Tree Nets

Tree nets are giant nets woven from rope or cord and strung between trees, somewhere between a hammock and a very friendly spider's web. You build one by tying a frame from trunk to trunk, then weaving line after line across the gap until it's strong enough to hold you. Then you climb in and do absolutely nothing for a while.

It's part craft, part engineering and part group project, with a lie-down at the end as the reward.

First, the frame. Strong ropes go around a few trees to make the outline, usually a triangle or a square. Wide straps or padding go on each trunk before any rope does, so the bark doesn't get rubbed raw. Then everything gets pulled tight. A slack frame means a saggy net, and nobody wants to lounge in a sag.

Next, the weaving. Lines are tied across the frame and crossed over each other to build up a mesh. Knots like the clove hitch and the lark's head knot fix each new line in place. The tighter the mesh, the comfier the lounging.

Then there's the fun part: colour and pattern. Bright cord turns the net into a piece of woodland art, whether you go for a tidy grid, a spiral or a full spider's web.

Tension and teamwork, mostly. When you climb in, your weight pulls on the lines around you. They pass that pull on to the frame, which passes it on to the trees. The more lines that share the load, the less work each one has to do. Triangles are brilliantly strong shapes, which is why they turn up in nets, roofs and bridges. Basically, it's physics you can lie down on.

Completely. Your Activity Leader shows you the knots, and after a few goes your hands start doing it without much thought. The rest is teamwork, patience and some friendly debate about which colour goes where. A shared net keeps growing as more people add to it, so you can wander back later and admire your handiwork. Testing it with a nap is strongly encouraged.

Comfy clothes you can kneel, stretch and clamber in. Trousers or leggings save your legs from rough rope, and closed-toe shoes help on bumpy woodland ground. Leave dangly jewellery in your tent and tie back long hair, as both love a good snag.

You might also like Rope Making & Useful Knots, Macrame and Pioneering.

See all Camp Wildfire activities