Hammock Glossary — Hammock Terms Explained

The hammock world is full of technical jargon — ridgeline, underquilt, fill power, becket hitch. Most people who take up hanging get stuck on the words long before they get stuck on the technique. So we collected them here: an honest glossary, short and straight. No sales pitch — just what each word actually means, and why it matters once you’re lying outside.

Want to go further from here? Work out exactly how much insulation tonight needs in our underquilt calculator, check tonight’s forecast in Hammock Weather, or read the full underquilt guide. Missing a term? Email [email protected] and we’ll add it.

The Hammock

Asymmetric Hammock (asymmetrisk hängmatta)

A hammock cut on a diagonal so your body lines up more naturally along its length when you lie catty-corner. The result is a flatter, more stretched-out lay than a fully symmetrical hammock.

Gathered-End Hammock

The most common type: a rectangular piece of fabric tied off (“gathered”) at each end. Simple, light and cheap — and it’s that gathered end, combined with a diagonal lay, that creates the flat lying feel. The opposite is a bridge hammock.

Bridge Hammock (spridarhängmatta)

A hammock with a spreader bar at each end holding the fabric wide and open. Gives you a flatter back without lying diagonally, but it’s heavier and feels more like a cot than a hammock.

Diagonal Lay (diagonal ligg)

Lying on the diagonal across a gathered-end hammock instead of straight along its length. It spreads your weight sideways and gives a surprisingly flat lay without your back arching. The key to comfortable sleep in an ordinary hammock.

Structural Ridgeline (strukturell ridgeline)

A line stretched between the hammock’s two ends, above you, that fixes exactly how much the hammock sags. It gives you the same sag every time, no matter how hard you pull the straps. Rule of thumb: set the ridgeline to about 83% of the hammock’s length — that’s the length that produces the right sag and that flat diagonal lay. (Pure geometry says 86.6% would give you a 30° angle, but the fabric bunches up at the ends, so 83% works better in practice.)

Hang Angle & Sag (hängvinkel)

The angle between the suspension strap and the horizon. About 30° is the target — enough sag to let you lie diagonally and flat. Hang it too tight (a flatter angle) and it curls like a banana; too loose and you get squeezed together in the middle.

Single- and Double-Layer (enkel- och dubbellager)

Single-layer = one layer of fabric (lightest). Double-layer = two layers, more load capacity, and a pocket you can slide a sleeping pad into for insulation from below. Double-layer weighs more.

Whipping (ändbindning)

The technique of binding the gathered end of the fabric tightly with thin, strong cord so it holds together and carries your weight. A well-done whipping is what turns a plain sheet of fabric into a safe hammock.

Continuous Loop (kontinuerlig ögla)

A small, endless loop of thin Dyneema/Amsteel, spliced without a knot, attached to the hammock’s end. It becomes the connection point you hang your suspension from — with a becket hitch or a carabiner, for example.

Becket Hitch (becket-knop)

A hitch that quickly and securely connects your suspension line or strap to the hammock’s continuous loop — easy to tie, easy to release. Note: it works best with webbing or ordinary rope; with slick Dyneema on both sides, it can slip through.

Insulation

Underquilt

A quilt hung on the outside, under the hammock, so your body weight never compresses the insulation. It’s the standard fix for warmth from below in a hammock (sometimes called an “under blanket”). Honestly: a sleeping bag underneath you, inside the hammock, doesn’t work well — see cold butt syndrome. Read more in our underquilt guide, or work out the right warmth in the underquilt calculator.

Topquilt

A quilt over you — like a sleeping bag without a back or a zipper. Since the down underneath you gets compressed flat anyway, you save weight by removing the back and putting all that insulation where it actually works: on top.

Cold Butt Syndrome (CBS)

That cold feeling from below when your body weight compresses the insulation under you while the air beneath the hammock pulls heat away. Honestly: that’s exactly why you need an underquilt on the outside instead of relying on a sleeping bag alone. Especially important once it gets cold — see our winter hammock camping guide, or check tonight’s numbers in Hammock Weather.

Fill Power

A measure of down quality: how many cubic inches (in³) one ounce of down fills once it’s fully lofted. A higher number (say, 850) means airier, springier down clusters that insulate more per gram. Honestly: fill power tells you loft per gram — not warmth. How warm something actually is also depends on how many grams of down went in.

Loft

How thick and airy the insulation gets when it’s allowed to expand freely. It’s the still air trapped in that loft that insulates — more loft, more trapped air, warmer.

Differential Cut (differentiell konstruktion)

When a quilt’s inner fabric layer is cut smaller than the outer one, so the down has room to fully loft instead of getting squeezed against your body. Prevents cold, flattened spots.

Baffle (kammare)

Internal fabric walls that divide the quilt into chambers so the down stays evenly spread instead of clumping or shifting. Keeps the loft exactly where you need it.

