Hammocks Online

Hammocks aren’t a product of 20th Century technology. In fact, during his first voyage Christopher Columbus recorded that many American Indians slept in “hamacas” or nets made of cotton. Columbus’ was the first person to bring the knowledge of hammocks to Europe and South America, and since that time hammocks have become popular throughout the world.

Today hammocks come is almost every color, style and variety imaginable. There are even portable hammocks, hammock chairs and hammock accessories. Many people choose to place their hammocks on their front porches or in their yards. While others prefer to enjoy the comfort of a hammock in heir own home.

During the Apollo program, the Lunar Module was equipped with hammocks for the commander and lunar module pilot to sleep in between moonwalks.

We are really excited at Leisurehammocks.com.  A video of the fantastic Kingcord Hammocks has been created and subsequently posted on You Tube. 

We are especially proud of our partnership with Kingcord and invite you to please take time to look at this video.  Now you too can own a hammock that has been seen on You Tube.

Christopher Columbus is often credited as the first to “discover” the hammock, but its use reaches far before his time. Most believe the hammock originated around 1000 A.D. The exact details of its invention have been the topic of debate for hundreds of years. Many believe it came from the Mayans, who are known for advanced mathematicians and astronomers, while others theorize it was actually from the natives of Haiti.

The usage of the hammock, however, spread quickly throughout the Americas. Natives of both North and South America found hammocks to adapt to all climates. Migration to follow game and warm weather could quickly be done by simply taking the beds from their supports and moving on. Once a suitable living area was found, they could be reassembled and ready for use just as effortlessly.

Hammocks used by the peoples of these continents were often made of natural fibers. Some utilized animal hides to create their sleeping devices. Hammocks were the perfect beds for outdoor living, as the mesh allowed air to deter humidity and any small animals would simply fall through the gaps between the fibers.

The hammock became a necessity at sea for countless sailors over time. It was quickly utilized by seafarers as more convenient and easier to care for than an actual bed. It was also used by the prison system in Britain for its space-saving abilities and easy storage.

    After leaving an illustrious career as a mathematician, Count Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811) joined the French army and served in the Americas defending French interests, participating under the leadership of Montcalm in the fateful defense of the city of Quebec, which was ultimately decided on the plains of Abraham.  

   
   His New World adventures never diminished his passion for exploration, and he eventually became the first Frenchman to circumnavigate the globe (1766 to 1769), visiting many of the Polynesian islands and even having another, large island 
named after him. His renowned Description d’un voyage autour du monde contributed much to the then popular beliefs regarding the high moral character of the “noble sauvage” living in harmony with nature.

   However, before that famous voyage he still served some years in the French navy and was sent to South America, where he established a French colony on the present-day Falkland Islands and spent some time exploring the South American coast.
 

 During one such exploration of coastal Brazil, the expedition’s botanist, Philibert Commerson, discovered the colourful vining plant which he named Bougainvillea in honour of the Count.  Its bounteous beauty of cascading flowers has made the Bougainvillea a favorite plant in tropical gardens around the world, typifying the exuberant visual experience of the tropics.

   On these coastal expeditions, the explorers also had the opportunity to confirm the central role hammocks still played in indigenous everyday life, just as the Portuguese explorers had observed more than two hundred and fifty years earlier.
 
“Like the Bougainvillea, the hammock is one of the most enduring gifts the Americas have made to the world. Hammocks had already been used for centuries by indigenous people in South and Central America as a hanging bed or carrying device, before they were discovered in the “New World” by Columbus, who then introduced them by name and concept to Europe. Just a few years after his discovery, Portuguese explorers in the early 1500’s found hammocks in use in Brazil, where the indigenous people taught them about hammock construction.”
  

   The Europeans adapted the original design to fit the tight confines of their sailing ships, making a narrow, less comfortable hammock that unfortunately to this day informs the design of many Western hammocks. When it became viable to give consideration to comfort, improvements could be made: The hammocks were once again made wider to accommodate a proper and comfortable sleeping posture, and sliding (“floating”) spreader bars were introduced at each end. The advantage of these spreaders was twofold: First, this design was more bed-like, and so prevented the hammock from enveloping the sleeper and leaving him trussed up. Second, by allowing the hammock’s harness ropes at each end to slide freely through evenly spaced holes in the spreader bars, stability was optimized and the essential comfort of the original hammock was restored.

   Through circuitous dissemination over time, the knowledge of the hand-woven hammock was handed down and found its way back to the Canadian territories where to this day the hammock making craft is practiced, on the shores of the mighty St. Lawrence river in the heart of the Thousand Islands. There, durable, comfortable hammocks are now made with soft, braided spun polyester cord, the furthest evolutionary steps removed from the treebark and sisal originally used centuries ago.
 
    In appreciation of two exceptional gifts from the “New World”, we have brought them together again: the Bougainville name lives on in our hammocks, ever evoking the beauty and comfort of pure tropical relaxation.

Hammocks first began appearing in Central America about 1,000 years ago. The earliest hammocks were woven from the bark of the Hamack tree. Later, the Sisal plant {similar in appearance to an Aloe Vera plant} replaced the bark as the material of choice for the hammock because it was more abundant, and rubbing them against the thigh could soften its fibers.

No hammock has a richer history than the Mayan Hammock. The hammocks originated in the Yucatan region of Mexico, a region know for its exquisite food, its rich history and pyramids, its temperate climate and its beautiful, gulf coast beaches.

Today, Mayan Hammocks are made of nylon and cotton, but the original Mayan Hammocks were made of cotton, soon after the fiber was introduced to the region by the Spaniards. Mayans quickly discovered the comfort of cotton. It can take one person as much as several weeks to make a single, handmade Mayan hammock. Today entire villages across the state of Yucatan make the hammocks to meet the growing popularity and demand for these hammocks.

The hammocks are special to Mayan people and they encompass almost every part of their lives: they are the place where people are born, sleep conceive and die.