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Gathered-end hammock

Also called gathered end hammock, jungle hammock

What is a gathered-end hammock?

A gathered-end hammock is a flat rectangle of ripstop nylon bunched to a single point at each end and hung from two trees. It is the standard camping design, and it only lies flat if you sleep diagonally across it rather than down the middle.

Gathered-end hammock at a glance

Comfortable length
10 to 11 ft
Diagonal offset
10 to 15 degrees
Typical weight
7 to 20 oz
Single vs double
Width, not occupancy

Why the diagonal lay is the whole design

Lie straight down the centerline of a gathered-end hammock and you sleep in a banana, with your back curved and your feet pushed up. Lie across it, roughly ten to fifteen degrees off center, and the fabric opens out under you into something close to flat. That one trick separates the people who love hammocks from the people who tried one once and gave up before morning.

It also explains why the design has no spreader bars. Bars would hold the fabric open and flat, which sounds like an improvement right up until you lie in one: they raise the center of gravity and make the whole thing tippy. Gathered ends keep you low and stable, and all they ask in return is that you learn the diagonal.

Length matters more than width

The spec worth shopping on is length, because a longer body gives you a longer diagonal to lie along. Nine feet is short, and most adults will feel the curve. Ten to eleven feet lies noticeably flatter. A common rule of thumb puts the useful distance between the gathered ends at your own height plus about two feet.

Width is what brands advertise instead, usually as single versus double. At nearly every maker both sizes come out of the same cloth to the same weight limit, so a double is really a wider bed for one person, and the extra cloth is there to give you more diagonal.

What it still is not

A gathered-end hammock on its own isn't a shelter. It has no roof, no bug protection and, in several cases, no tree straps in the bag. Camping in one means adding a tarp, netting and something insulating underneath, because a sleeping bag crushed flat beneath you stops working at surprisingly mild temperatures.

What this means when you're choosing

  • Body length, since ten to eleven feet lies far flatter than nine
  • Whether a structural ridgeline is included or has to be added
  • Fabric denier alongside the stated weight limit, since the two move together
  • Whether tree straps are in the bag, because many hammocks ship without them

Gathered-end hammock vs Bridge hammock

Gathered-end hammockBridge hammock
How you lieFlat only on the diagonal, which takes a night to learnFlat head to foot, with no technique to learn
WeightLighter, with no bars to carryHeavier, because of the spreader bars at each end
StabilityLow center of gravity and hard to tipSits higher and is more prone to tipping
InsulationA flat pad slides and folds unless the hammock is double layerTakes an ordinary rectangular pad without a fight
Shoulder roomRoomier, though the sides can squeeze if pitched too tightNarrower at the shoulders on some designs

Which to pick: Gathered-end for almost everyone: lighter, cheaper, roomier and more stable, once you've learned the diagonal. Go bridge if you're a committed side sleeper, or if you've tried the diagonal and it never worked for you.

The common mistake

Sleeping down the centerline

Almost every bad first night in a hammock is this one. The centerline is the single axis the design doesn't work on: it curves your spine and pushes your feet up. Shift your shoulders one way and your feet the other until your back flattens out, then stay there.

Common questions

Does a double hammock sleep two people?

Not comfortably. Single and double describe fabric width, and nearly every brand uses the same cloth and the same weight limit for both, so a double is really a wider one-person bed. Put two adults in one and they roll into the middle, and neither of them sleeps.

How tight should a gathered-end hammock be hung?

Loose enough that the straps run up to the trees at roughly thirty degrees. A drum-tight pitch feels like it should be flatter and is actually worse, because it squeezes your shoulders and folds your feet upward. If the trees sit too close for thirty degrees, hang it steeper instead of tighter.

Where this is defined

Where this comes up

Guides on Tom's Hiking where gathered-end hammock changes which product is right for you.

More in shelters

Freestanding tent

A freestanding tent holds its shape on its own poles without needing stakes to stand up. You can pitch it on rock or a wooden platform, pick it up to move it, and shake it out, none of which a staked shelter allows.

Trekking-pole tent

A trekking-pole tent uses the poles you're already carrying as its structure, so it ships without a pole set. That removes a pound or more from the pack, and requires stakes and taut guylines to stand up at all.

Vestibule

A vestibule is the covered space between a tent's inner door and its fly, outside the sleeping area but under shelter. It's where boots, packs and wet gear live, and where you can cook in bad weather if you're careful.

Footprint

A footprint is a shaped sheet of fabric that goes under a tent to protect the floor from abrasion and punctures. It's almost always sold separately, and a piece of polycryo or Tyvek does the same job for a fraction of the weight and cost.

Trail weight

Trail weight, sometimes called minimum weight, counts only a tent's essential parts: inner, fly and poles. Packed weight counts everything in the box, including stakes, guylines, stuff sacks and instructions. The gap is usually several ounces.

Bathtub floor

A bathtub floor is a tent floor whose waterproof fabric curves up the sides several inches before meeting the walls, so the seams sit above ground level. Water running under the tent has no seam to get through.

Structural ridgeline

A structural ridgeline is a fixed length of cord tied between a hammock's two gathered ends. Because it cannot stretch, it holds the hammock at one repeatable amount of sag no matter how far apart the trees are, so the bed feels the same at every campsite.

Double-wall tent

A double-wall tent is built as two separate layers: an inner body, usually largely mesh, and a waterproof rainfly over it. Condensation collects on the underside of the fly instead of on the surface you and your bag are touching.

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