Henry Adams isn’t the typical high school senior. While most seniors are either planning for college, getting a job or traveling after high school, they all mostly have one thing in common – they’re gonna crawl into a bed when it’s time to sleep. Adams, on the other hand, walks outside and hops into a hammock when it’s time to get some shuteye.
It is Adams mission to sleep outside his parents house every single night, no matter the weather.
Since it’s in the deep of winter in (where he lives) Minnesota, sleeping outside can prove to be very difficult.
“For warmth, I wrap a blanket around my face,” he says. “For comfort, I put a pillow behind my head and one between my legs.”
“I find it fun,” says Adams when discussing why he chooses to sleep outside in a hammock.
Adams discusses one particularly rough night during a storm. His only way to stay dry was from a small tarp from a hardware store.
“Water splashed me the entire night, and the tarp whipped back and forth in the wind.”
At one point one of the ropes broke, causing even more water to soak him.
Despite all that, he said the “challenge and [occasional] discomfort” make sleeping in the hammock more than worth it.
He uses a double hammock with a synthetic bag wrapped around it in the winter months. He also places a down comforter and fleece blanket between the hammock and the bag. Inside the hammock he has enough blankets to start a small hotel. Adams makes use of another down comforter and fleece blanket, a 30-degree sleeping bag and a 5-degree down sleeping bag.
Surprisingly, Adams says summer is the most uncomfortable season. If you have everything you need, he says it’s much easier to sleep in sub-zero conditions than it is during 85-degree weather.
We’ve gotta hand it to him. We love going camping and spending a few days sleeping in a hammock, but at the end of it, we’re always more than ready for the comfort of our bed.
