Asheville-based makers of the ENO hammock, popular outdoors brand, celebrates 25 years

ASHEVILLE - Eagles Nest Outfitters is celebrating 25 years from its Sweeten Creek Road headquarters. The company, maker of the ENO hammock, was founded in 1999 by two brothers selling wares out of a minivan, and is now ubiquitous with the outdoor hammock, a staple at festivals, campsites, parks and local breweries.

They hear it all the time, spokesperson Anna Rawlins told the Citizen Times: “You say, I’m going to ‘go ENO,” instead of ‘go hammocking.’”

It's "the Kleenex of hammocks," she joked.

Now carried by more than 700 retailers, in 18 countries, ENO's first retailers were Mast General Store, a downtown Asheville fixture, and Diamond Brand Outdoors, which opened in 1964 as an outdoor lifestyle store selling camping, hiking, backpacking and paddling gear.

Diamond Brand CEO Will Gay said they "still carry it proudly," as does Mast.

"It’s hard not to get behind your hometown brand when you can support it," Gay said. "I don’t think any of us could foresee the success that they have enjoyed. ENO is now synonymous with hammocks and what the others strive to be."

Where did ENO begin?

The Pinholster brothers founded the business 25 years ago in Big Pine Key, Florida, selling hammocks at music festivals and craft shows from their van, first in Florida, and then up the East Coast.

The design was inspired on a backpacking trip to New Zealand by a hammock made from one large piece of parachute-like nylon, rather than the usual spiderweb of ropes, the Citizen Times reported in a 2006 front-page feature. The brothers took it back to the States and got to work.

The concept was rooted in the ideals of a “portable, travelable hammock that you bring with you on all of your adventures,” Rawlins said, and spread through the outdoors and music scenes. ENO landed in Asheville in the early 2000s. Co-founder Pete Pinholster is now sole owner of the company.

Shortly after the first hammock came out — the DoubleNest, still sold today — Rawlins said they designed and patented the first knotless hammock suspension system, a "gamechanger" that made ENOs even more accessible to everyone.

The hammocks compress down into the size of a grapefruit and can use two trees as an anchor point, with straps slung around the trunk. The crinkly, colorful hues are a mainstay of college campuses, and a popular alternative to other gear for thru-hikers and day-trippers, alike.

“It’s really exciting that something like hammocks has been able to build such a really fun, playful community of outdoors people, with such diversity," Rawlins said, from kids to grandmothers, from hardcore anglers to "hippy moms at a Dead show."

"It's something that you can do in your backyard, you can do it in the backcountry, all over the world."

The company has 16 employees. Rawlins said it's been a "whirlwind" to watch the company grow.

“Sometimes I feel like, here, we’re all still so excited and passionate about every little thing that it feels like the company is just starting,” she said. ENO has expanded beyond hammocks to chairs, stands, bug nets, rain tarps and bags.

The 'niche'

Co-owner Debby Thomas of Black Dome Mountain Sports, which opened in Asheville in 1984 and was also an early ENO retailer, said ENO was a company that "opened the door" to people hiking or relaxing with hammocks.

"When (people) think of an outdoor hammock, that's usually what they're thinking of: the ENO," she said. It's been "impressive" to watch them grow, she said. "They just hit that niche."

"It is just amazing to see them going from ... selling their hammocks at music festivals to an international company," she said.

Celebrating 25 years

To celebrate the milestone, ENO launched a new DoubleNest hammock print in July, Day and Night, made in collaboration with Asheville-based artist and musician Logan Hall. A limited run of the new hammock will come with a woven label commemorating 25 years when ordered online at the company's website.

There are "fun ties" to the company's history and its music festival roots, Rawlins said, with a landscape scene blazoned on the fabric, inspired by memories of lounging and listening to music, from dawn to dusk.

Hall said ENO invokes nostalgia and fond memories, both of festivals like Floydfest and Merlefest, and from his days at Appalachian State University. The hammock is "synonymous" with his college experience, he said.

"They were everywhere and were perfect for every occasion," Hall said, from hanging out on the "mall" between classes, to sunset hikes with friends.

ENO is also holding a celebration with Mast General Store on July 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Sept. 28, it will kick-off a beer and hammock collaboration with Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton.

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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email [email protected] or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville-based ENO, widely popular hammock brand, celebrates 25 years