The Greatest Tenting Hammocks of 2023

Hammocks targeted at camping and backpacking have recently become some of the most popular outdoor accessories. It’s easy to understand why; hammocks are blissfully relaxing.

In recent years, lighter, more packable, diagonal-laying hammock styles have supplanted the heavy, old-school canvas or rope hammocks that used to hang in almost every suburban backyard.

Now you can choose from hardcore hammock shelters that can fully replace your regular tent or ultralight wisps of nylon that pack up smaller than a can of beer.

We’ve tested and reviewed lots of options and have chosen the camping hammocks we think are the best choices in 2023. There’s bound to be one (or three) that will fit your backcountry and backyard needs.

In choosing a hammock, you’ll need to ask yourself whether you’re looking for a casual hang, or something that’ll find use in your backcountry shelter lineup. Dig into our buyer’s guide, where we’ve gone down to brass tacks in order to explain all things hammock, check out our distilled-down comparison chart, or consult our frequently asked questions section to get straight to the point. 

The Best Camping Hammocks of 2023

Camping Hammock Comparison Chart

Why You Should Trust Us

The GearJunkie team is chock full of avid hammock campers. To compile this list, we put our heads together and shared our passionate opinions on hammock camping.

Senior Editor Nick Belcaster has been camping in hammocks for the better part of five years, and it’s fair to say that he’s got the hang of it by now. In order to test the hammocks in our line-up, he slung up between the cedars and hemlocks of the Pacific Northwest, the granite boulders of Joshua Tree, and just about everywhere in between, paying close mind to different materials, suspension systems, and the ever-important ‘fun factor.’

Over the years, the GJ team has tested all kinds of hammocks in just about every setting you can imagine. From roadside car camping to thousand-mile thru-hikes, our hammock testing cycle never ends.

For this particular list, we’ve included hammocks that can be used for car camping and casual hangouts as well as a few backpacking models. Testing hammocks is a lot of fun, but we still made sure to pay extra attention to durability, ease of setup, and overall comfort.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Best Camping Hammock

Camping hammocks are versatile pieces of gear that can reliably replace a tent and provide the joy of daytime lounging.

There’s a certain bliss that comes with being suspended in a hammock, rocking gently as the breeze reminds you of your weightlessness. In the past few decades, hammocks have become increasingly popular with outdoor recreationists rediscovering the beauty of tent-free camping.

To those experienced outdoor sleepers who swear by the tent, hammock camping may at first seem like a novelty activity reserved for backyard fun. However, thanks to innovative product design and the development of handy accessories, hammocks have become a completely legitimate and viable alternative to tents.

We recommend all the hammocks on this list. They’re all potentially good choices, but we want to help you choose the best one for your specific camping needs.

Before you buy a hammock, consider exactly how and where you’ll be using it. Will it be mostly for daytime use? Will you frequently use the hammock in cold or wet weather? Are the areas where you plan to use your hammock buzzing with mosquitos?

Hone in on which features you can and can’t live without. Read on for more details regarding weight, value, ease of setup, accessories, durability, protection, and versatility.

Fabrics

Fabric is often denoted by its denier rating, which is a measure of the thickness of the fibers used to make it. A higher denier will mean a more durable fabric, while a lower will be more fragile, but also more lightweight. 

In our testing, we found that the most common denier for a hammock was around 75-denier, with the range spanning from the ultralight 30-denier ripstop of the Eagles Nest Outfitters Sub6, to the burly 240-denier of the Tentsile Trillium 3-Person hammock. 

Fabrics also will be referred to by their weights, often given as ounces per yard squared. In terms of hammocks, something like a 1.9-ounce ripstop nylon will be on the heavier end of fabrics, while a 1.0-ounce is on the ultralight side of the scale.

Nylon

Nylon is by far the most popular fabric for camping hammock construction, harkening back to the Vietnam-era Jungle hammock produced for the U.S. army. Today, many hammocks will be made with something similar to 1.1-ounce nylon.

The term ripstop refers to the calendared weave that can be sewn into a fabric as it is produced. This raised pattern resists allowing a tear to continue throughout a fabric once it’s begun. Some fabrics use a different denier yarn for the ripstop grid versus the base fabric, creating a strong but still lightweight fabric.

Proprietary 

Many manufacturers will work with textile mills to produce their own nylon fabrics to their specifications, allowing them to fine-tune the weight, strength, and feel of the fabric. Notable in this category are efforts like TrunkTech used in the Grand Trunk TrunkTech hammock, which is an ultra-strong fabric that manages to maintain its low weight and bulk.

