Trustworthy Assessment: Covacure Hammock | CleverHiker

Bottom Line

We had high hopes for a truly budget hammock with decent Amazon reviews, but there’s no getting around it: the Covacure Hammock doesn’t hold a candle to the other hammocks we tested. For that reason, we have no reservations recommending saving up for a better product. But if you’re only requirements for a hammock are that it is cheap and you can sit in it, then this might be a good fit.

From the low quality materials, to cramped dimensions, to poorly implemented features, the Covacure only makes sense for a very short person intending infrequent use, or people who prefer a non-diagonal lying position (not a position we recommend). We don’t recommend trusting it for a good nights sleep.

The main issue stems from the small dimensions and lack of a ridgeline that contribute to an uncomfortable experience. We do think shorter people could find this truly comfortable, but the side pulls in the middle of the hammock won’t do anything to keep mesh out of the head area when sleeping, unlike many of our other top performing hammocks that keep the head area free and comfortable all night. When testing this hammock in local parks in the midwest, it was perfectly fine for daytime lounging, but as soon as sleeping was required, we began wistfully thinking of any other hammock in our testing lineup.

We tested the Covacure specifically to see if it was worth spending extra on a higher quality hammock. After all, if thousands of Amazon reviews say it’s great, perhaps achieving a good night’s sleep doesn’t have to be so expensive? And in fairness, the Covacure could be fine for some people.

A lot of those reviews talk about being perfectly satisfied, and we don’t want to ignore people who tried it out and enjoyed it. To that end, if after reading this review you’re still curious, go for it and maybe you’ll find your own personal diamond in the rough to love for a great price.

Comfort

Out of any hammock we tested, the Covacure offered the least comfortable experience, even for our shorter testers. Part of this is due to the cramped 9.5 by 4.6 feet dimensions, but the lack of a ridgeline really hurts performance  as well. Some product photos for the Covacure show what appears to be a ridgeline, but in reality it’s nothing more than a length of shock cord attached to two interior loops to help maximize interior space. A ridgeline isn’t strictly necessary for comfort, but there’s a reason why all of the hammocks in our guide have one, and the Covacure struggles in comparison.

The fabric quality also left a lot to be desired. We know hammock fabric can be soft, durable, and lightweight, but the Covacure uses a 210T nylon that feels rough and scratchy in comparison. The same can be said for the bug netting, which isn’t fine enough to be considered noseeum-proof and got in our faces during testing because of the lack of side-pulls on the hammock body.

This would be a fine hammock for afternoon lounging with the netting pulled back. It’s simply not large enough for camping, however, and it doesn’t have enough features to make up for that lack of space. It’s technically not unusable, but when side-by-side with our lineup of the best hammocks out there, or even other budget options, it’s hard to recommend.

One caveat to this is that we were specifically testing a diagonal lying position. It provides a much better sleeping experience for most people by avoiding knee hyperextension and allows for a flatter and more comfortable position. However, some people are die-hard “string bean” sleepers, who prefer to be in-line with the tree straps.

For those people who prefer to be in a more aggressive curve, the Covacure could make sense. The complaints about the bug netting getting in the head area is minimized by this position, and the cramped dimensions also don’t matter as much. It’s not a position we recommend, and waking up with hyperextended knees is a painful experience made even worse if you’re backpacking and need to walk all day.

Features

The Covacure has a few nice features but is otherwise a straightforward and simple model. It’s one of the few we tested that comes with stakes for the side pulls, although both are low quality. The stakes are basic bent steel rods, and the side pulls are both in the middle of the hammock body. This does maximize interior volume, but does little to help with comfort while sleeping because they’re not positioned near the head area, leading to the bug netting falling in the head region. Combined with simple shock cords for the side-pulls with no cord locks for adjustability, these are our least favorite implementations of side pulls.

Like many casual non-netted hammocks, the Covacure uses the storage bag as an attached pocket. It’s large and can hold a decent amount of gear, but there’s a reason no other hammock in our lineup has pockets on the outside of the body. Accessing it requires unzipping the bug netting, which can be a nightmare in heavy bug season.

Thankfully, there is one pocket in the interior of the hammock. It’s made of mesh and is large enough to hold a phone or headlamp, but not much else. A small pocket like this on the interior does a lot to help with livability, and it’s a feature we wish more hammocks had by default. Near the pocket is a hook on a short length of elastic to secure the mesh back for bug-free times, which is another feature we love to see.

Weight

At first glance, the Covacure’s 17.8 ounces of weight seems respectable and sets it as one of the lightest hammocks in our lineup. That weight is mostly due to the small dimensions and spartan features, and we think other hammocks provide a better weight to comfort and quality ratio than the Covacure. However, the rock bottom price does put this entirely in a separate category; as far as weight to price ratio, the Covacure is far and away the best so we’ll give acknowledgement when it’s warranted there.

Ease of Use

Lacking a fixed ridgeline really hurts the Covacure again, as the setup process requires a bit of fiddling with the suspension system to work well. A ridgeline allows for repeatable hammock body tension each time, regardless of the suspension angle. Without a ridgeline, the Covacure is subjected to the whims of tree distance and strap height. It’s not impossible to get a good lying position – people have been loving hammocks without fixed ridgelines for ages – but compared to the others in this category, the Covacure falls well behind. Otherwise, the two carabiners on the ends work well to clip into various suspension systems.

Should You Buy the Covacure Hammock?

The Covacure Hammock ended up being the least comfortable and lowest quality hammock we tested, balanced by the fact that it’s by far the cheapest model. However, even in light of its rock bottom price, we don’t think the overall value makes sense for most people. If someone purchased the Covacure as a starter model, it wouldn’t even provide a good representation of hammock camping; because the cramped dimensions, lack of ridgeline, poor features, and low-quality materials wouldn’t let someone properly evaluate whether hammocks appeal to them.

That being said, there is a use case where the Covacure could make sense. A short person who would be willing to attach a ridgeline or take the time to get the hammock strap angle to lay at a comfortable position could make the Covacure work. However, even our 5’5” tester rated this model the least comfortable, so we’d have to recommend this for people 5’2” and below. On top of that, we have concerns about the durability of the low quality mesh, which defeats the point of buying a netted hammock.

What Other Hammocks Should You Consider?

Covacure might be the cheapest, but there’s a lot of other options that will likely last you longer and make you fall in love with hammocking. See our complete gear guide to the best camping hammocks for more recommendations.

Onewind Tempest Review: The Tempest is an example of how to truly wow us with a budget model. It’s one of the most comfortable hammocks we tested, and it’s loaded with useful features all while using affordable but still quality materials. This means the Tempest is worth saving up for if you’re on a budget and blows the Covacure out of the water. No other hammock we tested offered this much value, even considering the Covacure’s much lower price.

Hennessy Expedition Asym Zip Review: If you’re on a budget and want to try out hammock camping, the Expedition Zip provides the best combination of comfort, price, and features to offer an excellent value. It’s made of quality materials and includes nearly everything needed to get out there and enjoy hammocking. We recommend taller people look at the XL model since the standard model didn’t rate especially high in our comfort tests compared to others, but it’s still much better than the Covacure.