Fabric and Color Discussion

[CJPepa]

Personally I like to blend in to the surroundings as I mostly use my hammock for backpack hunting into the Wilderness areas of the Oregon Cascades... That being said, I had quite a time locating my camp last November, after setting it up and then going to the creek to re-supply my water (3 miles round trip)- It was not quite where I thought I'd set it up and I did not mark it on my GPS! (Bad Ju-Ju!- This is bushwhacking cross country for Elk- very few marked trails and I try to stay far from the beaten path!

Here's a pic of my new Hammock fabric I'm Ordering from Dream Hammocks in a Dangerbird!
ATACS-FG-70D-pattern_2048x2048.jpg

CJ

[LokoLobo]

I personally like natural colors, I like to blend in.
I think black might get to hot when the sun comes out in the morning unless it was meant for winter camping.

My hammock is woodland camo, like the old army uniforms, the material I bought for my tarp is grey (color of the bark of most pine trees), and the bug netting I got is green.

I was thinking it would be cool if someone made a silnylon or something that had two colors, one inside that could reflect heat and another outside.

[Cham102]

I don't like to be seen. What I'm doing in the forest is nobody's business. I try to go with whatever color the forest is at the moment.

[irondog]

Personally I like to blend in to the surroundings as I mostly use my hammock for backpack hunting into the Wilderness areas of the Oregon Cascades... That being said, I had quite a time locating my camp last November, after setting it up and then going to the creek to re-supply my water (3 miles round trip)- It was not quite where I thought I'd set it up and I did not mark it on my GPS! (Bad Ju-Ju!- This is bushwhacking cross country for Elk- very few marked trails and I try to stay far from the beaten path!

Here's a pic of my new Hammock fabric I'm Ordering from Dream Hammocks in a Dangerbird!
ATACS-FG-70D-pattern_2048x2048.jpg

CJ

Beautiful pattern! Well chosen! I'd like a whole suit of that, for N.W. Montana elk! (Yes, true. We're not New Mexico, but, we have a few.) And I'd take it in a hammock and tarp, as well. - I hang muted, too. And, just like you, I've had the elves sneak in and just slightly move my whole hang 30 yards off from where I know I left it. Mostly at night. Elves're nocturnal. That's not disputable. I don't usually tell people this, but, I feel I can trust you. I've found that walking around my hang area two times (or three) and looking for my hammock from different directions/distances somehow repels those elves while I'm gone. Works for me, and maybe for you, too. We're not always gonna have G.P.S., when the chips're really down.

[OneClick]

I go into the woods to enjoy nature and feel connected with everything around me. I don't try to be invisible with camo, but like earth tone colors to blend in a little. Olive and brown tarp/hammock. Black quilts (quicker drying in sun). Gray backpack.

To entertain the "signal for help people" I'll offer my bright blue rain jacket and orange pack liner

About the only thing I don't like in black is a stuff sack; impossible to see what you're digging for in there.

[irondog]

Are there any drawbacks or benefits to colors in the fabrics you use for your tarps, hammocks, etc.?

I was just thinking that maybe Black Hammocks are great for keeping light out in early mornings when you want to sleep in. But maybe they're bad for keeping heat in at night or out during the day.

Maybe using an Orange Blaze inner color on an underquilt reflects heat better?

Maybe colors don't mean anything. What do you guys think?

-- I leave in a couple hours to go to the field for a couple of weeks, so I look forward to seeing what was said while I've been gone!

Welcome back, Poseidon! Fun times all around? - Lots of perfectly valid reasons for any number of folks to choose any number of colors. There's even a man on the forums (Can't recall the man's name.) who's gone and done a two-toned black-outside/silvered-inside tarp, for cold weather camping. So, it's all in your hands. The whole thing. We're all likely to just pitch in with preferences and anecdotes, and maybe some cool stories; but it's all you, man. You already know what the world's about. Black absorbs, white reflects. Bugs're gonna be there when bugs're there, but the color permethrin seems off-putting to them. Winter's cold, Summer's hot. Bright makes a great eye-pull. Just think of the flash panels you'd pop for air-to-ground signals. And now consider that a dazzling hang won't quit "popping" when you're done signaling. Your choice. I go muted, all around. I have my reasons, but I've my habits and my superstitions, too. What's good for irondog is good for irondog. That's as far as it goes, and it doesn't always go THAT far!! Some folks mock dazzling hangs as some kind of "hippie-drug-foolery". Some folks ridicule the "fringe-militia-type" camo guys as scary & possibly nefarious. But, at the end of it all, it's H.Y.O.H., and hang the world if they don't like it. Glad to have you back.