To celebrate my most recent birthday and plunge into soft middle age, all I requested was a camping hammock. Ever since I saw one in use on vacation, I knew I needed one in my life. My lovely wife performed a bevy of research and selected a hammock from Wise Owl Outfitters.

As soon as I unwrapped my hammock, I didn’t hesitate to set it up between the two trees in our front yard. As a recent quadragenarian, I have come to appreciate a good nap. Before I could relish breaking it in, our two-year-old took it upon herself to claim sole ownership of the hammock. This inspired me to get a hammock for her pint-sized frame.

A Review of the Owlet Kids Hammock by Wise Owl Outfitters

The folks at Wise Owl Outfitters were kind enough to let me try out the Owlet Kids Hammock. The installation of the Owlet was simple. The hammock comes with an attached bag made from the same material as the hammock. It’s very easy to remove the hammock and pack it back up again. It doesn’t matter if you wrinkle it up and no folding or skill is involved. It’s small and light enough that it’s easy to stuff in a backpack and bring along on a hike or even a flight.

Once you unfurl the hammock from its bag, locate the straps and select a sturdy pair of trees or poles to anchor them to. In my case, I chose the same two plum trees in my yard. For the sake of safety, I tested out the weight threshold once it was attached to the trees. Always make sure the branches or trees you select are sturdy as you don’t want your child to tumble to the ground. The hammock on its own can support up to 500 pounds, but that is not necessarily true for all trees! Set up is very easy and involves looping the straps around branches or trees and using the carabiners to secure them.

Once my daughter was placed inside, she said, “Daddy, I could fall asleep in here.” I gently swung her in the hammock, and she loved it. Since she is pretty young, I supervised her the whole time, but if she were older and better coordinated, I am confident that she could have taken an unsupervised siesta.

These hammocks are very versatile and can be used in many different environments. Using them in a forest is a no-brainer due to the abundance of trees available to attach the hammock to, however, there are many other creative options for all kinds of locations – for example, connecting the hammock to driftwood logs on a beach might be the perfect place to chill and listen to the surf. The Owlet is a child-specific size, and it is absolutely a more appropriate fit for a kid as opposed to drowning in a cocoon of fabric in an adult-size hammock.

The 210T parachute nylon that the Owlet is comprised of is durable and breathable. Two carabiners securely bookend the hammock and fasten to the straps, which you can adjust by wrapping them more than once around your trees of choice.

One design feature that I love is the hammock’s case is attached to the side of the hammock and forms a storage pocket for any small accessories you need access to during your rest. You could store your phone or sunglasses in the pocket…or since this is the Owlet, a juice box or Pikachu toy.

You can sit in these hammocks in more than one way, too. Of course, you can lay in the hammock like a mummy, but you can also sit in it like a swing or with your legs in or out.

I truly love my hammock, and my daughter loves hers. My biggest piece of advice is to make sure your child knows how to properly use a hammock to avoid falling out. Nothing takes the shine off a hammock nap faster than an owie.

You can buy an Owlet Kids Hammock of your very own on the Wise Owl Outfitters site.

Note: Wise Owl Outfitters provided me with a product sample for review purposes. The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by the company.