During聽the past month,聽my friends and I have taken a lot of naps in the name of聽hammock reviewing. Rough job, I know. But in addition to testing ease of setup and comfort, we wanted to judge聽durability and strength,聽so I bought ten聽50-pound bags of聽聽to聽load聽down each hammock and聽test聽their claimed聽weight limits. Here聽are the results.聽
Therm-a-Rest Slacker ($70)
Best for:聽Alpine day naps
聽weighs just 20 ounces, making it ideal聽for backpacking trips and聽long day hikes to beautiful napping spots. The polyester fabric (as opposed to the nylon most hammocks are made from)聽was the most supple against the skin. The reinforced stitching and sturdy hanging system held up well when I loaded the hammock to its 400-pound weight limit, but I wouldn鈥檛 suggest two聽200-pound users cramming聽into this thing: It had the smallest footprint of all the hammocks we tried聽and is best suited for one user. Bonus points: The 聽was sturdy and easy to assemble.
Kammok Roo ($100)
Best for: Car camping
This was the most聽 of the test,聽thanks to details like burly hanging carabiners and Dyneema racing slings.聽I didn鈥檛 try it, but I would trust the hanging system to keep me up even if I was perched in a no-fall zone, like on a ledge over a river. We聽loved the six gear loops, which are convenient for hanging things like headlamps, and we appreciated the few inches of fabric extending聽from the scoop that acted like a mini sun shield. It has a 500-pound weight limit and didn鈥檛 blink when fully loaded,聽thanks in part to its聽triple-reinforced seams.
Grand Trunk Heritage Hammock ($75)
Best for: Festivals
At 28聽ounces, this was the heaviest hammock we tested and the most bare-bones. But we all聽agreed that the , which would look great at your local concert in the woods,聽made up for the weight and lack of extra features. At 6.5 feet wide, it was the most suited for two-person cuddling. Though the聽carabiners and rope attachment system were the least sturdy of the hammocks on this list,聽the hammock聽held fast聽when loaded to its 400-pound limit.