As more and more people have gotten into hammock camping over the past few years they are often introduced to many new terms.  From the unique vocabulary that revolves around suspension systems to the creative names many companies give to their products and more so even to the very definition of those companies’ style of business.  Whoopie Sling, Stinger, Mamajamba, and Dynaglide are not everyday terms for most folks.  Neither though is Cottage Shop.  So what is a cottage shop, how is it different and what does that really matter to a new person looking at hammock camping equipment for the first time?


Cottage Shop is a term that might make you think of a small village business in Europe hundreds of years go…it did me the first time I heard it.  Little cottages in town each with a merchant in it pedaling their goods to travelers.  Baked goods, wooden shoes, shiny trinkets, pet rocks and at the edge of town the blacksmith with an anvil by the door.  And honestly in many ways it has not changed.  None of these shops have big manufacturing facilities and assembly lines out the back door of their cottage.  No, instead they all have a back room or a kitchen counter where they put their goods together.   Fast forward a few hundred years and a few things have changed.  Now with the internet many cottage type businesses don’t have a store front on main street but instead a website.  And I think that is where many people in this day and age get confused.  Having a website does not define how large of a business or how it inventories goods.  Amazon is a website and they have dozens of warehouses’ where they have hundreds of employees boxing and shipping goods all over the world.  But many small businesses don’t have that same sort of business model.  Cottage shops are generally made up of a few people working to make goods one at a time.  They don’t have unlimited resources and don’t tend to have their products produced for them overseas.  Instead they make their products one at a time or in small batches.  

For hammock equipment this means that each piece of fabric is rolled out and cut, each piece pinned together and sewn individually.  A good analogy is to consider your morning breakfast.  Think about 2 mornings and the same breakfast, lets say pancakes, sausage and hash browns with a cup of coffee.  One morning you stop at the fast food drive up window.  You order from a garbled speaker with a digital read out of your order, pull forward, pay at the first window, pull forward, get handed a cup of coffee and a bag and you’re off.  Now picture day two where you stop at the local mom and pop diner.  You sit at the counter and are greeted by pop who tells you the coffee is a bit old and puts on a fresh pot.  He asks you how your day is going and if you caught the game last night.  You order your breakfast and rather than someone pulling stuff out of the freezer and microwaving it you hear mom in the back mixing up pancake batter and putting on some hash browns to fry. Pop brings by the fresh hot coffee and the paper.  He grabs his cup and tops it off with fresh coffee as well. A few minutes later mom brings your plate full of hot fresh food out and says “Here you are dear, can I bring you anything else”  

Now mom and pop certainly took a bit more time from your day.  But your food was made fresh, not in a factory and re-heated for you in under 2 minutes.  Is one better than the other.  I’ll let you ponder that, but think also about which one is made with you in mind.

Cottage made gear goes though the same sort of life as your mom and pop breakfast.  Rather than just sitting on a warehouse shelf, when you order from a cottage shop someone has to take your order and turn it into functional gear.  They take fabric off the roll, cut it, pin it, sew it and turn it into a finished product, gear for you to use.  They think about how that gear will be used, does it need to be durable, light, warm or strong. Does it need to hold up to hundreds of uses.  Does your enjoyment of your trip depend on it.  Does the safety of the user need to be considered.  Just like Pop thinks about how fresh the coffee is because he is going to drink it too, most cottage vendors consider how well their gear will work because they are going to use it themselves. 

To me, a cottage shop is different than big businesses in how they function and the service that comes with that.  In the hammock camping community the vendors run the range from companies that market goods made in china to shops literally run by 2 people, mom and pop (very literally) for a few.   Most though are small businesses that have a handful of employees to help keep things running smooth and minimize wait times.    

We have just released our newest line of gear on the earth and everyone should jump over to AHE and check it out.  

When starting out with hammocks there is so many options to take in and consider.  So many bits and pieces that it can get overwhelming.  AHE has decided to help take a bunch of the "what do I need to hang?" out of it.  We have put together a basic and step up kit together that gives you all the parts and pieces that you need to actually get out and hang.  No more guessing if this piece or that one will work together.  We built kits around our most popular and most versatile gear.  In the coming weeks we will be building another kit for the next step up which will include a tarp with all the fixings...Guylines and Ridgeline, seam sealed and ready to pitch.  

The bonus in buying in a kit like this is the savings and simplicity.  $50 - $80 off of piecing all to the gear together your self.  Everything you need to hammock camp will come to your door in 1 box ready to hang.  


Our New Hanger Kit will get just about anyone up off the ground.

New Hanger KIT CONTAINS: 
Gathered end 11 foot double layer hammock.  
Ultralight Whoopie Sling Suspension with Adjustable length Ridge line for the perfect sag. 
3 Season Partial length Jarbidge Under Quilt with foam foot pad
Removable HUG - Half Bug Net
Sap Sack to store your Tree Straps and Toggles in
Micro Ridge Line Organizer 

The Apprentice Hanger kit adds an Owyhee Top Quilt and Cub Pillow to the kit.  

Not only is Arrowhead Equipment the one stop shop for all your hammock camping needs but we are also now a one click stop to get well hung.  Add just the New Hanger Kit or the Apprentice Hanger Kit to your cart and your set to hammock camp. 


Paul@AHE