before, and even when venturing inside thick forests, the question is always lurking: What if I don't find the trees I need to string this thing up? In fact, we once experienced such a roadblock, not because there weren't trees around but because the campground banned the use of tree shelters, in order to protect the trees. We lucked out in snagging an extra ground tent from a fellow camper, but otherwise we'd have been stuffed uncomfortably in the car for the night (or three, as it happened).
We're not sure that we would have had space to load in a 98-lb (44-kg), 5-foot (1.5-m)-long packed tent stand along with the 30-lb (13.6-kg) Tentsile tent and all our other camping gear, but Tentsile's rather non-poetically named Backyard Tree Tent and Hammock Stand does provide an alternative for the very situation we faced. Beyond hammock bans, Tentsile campers may also find themselves grounded by a lack of properly spaced trees – or trees altogether.
Assembled from a series of aluminum tubes and stainless steel nuts and bolts, the Tentsile stand is something of an equilateral triangle with legs and pronged corners. The corner prongs include the connector and pulley hardware needed to attach and tighten the straps, lifting the tent up to hover several feet in tree-free air. Tentsile estimates a 15-minute set-up time.
The stand is designed to work with Tentsile models ranging from the single-person UNA to the three-person Stingray, Stealth and Vista tents. It also works with the brand's three-person Trillium hammocks.
All that metal suggests that a Tentsile tent + stand won't be the cheapest way to "hang out," and the stand MSRP of US$999 proves that correct. If you pre-order soon, though, you can dial that pain down to a $799 early bird price ... just remember, that's in addition to the three- or four-figure price of the Tentsile tent itself. Stand deliveries are currently planned for late June.
Source: Tentsile