ENO DoubleNest Hammock — Florida Camping and Trail Overnights

Florida’s state parks have a tent-site problem: the ground is either saturated, root-laced, or sandy enough that stakes won’t hold. Anhinga Trail, Highlands Hammock, Jonathan Dickinson — the terrain looks beautiful on paper and punishes tent campers who didn’t check the soil. The ground is wet half the year and baked concrete-hard the other half.

The hammock solves this. Two trees, two straps, one hammock — and you’re sleeping off the ground, out of the puddles, and in the middle of the canopy where the breeze actually moves. Florida’s live oak forests and cypress strands are essentially designed for hammock camping: anchor points every 10–15 feet, canopy cover that blocks the worst of the summer radiation.

The ENO DoubleNest at $70 is the default choice for most casual Florida hammock campers, and mostly for good reasons.

Florida camping ground: alternates between “too wet to sleep on” and “too hard to stake into.” Hammocks skip the debate entirely.

What It Is

The DoubleNest is ENO’s two-person hammock — though “two-person” in practice means one adult sleeping comfortably, or two adults sitting and relaxing. It’s been in ENO’s lineup long enough that the design is mature and the failure modes are well-documented.

Specs:

• Weight: 19 oz (539 g)
• Packed size: approximately 5” × 7” (integrated compression sack)
• Dimensions (open): 9’4” × 6’2” (2.84 m × 1.88 m)
• Weight capacity: 400 lb (181 kg)
• Material: 70D high-tenacity nylon with ripstop weave
• Suspension: 1.6” wire gate carabiners on both ends
• Colors: extensive colorway options each season

The 70D ripstop nylon is the load-bearing choice here. It’s not the ultralight 30D or 40D material you find on backpacking-specific hammocks — it’s heavier but significantly more abrasion-resistant and less prone to the micro-tears that accumulate from regular use in brushy Florida terrain. For a hammock that will live in a day pack through saw palmetto, that’s the right call.

The integrated compression sack stuffs the entire hammock down to its packed size — no stuff sack to lose, no separate bag to forget. It clips easily to a pack or carabiner.

Note: straps are sold separately. ENO’s Atlas Straps ($20) are the right pairing — 9 feet long, 1-inch wide, with adjustment loops every 6 inches. They’re tree-friendly (wide enough to avoid cambium damage) and comply with most state park requirements.

Field Test in Florida

Highlands Hammock State Park, January: The old-growth oak canopy at Highlands Hammock has anchor trees everywhere, and the cypress swamp smell in the morning is worth the drive. Setup with Atlas Straps took under 3 minutes. The 70D material held no tension sag over a 6-hour overnight session. Temperature dropped to 47°F — a hammock-specific underquilt would have been welcome, but the real limiting factor was wind chill from below, not the material itself.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, March: Longleaf pine and scrub oak terrain in the backcountry campsites. The wide tree spacing here (12–18 feet between good anchor trees) is where the Atlas Straps earn their keep — shorter suspension systems can’t make the reach. No issues with the ripstop in contact with rough pine bark.

Myakka River State Park, October (just post-rainy season): Ground camping was a non-starter — the prairie was waterlogged after September rains. The hammock made the site workable. The nylon dried in under an hour after a late afternoon rain passed through. No mildew or water retention.

Heat note: Hammock camping in July in central Florida is hot in a specific way — the nylon traps body heat below you even without an underquilt, and there’s no tent wall to block the humid air. The DoubleNest doesn’t solve the heat problem; it just replaces the worse problem of sleeping on wet ground. Bring a portable fan for summer nights.

What Works

• Setup speed: 3–5 minutes from stuff sack to sleeping position, with experience. The carabiners are easy to clip even in the dark.
• Weight-to-capacity ratio: 19 oz for a 400 lb capacity is excellent. The hammock doesn’t feel flimsy despite the weight.
• Pack integration: The built-in compression sack is genuinely useful — it clips to a shoulder strap loop on most packs and doesn’t rattle loose.
• Durability of the 70D nylon: After regular use through Florida scrub, the ripstop shows no tearing or wear at contact points. Lighter hammock materials would have shown stress by now.
• Water management: The nylon sheds rain quickly and doesn’t hold moisture the way a sleeping bag or tent floor does. Post-rain dry time is under an hour in open air.
• Color options: Irrelevant to performance but real — the DoubleNest comes in more colorways than any competitor, which matters to buyers who keep it as a yard or backyard hammock too.

What Doesn’t

• No straps included: $70 hammock, $20 straps — the real price is $90. ENO should bundle them. Every competitor in this price range either includes basic straps or makes the strap cost more visible at purchase.
• Not a solo ultralight option: At 19 oz, the DoubleNest is heavier than single-person backpacking hammocks. If you’re gram-counting for the Florida Trail, the ENO Spark (14 oz, $60) or a Kammock Mantis UL are better fits.
• Sits wide when empty: The 6’2” width is comfortable for one but means diagonal lie-angles require technique to achieve. New hammock campers often sleep with a midline sag that causes back discomfort until they learn to offset slightly.
• No bug net: Florida is a bug environment. The DoubleNest has no integrated bug protection — you’ll need ENO’s Guardian Bug Net (~$55) or a separate solution. In summer near water, this is not optional. Competitors like the Grand Trunk Skeeter Beeter come with bug net included at a similar price.
• Carabiner quality: The included wire-gate carabiners are functional but not exceptional. Under sustained friction against rough bark (not strapped properly), they can develop minor surface rust. Atlas Straps’ hook loops mostly solve this, but it’s worth noting.

Value

At $70 without straps (or ~$90 with Atlas Straps), the ENO DoubleNest sits in the mid-range of the camping hammock market. It’s not cheap — you can get a functional camping hammock for $30–40 — but the 70D material and brand reliability at this price are genuinely better than the budget alternatives.

Who should buy it:

• Florida state park campers who hit the same parks seasonally and want a durable, easy-setup option that will last 5+ years of regular use.
• Car campers and day trippers who want a hammock for the campsite or the beach park that will handle two adults sitting without stretching out.
• Backpackers on short-mileage overnight trips where the extra weight vs. ultralight options is acceptable.

Who should look elsewhere:

• Florida Trail thru-hikers or FT segment backpackers who need to cut weight — look at the ENO Spark, Kammock Mantis UL, or Warbonnet Traveler.
• Bug-country summer campers who don’t want to buy a separate net — the Grand Trunk Skeeter Beeter ($65 with integrated bug net) is worth comparing.
• Budget buyers who just want to try hammock camping — a $35 Amazon hammock will tell you if you like the concept without $70 commitment.

Verdict

Buy it. The ENO DoubleNest is a well-made hammock that handles Florida conditions — humidity, UV, occasional rain, and rough bark contact — without the durability concerns you’d have with lighter materials. The $70 price (plus $20 straps) gets you a hammock that will outlast several camping seasons in Florida’s oak hammocks and cypress strands.

The caveats are real: budget for straps and a bug net, accept the weight if you’re backpacking long miles, and learn diagonal lie technique if you have back issues. Those aren’t deal-breakers — they’re just the honest conditions of use.

If you camp at Florida state parks more than twice a year and you’ve been sleeping on waterlogged ground, the DoubleNest will change the experience.