A couple of weeks back, a company called Tentsile introduced the new Trillium Hammock, a versatile product capable of supporting as many as three people. Being the gear geek and hammock camper that I am, I was intrigued to say the least. So I headed over to Tentsile’s website to check out the Trillium myself. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this hammock was actually a piece of something much bigger and cooler that I ever imagined. You see, Tentsile isn’t just in the business of making an oversized hammock; they make portable treehouses as well!
Inspired by the Ewok Village in Return of the Jedi, Tentsile was founded by architect-turned-product-designer Alex Shirley-Smith. He felt that if he could build his version of these suspended dwellings, he could essentially make trees more “important than their value in timber” and have fun doing so in the process. In 2012, he shared his first product, and hasn’t looked back since.
Overall, Tentsile offers four main products: Connect Tree Tent, Stingray Tree Tent, Vista Tree Tent, and the aforementioned Trillium Hammock. Along with supporting accessories, these products were designed to be used on their own, in conjunction with the Trillium Hammock, or as part of a combined group, such as the Trilogy Super Tent Combo.
Made from materials like 240D nylon-polyester, tear-resistant insect mesh, and seatbelt webbing, all of this wild stuff can be combined and stacked so you and your friends can create an Ewok Village of your very own. Though Tensile is not the first company to take tent camping off the ground and into the trees, they are the first company to actively push a community-like setting into suspended camping, and I for one think its wicked cool.
With summer on the horizon, I’m going to reach out to my brothers and sisters on the forest moon of Endor and see if they want to get a camping trip planned; maybe take in a music festival?
