ENO Junglenest Hammock Evaluate | CleverHiker

Bottom Line

For people who love their ENO Hammocks and want to see what the company has to offer for a fully netted hammock, the Junglenest is a comfortable and well-featured hammock that left us feeling pleasantly satisfied with the experience. It didn’t wow us; almost everything about this is middle of the pack, but it adds up to a jack-of-all-trades design that might appeal to someone. The included spreader bar, pockets, and stashable bug net are all nice to see, and the fabric and component quality is good too, even if nothing stands out compared to our other top picks for camping hammocks.

We got a great night’s sleep in the Junglenest, which goes to show that smaller dimensions on a hammock don’t necessarily translate to bad sleep. The fixed ridgeline helps a lot here, but our 5’9 and 5’11” testers thought it was comfortable, an experience we found held true when testing out in the woods.

One thing that stands out is the value offered; it’s a bit cheaper than other models we tested, but the quality is still what you’d expect from a larger brand like ENO, and nothing about it feels cheap. It’s not quite enough to earn our budget buy award, but it’s worth noting that it punches above its weight when it comes to performance per dollar.

Comfort

The Junglenest was in the middle of the pack when it came to comfort, but that’s a good thing. Most of the hammocks we tested were pretty comfortable so we’re confident the Junglenest can give a good night’s sleep for most people. The dimensions are on the smaller side for most of our hammocks at 9.8×4.6 feet. ENO’s implementation of a ridgeline at that 83% of hammock length sweet spot, combined with a spreader bar and comfortable fabrics made it  more comfortable than the smaller dimensions suggest. 

We do think other models are more comfortable, but we were happy lounging and relaxing in the Junglenest while testing. Overnight comfort ended up being rather nice as well. We are left confused why ENO doesn’t just make this a 10 foot hammock. The super popular Doublenest is 9.5 feet, so at 9.8 feet they’re clearly breaking from that mold.

We’re happy to see that they didn’t just put a bug net and ridgeline on the Doublenest, but if they were going to change from their winning formula, we wonder why they didn’t go that little bit farther to 10 or even 11 feet since they’re not targeting the ultralight market.

Longer hammocks are usually more comfortable since they increase the flatter area at the bottom of the fabric curve, with most manufacturers targeting 10-11ft as standard. All confusion aside, we’re pleased the dimensions are good enough even for a 5’11” tester.

Part of this comfort is owed to the decent feature set at work here. The included spreader bar does a nice job of maximizing interior volume, and the pockets on the inside also make using it easier.

Features

We were pleasantly surprised by the nice amount of features the Junglenest has. The top spreader bar is not unique to the Junglenest, but it still does an effective job creating interior volume. It doesn’t spread far enough to either side to prevent netting from getting into the head area when sleeping on a diagonal.

The interior pockets are great though; there is a side one that’s perfect for a phone and a peak pocket for other things. ENO does sell a ridgeline organizer, but it’s geared more for casual use rather than backpacking and wouldn’t be our first pick.

The lack of side pulls isn’t a huge deal considering the spreader bar, but after spending a night shifting around to get comfortable and feeling the netting get a bit too close for comfort, we found ourselves wishing for them anyway.

The stashable bug net is a good feature, and we like how great the zipper feels, but there’s no place to stash the net other than in the hammock bag, which doesn’t feel great. We would have liked to have seen a dedicated mesh pocket for this like on the other end.

Weight

Coming in right in the middle of the pack at 19.3 for the hammock body and included spreader bar, the Junglenest is a bit heavy for the small dimensions but isn’t unreasonable. Other hammocks give more dimensions for less weight, but considering that the Junglenest is still decently comfortable and well made, we don’t think its weight is enough to disqualify it from consideration.

Ease of Use

The Junglenest is wonderfully simple to set up. With two fixed loops that can attach to carabiners or ENO’s own whoopie sling straps, hanging it is straightforward, and the fixed ridgeline provides a good setup each time. Even better is the spreader bar, which slides into one side and secures with a snap – no fiddling around. We do wish the spreader bar was longer, but it gets top marks for ease of use.

Should You Buy the ENO Junglenest Hammock?

ENO is the largest name in hammocks, and their Junglenest is a good choice for someone who is already in love with their existing ENO Hammock and wants to stick to a brand they know. It’s not the most compelling hammock on its own; others are lighter, more featured, or more comfortable.

That doesn’t make the Junglenest a bad choice, just a bit unremarkable. There’s no one thing about it that makes it a must-buy or perfect for a certain type of person, but that’s really more a testament to how good the other hammocks in our lineup are rather than a deterrent.

What Other Hammocks Should You Consider?

Onewind Tempest Review: The Junglenest offers pretty good value, but for the champ in that department, the Onewind Tempest beats it at almost every turn. As a larger, better featured, more affordable, and more comfortable option at about the same weight, the Tempest is hard to beat. The quality isn’t quite up to ENO’s standards, but we think it’s good enough for most people. Unless you love the spreader bar, or the ENO brand, the Tempest is a better buy if you’re after a budget hammock.

Warbonnet Blackbird Review: While the Junglenest is in the middle of the pack for most things, the Blackbird soars when it comes to the things that matter for backpacking hammocks: weight and features. Saving 3.6 ounces from the Junglenest while adding an excellent and huge gear pocket, great side pulls, and a comparably comfortable experience means the Blackbird earns our recommendation if you’re ready to invest in hammocking. It does come at a premium, but that’s well worth it for the performance offered here.