Outdoors

Treeline System offers a new take on the slack-line-suspended tent

Treeline System offers a new take on the slack-line-suspended tent
The Treeline System is currently on Kickstarter
The Treeline System is currently on Kickstarter
View 3 Images
The slack lines are fastened to the base via included carabiners
1/3
The slack lines are fastened to the base via included carabiners
Although the tent currently only accommodates one person, larger versions are planned
2/3
Although the tent currently only accommodates one person, larger versions are planned
The Treeline System is currently on Kickstarter
3/3
The Treeline System is currently on Kickstarter
View gallery - 3 images

Ordinarily when you're pitching a tent, you have to look for a flat, smooth, dry area in which to do so. That isn't the case with the Treeline System, however, which lets you suspend a tent above the ground via a set of slack lines.

A variation on the tree-suspended tents we've seen before, the system was invented by Park City, Utah-based brothers Sean, Brady and Joel Robertson. It incorporates several components: the single-person tent, a base, four slack lines, a custom sleeping bag and sleeping pad, plus a padded backpack that everything packs into.

First of all, the tent can simply be staked to the ground and used on its own. Among its features are large zippered doors on either side for easy access, a roof vent, a hubbed pole frame and an all-weather rain fly. It has a peak interior height of 42 inches (1,077 mm), and its floor measures 88 by 36 in (2,235 by 914 mm).

The 3-inch-thick (76-mm) self-inflating sleeping pad and the sleeping bag are both custom-designed to fit the floor of the tent, plus they can be fastened to it, thus holding everything in place.

Although the tent currently only accommodates one person, larger versions are planned
Although the tent currently only accommodates one person, larger versions are planned

Should you wish to set up over sloping, rocky, rooty, wet or otherwise unsavoury ground … you start by zippering the tent onto its webbing-reinforced base, attaching the slack lines to each corner of that base, then ratcheting those lines around the trunks of four nearby trees (which do not have to be evenly spaced apart).

Each line is 30 ft long (9 m) and can support up to 300 lb (136 kg). The combined weight of the tent, rain fly and base is a claimed 7 lb, 13 oz (3.5 kg), so that leaves quite a bit of wiggle room.

The Treeline System is being manufactured by the Robertson brothers' company SLOUSI, which is an acronym for "sleep outside." It's also the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, where a pledge of US$299 will get you a basic tent/base/lines package – assuming it reaches production, that is.

You can see the system in use, in the video below.

Source: Kickstarter

The TreeLine System by SLOUSI

View gallery - 3 images
6 comments
6 comments
paul314
Wow! They have reinvented the hammock. Very nicely, I have to say. My back would thank them for that flat surface.
pmshah
To what end? Fishing under the cover of the tent? Everyone knows that in wintertime bridges are the most dangerous to traverse because the underside is exposed to environment and wind and can get unbelievably cold & sleek with frozen sleet & snow. How would this behave any different?
Camper979
What a copy of the Opeongo aerial
Username
If someone specifically wanted to make a video to assure I wouldn't buy their product, this would be it.
KrakaTaoJones
@ paul314: A bridge hammock solves the desire for a flat surface already.
@Username: Well said. It not only turns off potential customers, it proves (once again) that comedy is best left to comedians.
D[]
This would be so freaking cold. Hammocks in the winter require an underquilt or insulated pad under the sleeper. An inflated floor would help for a bit, but it would be like sleeping on ice (or whatever the temperature outside is) by the end of the night. Sleeping bags don't keep you warm underneath, the fill gets too compressed.