Weight

Weight is an especially important factor for those who plan to carry a hammock from campsite to campsite. Though backpacking hammocks aren’t the focus of this list, we included both lightweight hammocks and heavier options.

First, it’s important to consider that the total weight of a hammock alone isn’t all that telling. To set up a hammock to sleep in, you’ll also need at least a suspension system.

This means ropes or straps that attach to the anchor points of your hammock, wrap around trees or other fixed objects, and keep the entire rig suspended.

A lightweight hammock and a heavy suspension system can easily cancel each other out. This same principle applies to rainflies and other accessories you may need.

Remember that lightweight materials are often thinner and more fragile than other options. Still, for those looking to shave grams off their total weight, it’s possible to put together a hammocking setup that’s significantly lighter than almost any one-person tent.

Suspension Systems

Setting up a hammock is a simple process that basically entails attaching your suspension system between two trees or other fixed points and hanging both ends of your hammock from the system.

Though the basic process is simple, some hammocks are quicker and easier to set up than others. In general, we recommend that you practice setting up your hammock at a park or in your backyard a few times before going hammock camping.

While many hammocks are set up according to a standard hammock design with two symmetrical anchor points and a cocoon-like shape, other hammocks on the market have slightly different designs that can add some tricky subtlety to the setup process.

Asymmetrical hammocks require the user to lay somewhat diagonally inside the hammock to create a flatter sleeping surface.

Depending on your accessories, setup can become convoluted and somewhat arduous. If you need a bug net, we recommend purchasing one that’s built into the hammock’s construction. This will save you a step and shorten your overall setup time.

Daisy Chain Straps

Often accompanying entry-level or casual hammocks, daisy chain straps borrow from the world of climbing and are about as easy as it gets when you want to sling up for a quick snooze. Often made from nylon webbing, these straps sport multiple sewn pockets that are used to shift the distance between the hammock and tree. When we’re hammocking for fun or don’t mind the extra weight and bulk, daisy chain straps are what we reach for first.

Many hammock users will be familiar with the ENO Atlas straps ($30), which we find to be easy to use, and appreciate the reflective accent stitching to limit awkward nighttime stumbles. An easy upgrade (at no extra cost, even) is to go with the Kammock Python 10 straps, which add an extra 12 inches to each strap, and are a smidge lighter.

Whoopie Slings

Using the same tech as the paper finger traps we all played with as kids, whoopie slings are adjustable and lightweight suspension systems that are often made from a polyethylene rope called Amsteel. Highly packable, these are the strap style of choice for serious hammock campers.

Whoopie slings will need to connect to a thick tree strap in order to protect the trees you’re hanging from if they aren’t integrated into them. The Whoopie Hook Complete Suspension ($34) from Dutchware is the whole shebang and our favorite of the bunch. 

Buckle Suspension

Similar to whoopie slings, buckle suspensions are popular among hammock campers for their adjustability and packability. These straps wrap the tree like a daisy chain, but utilize a cinch buckle on the hammock ends to hold tension.

The Titanium Cinch Buckle Complete Suspension from Dutchware ($32) is the creme de la creme, utilizing space-age materials, but we also like the Complete Polyester Webbing/Buckles Suspension from Warbonnet Outdoors ($23).

Accessories

These days, there are a whole lot of interesting and potentially useful accessories available on the hammock market. Accessories can be essential in customizing your hammock to best suit your camping needs. Among some of the most useful and common accessories are hammock tarps, insulative underquilts, and bug nets.

Structural Ridgelines

Since hammocks are only suspended at two ends, that leaves plenty of room for things to get out of whack when you’re hanging. In order to get an optimal hanging angle — which is roughly 30 degrees from your hammock strap to the ground — many will use a piece of cordage to connect the ends of the hammock.

Since many hammocks are between 10 to 11 feet long, corresponding ridgelines are available to give you the perfect hang, every time. These will often be between 100 to 110 inches long. The price of the Hammock Gear Structural Ridgeline ($8) is hard to beat, but if you want to play around with your angles, adjustable ridgelines are available from companies like Dutchware.

Ridgelines are also an excellent place to hang things you might need during the night, such as a lantern, or you can use a ridgeline organizer for added versatility.

Hammock Tarps

Hammock tarps are waterproof nylon covers that protect your hammock from the elements — most notably, rain and snow. They function exactly like the rainflies that are found on tents and are made from the same DWR-treated nylon.

A rainfly should cover your entire hammock. We recommend purchasing one designed specifically for the make and model of your hammock. This will ensure proper coverage. Some hammock systems, like the Kammok Mantis or Hennessy 4Season Expedition Zip, come with a tarp included in the bundle.

