Hammocks, Style by Style

Most hammock buying goes wrong in the same place: people compare products before they have chosen a family. A quilted spreader-bar hammock and a Mayan diamond weave are not two answers to the same question. They lie differently, they weather differently, and — the part that costs money — they need completely different things to hang from.

So this hub is organized by style rather than by score. Work out which family suits where the hammock will live and how you will use it, and the product choice inside that family is straightforward.

The five families

• Rope. An open woven net between spreader bars. Air moves through it, which makes it the traditional choice in heat. Cotton is softest; synthetic rope such as DURACORD is what survives outdoors.
• Quilted and spreader bar. Two layers of fabric with batting between them, held open flat. The most padded, most bed-like option, and the one that most needs drying before storage.
• Brazilian. Tightly woven cotton with fringed edges and no spreader bar. Hangs in a deep curve, wraps around you, and is very hard to fall out of.
• Mayan. An open diamond-weave cord lattice from the Yucatán that spreads under load. The flattest lie of any traditional hammock, and the traditional sleeping construction.
• Camping nylon. Gathered-end nylon that packs to nothing. Covered in its own camping hammocks hub.

The question that decides it

Where will it hang, and from what? If you have trees 12 to 17 feet apart, nearly anything works. If you are buying a stand, the hammock's overall length — including chains — sets the minimum stand length, and a spreader-bar hammock cannot be compressed to fit a shorter one. A 13-foot rope hammock does not fit a 9-foot stand, and that single mismatch is the most common expensive mistake in this category.

Gathered-end hammocks are more forgiving on length and less forgiving on height, because the bed drops well below the line between the ends. Our hammock stand size guide has the table for both cases.

Fabric decides whether it lives outside

Polyester and nylon resist moisture and dry quickly, and polyester is not prone to mold, moisture damage or fading. Cotton absorbs water, stretches while damp and can mildew. That distinction matters more than the weave: a cotton rope hammock and a cotton Brazilian hammock have exactly the same weather problem.

If the hammock will live outdoors uncovered, buy synthetic. If it has a covered porch to live on, cotton is softer and more pleasant and you should buy it. See can you leave a hammock outside?

Capacity is a system property

Published hammock capacities here run from 275 lb to 600 lb, and the low figures are almost always sets — the stand, not the bed, sets the ceiling. Algoma sells a 500 lb quilted hammock and a 275 lb quilted hammock-and-stand set, which is the clearest illustration of the rule we have found. Your real limit is the lowest-rated part of the chain: bed, suspension, anchor, hardware. See hammock weight limits.

Once you have chosen a hammock

The other half of the purchase is the anchor, and it is the half that decides your real weight limit and whether the hammock fits your space at all. If you have no trees, start at hammock stands — the types of hammock stands page will tell you which family you need in about two minutes.

If you do have trees, you need straps at least an inch wide. Thin rope cuts into bark and can girdle a tree over time, which is why a growing number of parks require a minimum width. Our best hammock straps page compares the published capacities, lengths and weights side by side.

And when it is up, hang it properly: anchors 12 to 17 feet apart, roughly a 30-degree suspension angle, 16 to 19 inches of clearance, and lie diagonally rather than along the center line. That last point is free and makes more difference to comfort than any product on this hub. Full detail in how to hang a hammock.