Sewn-Through (genomsydd)

A simpler construction where the two fabric layers are stitched straight together, with no baffle. Honestly: lighter and cheaper, but the seams become cold bridges with no down in them. Fine for summer, worse for cold.

RDS Down (Responsible Down Standard)

A certification that traces down through the entire supply chain and guarantees it doesn’t come from live-plucking or force-feeding. An animal-welfare promise — not a warmth rating.

Clo

A unit of insulating value. 1 clo ≈ the insulation a resting person needs to stay comfortably warm at 21°C (70°F). Sometimes used to compare how much warmth a quilt actually delivers.

Comfort & Limit Rating (komfort- och begränsningstemperatur)

Two temperature figures from the sleeping-bag standard (ISO 23537): comfort = the temperature at which a “standard woman” sleeps comfortably; limit (lower bound) = where a “standard man” just makes it through the night curled up. Honestly: quilts and underquilts are often not formally tested to the standard, so treat a manufacturer’s rating as guidance, not a guarantee. Our underquilt calculator helps you pick with a safety margin.

Suspension

Tree Straps (trädremmar)

Wide, woven straps wrapped around the tree to carry the hammock’s load. The width (at least ~1 inch / 2.5 cm) spreads the pressure and protects the bark. They replace rope, which otherwise cuts into the tree — and are, in practice, what lets you hang gently under Scandinavia’s right to roam.

Daisy Chain

A strap with row after row of sewn-in loops. To adjust length or height, you just clip into a different loop — no knots. Fast and beginner-friendly.

Cinch Buckle

A buckle the strap threads through that locks by friction once it’s loaded. Stepless adjustment, quick to fine-tune your hang angle. Releases by angling the buckle.

Toggle (pinne)

A small piece of wood, metal or plastic you thread through a loop, or use with a simple hitch, to connect your suspension. Quick to release even under load.

UHMWPE / Amsteel

UHMWPE = ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, a fiber stronger than steel at the same weight, with almost no stretch. Amsteel is a well-known brand of UHMWPE cord, commonly used for continuous loops and whoopie slings.

Carabiner (karbin)

A metal hook with a spring gate for quick connections. For hammock use it has to be load-rated — not a keyring carabiner — so check the breaking strength. Convenient, but heavier than a pure cordage setup.

Tarp

Asymmetric Tarp (asymmetrisk tarp)

A rain shelter cut on a diagonal to just cover a diagonal lay with the least possible fabric and weight. Light and fast to pitch, but less margin on the sides and worse storm protection than a rectangular tarp.

Hex Tarp

A hexagonal tarp — a middle ground. Lighter than a rectangular one, but covers the ends less well. A popular three-season choice.

Tarp Ridgeline

The line strung between two trees that the tarp hangs over or is pitched under. The backbone of your rain shelter — pull it tight first, and everything else falls into place.

Doors & Porch Mode (dörrar och förtält-läge)

“Doors” are the panels that close off the tarp’s ends for full storm protection. Open one side instead, like a roof or awning, and that’s porch mode — more view and airflow when the weather allows it.

Catenary Cut (catcut)

When a tarp’s edges are cut in a shallow curve instead of straight. It lets the edge pull taut without flapping, so the tarp sits quiet and still even in wind.

Guylines (stormlinor)

The lines running from the tarp’s tie-out points down to the ground. They pull the fabric taut and take up the wind load. Reflective guylines are easy to spot — and not trip over — in the dark.

Stakes / Pegs (pinnar)

Tent stakes that anchor your guylines to the ground. A Y- or V-profile holds better than round stakes in loose Nordic forest soil.

Drip Line (droppsnöre)

A short piece of cord tied onto the suspension line, hanging down, a little way before it reaches the hammock. Rainwater running along the strap drips off at the cord instead of running into the hammock. Simple, free, and dry.

Other

Right to Roam (allemansrätten)

The right to be in nature even on land you don’t own. The hammock-relevant short version: you can hang for a night or two on undamaged natural ground, not near a home or on private property, without harming the trees (use wide tree straps — never nails or screws) and without leaving a trace. The full picture is in our guide to hammock camping in Scandinavia.

Bug Net (myggnät)

A fine-mesh net over the hammock that keeps mosquitoes and midges out. Either built into the hammock or a separate net that slides over it. Essential on a Nordic summer evening.

Ridgeline Organizer

A small pocket or a few loops hanging from the structural ridgeline. Keeps your glasses, headlamp and phone within reach while you’re lying down.

Snakeskins

Two long fabric sleeves you pull over the hammock (or tarp) to compress it into a slim sausage. Fast to pack and unpack, and it keeps things dry along the way.

This glossary gets updated as we go. Email [email protected] if a term is missing or unclear — we’d rather over-explain than under-explain.