Last year when I took my family on a backpacking trip, I had to put my kids in a tent while my wife and I hung our HH hammocks under a single tarp. It worked out okay, but I didn't like being separated from the kids so much and, let's face it, they were ON THE GROUND. I had a DIY hammock I made for my son, but since my daughter would have to sleep in a tent anyway, he joined her on the ground. I knew I'd have to remedy this soon.
So, for Christmas this year I made them each a hammock. I tried to customize them to their favorite colors, to make them fairly light but durable and large enough to grow into. I made a simple & light bug netting for each that was easily removable/modifiable and didn't stress my meager sewing skills too much. I made stuff sacks for each, with a face of fleece on the inside to make a warm pillow if turned inside-out (put it on the inside to keep it clean). Each packed smaller than a Nalgene bottle. My daughter's was "silver" colored with pink thread and pink grosgrain on the bug netting, with a pink-flecked ridgeline. My son's was blue with black thread and grosgrain with a blue ridgeline. Their favorite colors...
I wasn't sure how they would like them, being that they weren't toys. At least they weren't socks, though. Turns out I worried for nothing--they absolutely loved them. This past weekend, since I didn't go to Mt. Rodgers, I set the hammocks up for the kids to take on a test spin. They worked and looked great, they have plenty of room left to grow into, and the kids loved every minute in them. I attached a few pictures below, the rest can be seen at my Flickr site: Kid's Hammocks.
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