What's the best hammock COLOR for a good night's rest?

[Jabasaki]

Hey guys, I'm gonna be ordering my first hammock soon! I've settled on a single layer Dream Hammock FreeBird in 1.6 HyperD for my first one and I'm very excited!
Luckily, Randy allows you to choose the whole range of colors from RSBTR and it got me thinking a lot about the color of hammock I want. For me, I think a good night's sleep is my most important consideration in a hammock. Some people might value a hammock color that blends into the woods or maybe just a color that they like.

So I was trying to think what color I want my hammock in and I kept flip-flopping between choices. I thought I had settled on Crimson because at the time I was sleeping on Crimson colored bedsheets for work and it was very relaxing. Then I decided to google the best color for sleep and I got this article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ecent-kip.html
In short, Travelodge did a study (couldn't find the scientific paper anywhere at all) that showed that people who sleep in blue colored bedrooms got the most sleep per night. A lot of websites ran with this study and just repeated the same findings, furthermore they added that light blues are the most relaxing. As a note on the accuracy of the study, it was not addressed whether people get more sleep because they painted their bedrooms blue or whether people who sleep more tend to paint their bedrooms blue.

Okay, so now I'm looking up scientific papers. I find this: http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery....065067&EXT=pdf
This study measured color preferences across cultures and genders. Across the board blue was the most liked color and elicited the most feelings of relaxation in each test. (The authors noted that it might just be that blue is the most salient/common color in our environment, or that cultural norms might influence people's answers)

Then I found this study which measured the alpha activity in the brain of the participants in response to colored LED lights.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...t.nl/doc/2.pdf
It found that most participants answered that a blue or green hue was most relaxing and this was supported by the alpha activity in their brains. Furthermore, the alpha activity in the brain of the few people who selected red/orange/pink as the most relaxing color supported that that was the most relaxing color for them as well. The authors say that "The research reported here suggests that people “know what’s good for them” in that they were able to select a color which induces a relaxed state."
So maybe I should just pick the color that I find the most relaxing

Finally, I looked at this study which studied the effects of color in a living room (unfortunately the actual study was behind a Paywall for me and I can only read the abstract) but it says in the abstract: "As predicted, warm colors tended to produce stronger participant responses when rating the scene on “high arousal,” “exciting,” and “stimulating.” Cool colors tended be associated with “not very arousing,” but to be rated higher on “spacious” and “restful.”
Read More: http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.....112.2.509-524

Anyway, after reading a bit I thought I'd change my Dream Hammock from Crimson to Robin Egg Blue. Then, I took the conclusion of the authors in the LED light study and tried to assess myself which colors I found more relaxing on ripstopbytheroll.com's HyperD photo album color. After a quick twice-over of all the HyperD colors offered I came to Deep Purple, Robin Egg Blue, Kelly Green, and maybe Coyote Brown with an edge still towards Robin Egg Blue.

Soooo, I think I will probably be getting my first hammock in Robin Egg Blue

What do you guys think? Any personal experience? Do you want to weigh in on your favorite hammock color? Do you think I'm a loony and it's all about that sweet Camo?

[BackpackerGuy]

All the colors look the same when I'm asleep. But maybe that's just me.

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[SilvrSurfr]

Loony - you're asleep and it's dark so hammock color makes no difference whatsoever.

[Jabasaki]

Yeah, well why then did people with blue rooms sleep longer, SilvrSurfr? :P

Seriously though, wouldn't you see the color of your hammock as you're resting in it getting ready to sleep? or maybe just taking an afternoon nap?

[laghang]

Personally, I just like blue. Although it's unrelated to sleep, you might find this piece of history interesting.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/pret...eilings-206959

[The Tree Frog]

I think you should spend more time in the woods (in a hammock) and less time reading study's!

Camo if you want to hide.
Bright colors if you fear getting lost and want to be found.
Your favorite color is always a good option. (Ask Silvr Surfr what color he has)
Neutral or natural colors if you just want to be "one with the woods". (That's what I did)

Study? We don't need no stinking study to tell us how to sleep in the woods.

[Jabasaki]

Personally, I just like blue. Although it's unrelated to sleep, you might find this piece of history interesting.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/pret...eilings-206959

That is pretty interesting! It is a nice shade of blue

[Jabasaki]

I think you should spend more time in the woods (in a hammock) and less time reading study's!

Camo if you want to hide.
Bright colors if you fear getting lost and want to be found.
Your favorite color is always a good option. (Ask Silvr Surfr what color he has)
Neutral or natural colors if you just want to be "one with the woods". (That's what I did)

Study? We don't need no stinking study to tell us how to sleep in the woods.

Hahaha, well I agree. Problem is I ate too big of a dinner and am no mood to do anything right now, AND I HAVE NO HAMMOCK YET! GRR!

I'm not telling you how to sleep in the woods...I'm tell you how to enhance your sleep in the woods

[SilvrSurfr]

As you noted, "The authors noted that it might just be that blue is the most salient/common color in our environment, or that cultural norms might influence people's answers." In other words, not much science there.

If I'm resting in my hammock getting ready to sleep, it's dark and I can't see the color of my hammock. I don't take afternoon naps, and if I did I would be asleep and wouldn't know if I was sleeping in a purple hammock or a pink hammock. I don't think the science of colors is much of a science at all unless your eyes are open (which kind of defeats the point of sleeping in a hammock).

[oms121]

Wow!

Unlike sleeping in a bedroom where you see the walls and ceiling, when sleeping outdoors in a hammock, you mainly see the tarp so that color may be more important than the hammock color plus it will be dark so neither should matter.

I value low visual impact in the woods. Unabtrusive. So I opt for earth tones or camo as I normally hang in N GA and greens, browns, burnt orange/brick red, grey/slate fit the bill. For around the house or at the beach or anywhere where bright, festive colors are prevalent, the Wilder the better.