Many hammock owners like to use oversized rainflies that create an additional covered area outside the hammock that can be used for cooking during a rainstorm. Just remember: Extra material means extra weight. A tarp like the Kammok Kuhli ($170) is a luxuriously large space to find yourself hanging under.

Tarps are often measured as a ridgeline length, as well as a diagonal length, depending on how you like to deploy your hammock tarp. Adding a few feet of length over the overall length of your hammock is a good way to ensure proper coverage. We’ve had good success with the ENO ProFly tarp ($85), which is 10 feet, 6 inches across the ridgeline.

Even hammock tarps have a number of accessories to get them up and running. Namely, you’ll need some cordage to suspend and anchor them, as well as ground stakes to keep them there. Some will even utilize something known as a ‘snake skin’ stuff sack in order to quickly store the tarp when not in use.

Underquilts and Sleeping Pads

Insulative underquilts keep you from losing body heat through your exposed underside while lying in a hammock. On warm summer nights, an underquilt may not be necessary, but when it’s frigid out, they’re a must-have.

Basically, an underquilt is a blanket that hangs under your hammock and conforms to the shape of your body. The underquilt prevents heat from seeping out through your underside. Some high-end cold-weather underquilts are rated all the way down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit and are filled with either down or synthetic insulation.

They come in different lengths including full-body, half-length, or three-quarter length. Of course, a full-length underquilt will be the warmest option, but for those concerned with the weight of their kit, shorter quilts can be a great solution.

Ohio-based Hammock Gear has long been a leader in making fine underquilts, and their Economy Phoenix underquilt ($210) can be an excellent way to jump into a warm system for less dough. The Enlightened Equipment Revolt ($225) also gets high marks from our testers, and is available in many different temperature ratings. Want built-in overstuffing? The Jacks R Better Greylock 3 ($200) comes with 25% extra as standard!

For hammock campers that prefer not to use an underquilt, a good sleeping pad can be a reasonable alternative.

Bug Nets

If you’re heading to notoriously buggy regions like the Pacific Northwest or the Colorado alpine, a bug net is essential. In a tent, bugs aren’t too much of a concern because tents typically come with fully enclosed mesh bodies. However, without a net in an open hammock, you’ll likely become dinner for hordes of mosquitoes.

For hammocks without integrated nets, separate ones are sold that fully enclose the hammock and usually open and close with a zipper. These have been available for some time, and we’ve had great luck (no bites yet) with the ENO Guardian Bug Net ($65). Hammock camping together? The Birds Nest Bug Net ($109) from Dutchware is designed to hang over two adjacent hammocks.

Many hammock manufacturers now are offering integrated bug net solutions as add-ons to their hammocks, using a zipper system for quick on-and-off deployment. The Warbonnet Outdoors Blackbird XLC and Kammok Mantis are in this group.

Durability

Because most hammocks are made from thin nylon, the denier rating of the material will tell you a lot about the overall durability of the hammock. The denier rating describes the thickness of the fibers, and the higher the denier rating, the more abrasion-resistant the hammock. Ripstop nylon is also a trusty choice for hammock construction.

In general, treat your hammock like the fragile piece of gear it is. Because hammock material is thin, it’s vulnerable to ripping, melting, and fraying. If you handle your hammock with gentle care, it should last for many years — especially if it’s high-quality like the options on this list.

Weather Protection

Some hammocks are made from material that is treated with a DWR coating. While this can be helpful, ideally your hammock will never actually get wet.

Be sure to set up your hammock so that it is as protected from the elements as possible. This usually means a good-quality rainfly, but the positioning of your hammock is also important. Avoid super-windy areas.

As a source of shelter, a hammock really can be as effective as a tent in most scenarios. With proper setup and the right accessories, a night in a hammock should be warm, cozy, and dry — even when it’s pouring rain or dumping snow.

Versatility

The primary job of a camping hammock is to provide a comfortable and reliable shelter for sleeping or lounging outside. That said, a little bonus versatility is always a good thing.

Though we don’t generally recommend sharing a hammock overnight with another person for comfort’s sake, two-person hammocks tend to be more versatile than one-person hammocks. On our list, the ENO DoubleNest is over 6 feet wide, meaning it can easily be used as a two-person lounging zone, or as a nice couch to sit in sideways during restful days in camp.

While some users may shy away from extra material because it means extra weight, it really is a nice luxury to be able to use your hammock for more than just hunkering down at night.

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