I looked at a lot of hammock stands before I settled on this one. There were less-expensive options, but the differences between those and the Hatteras stand were significant. I settled on the Hatteras for several reasons, which I will list below. I have not been disappointed. I thoroughly enjoy it.My reasons:1. The poles are constructed of 12 gauge steel – I prefer this for two reasons. First of all, it's an actual measurement. The manufacturers of cheaper hammock stands all failed to offer this measurement for their products. Instead, the cheaper ones used language like "heavy duty" or boasted that their poles were thick enough to support up to 300 pounds, which is funny because they don't even support the claim with facts. The second reason I like the Hatteras is because 12-gauge steel poles are unbelievably strong. I wasn't familiar with gauge measurements, so I had to look it up. I learned that 12-gauge means the walls of the pole are more than a tenth of an inch thick … If this still means nothing to you, think of it as the difference between the body of an automobile built in the 1930s and one built in 2014. In the 1930s, automakers routinely used 10 and 12-gauge steel. Nowadays, they use 22 gauge steel (which is about three hundredths of an inch thick). Now, imagine hurling a shopping cart at the driver's door of each … The 1930's automobile wouldn't even suffer a dent. You'd likely destroy the door of the one built in 2014.2. The hammock stand assembles easily using spring pins … I use mine on a rooftop deck. It fits perfectly, but it's a smallish deck, and I end up using most of the space when the hammock stand is up … For this reason, I like to break down the stand and store it from time to time. The spring pins let me do this quickly and easily. If I had to use a wrench and/or screwdriver every time, it'd be such a pain I'd either leave the stand up all the time and get less use out of my deck, or I'd be less likely to reassemble the stand, and get less use out of my hammock.3. The stand is rust-protected … It's the little details that make all the difference. For example: At first, you might not care that the hooks are zinc plated, but you'll certainly wish they were after the stand weathers a couple rain storms. My stand was out in all kinds of weather this summer and neither the poles, nor the hooks, developed any rust. In addition, the paint on the poles is of extremely high quality. This is no slap-dash paint job. I've scraped the pavement with them, and bumped them against each other, and still I haven't removed the paint down to the metal (I don't intend to try, but, well, stuff happens).4. The stand has only two welds … If there's a vulnerability in steel hammock stands, it's in the welds. Not only are these welds reliable (they're 360-degree welds), the way the stands are constructed, even if one or both of the welds were to ever fail, the hammock would simply teeter sideways, not collapse downward.5. This stand is made in the USA … I should have put this reason at the top of the list.Finally, I use mine to hold a rope hammock with wood stretcher bars.After writing this up, now I'm even more eager to get through this winter so I can set it back up and get back to enjoying it.