Dutchware Chameleon: First couple of nights

[SilvrSurfr]

I won a camo Dutch Chameleon at the Loco Libre hang raffle in November, and got to try it out for the first time at the 6th Annual NJ Thanksgiving hang this weekend. I ordered a woodland camo top cover during the Black Friday sale as well, and it arrived just an hour or two before I departed for the hang.

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The Weather Channel said the low temps would be 37* F, so I brought my 20* quilts instead of my 0* quilts - big mistake. The low was actually 23* F, and my 20* quilts were barely up to the task. I went to bed about midnight, and as soon as I got situated, I had to take a leak. Fifteen minutes later I had to take another leak, then another and another. In 45 minutes, I emptied a totally full bladder four times. I thought it was never going to end. When I finally got back in the hammock, my feet were freezing and I couldn't get them warm. After a while, I figured out that I could put my wool anorak in the footbox and that warmed my tootsies up. I finally got to sleep about 1:15 am.

The next night, the low was only 29* F. I stayed warm with the wool anorak in my footbox. Anyway, about the Chameleon:

1. Calf ridge - No calf ridge, thank goodness! On the first night I did get foot cramps, but that was due to not drinking enough water. Besides, foot cramps are minor compared to calf cramps, which can be excruciatingly painful. I fell asleep eventually.

2. Top cover - while there is a mesh vent, it didn't do anything to stop condensation forming on the top cover. Then again, I didn't expect it to. I usually hang my headlamp on the ridgeline, but it also got soaked with condensation so I kept it in my pocket from then on.

I normally don't use top covers when temps are in the 20s. I usually only consider them when temps get down in the low teens or sub-zero. I'm sure I'll appreciate the top cover then.

3. Quilt hooks - they came off the hammock suspension a couple of times. I'm not sure how that happened, but probably due to my struggling around in a new hammock. I'll keep an eye on this to see if it re-occurs during future hangs. They're nice additions at minimal weight.

4. Beetle Buckles - the Chameleon I won came with Beetle Buckles. I still haven't figured out how to use these, despite two tutorials from Dutch. I definitely can't adjust them with any tension on them (the weight of the hammock/quilts). I'll keep playing with them, but I may go back to a Dutch Whoopie Hook suspension, which I have on all my other hammocks.

5. Peak bag - I find the peak bag to be very far away - it's a struggle to put something in it, or get something out, if I'm laying in the hammock. While it's great for things you can put away and don't have to access once in the hammock, I'm inclined to get a ridgeline organizer for frequently-accessed things (i.e., water bottle), but I haven't used a ridgeline organizer in several years and loathe the idea of the added weight, however minimal. The Chameleon seems to cry out for add-ons like a ridgeline organizer - not for the weight-conscious.

6. Zippers - I haven't used a hammock with a zipper in five years. I do not like zippers, and the Chameleon's zippers were no different. Still, my main problem with zippers was always in relation to calf cramps I got in my Hennessy Expedition and other hammocks with integrated bugnets. When I got a calf cramp, I desperately needed to stand up, but I could never find the zipper and just panicked.

Thankfully, there is no calf ridge or cramps with the Chameleon, so hopefully, I'll get used to the zippers. Nevertheless, I just didn't like how much I had to unzip the hammock to get into it, and I definitely didn't like reaching down towards the foot end to pull the zipper up. My back was hurting (unrelated to the hammock) and I found it a literal pain to pull that zipper up. Also, I had to unzip both sides to make sure the quilt was snug and properly positioned. Again, something I'll have to get used to. By the second night I was leaving the hammock unzipped about six inches on each side so I could check the adjustment on my underquilt.

At one point, a critter got under my tarp and kept waking me up. I don't know what kind of critter it was, but it was annoying. With a Fronkey bugnet and Dutch netless hammock, I could just swing out and confront the little critter and implore him to leave. However, with the Chameleon zippers, the critter heard me, dashed off, then came back as soon as I zipped back up.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased. I look forward to trying it when neither the zippered bugnet nor the zippered topcover are required. I expect it will be as comfy as my Dutch netless hammocks in that configuration. For those of you who love zippers, I'm sure you'll find the Chameleon to be a top-notch hammock. For me, I've got a long way to go to get used to zippers again!

[knightshade]

Thanks for posting!
At the moment I'm using a Hexon wide hammock with a Fronkey style net.
As much as I've liked the look of the Chameleon - the zippers have been something that I've not been convinced would be a good fit for me.
I'm glad to hear that others have some of the same reservations.

Even so - hoping to get to try one someday.
Glad that your prize has given you a chance!

[sqidmark]

Wrap the quilt cord around the hook. I haven't tried this with 1/8 or 3/32 cord though. On my clone, i sewed the hooks on facing outward, they seem to hold the 1/8 cord better that way. For my clews quilt with 1/32 cord, I grab the top three and wrap around the hook, which works great.

Use micro glow cords for the zippers, long enough that you can grab. A couple of knots along it's length will help with grip. Use 'em on the outside as well to help keep the outer tabs from tangling in the zipper. Also makes it easier to find the zippers on return from midnight runs sans headlight.

I love the beetle buckles. We use them on dyneema webbing and the beetles adjust with alarming ease. This combo is not for everyone so I'm not recommending it, it's just what I do. It is a bit stiffer with the dypoly straps, but there is a way to get it to "release" once it's been weighted, afterward it adjusts quite easily. Too hard to explain, but once you get the feel of you'll think, oh duh.

To reach stuff in the foot end peak shelf, I usually unzip enough to stick my legs out so I can sit up and then grab what I need. As I recall you just have one, so put it at the head end.

[Flash Grundelore]

Your "critter" sounds like a possum... Dumb as box of rocks. They just keep coming back again and again.
I have one I hear while I go out to smoke. I flash the lighter and he stops rustling around... 5-10 seconds later he's moving again.
Hard to know how they have lasted

[SilvrSurfr]

Wrap the quilt cord around the hook. I haven't tried this with 1/8 or 3/32 cord though. On my clone, i sewed the hooks on facing outward, they seem to hold the 1/8 cord better that way. For my clews quilt with 1/32 cord, I grab the top three and wrap around the hook, which works great.

I'm not sure if you're joking (knowing your love of complexity, I seriously doubt it). I've never felt the need for quilt hooks, but since they are there on the Chameleon, I thought I'd play with them. I certainly won't be wrapping quilt cords around the hook - I just won't bother to use them if they're that finicky.

Since you mention it, I do think the hooks would hold better if they faced outward.

[sqidmark]

C'mon! Wrapping the cord once around the hook is hardly complex. If your quilt moves on you, and this keeps it in position then it's worth the "complexity". I HAD to do this for my 3/4 clews because it would frequently flip out completely to the side. I doubt this happens with a full length clews though.

[SilvrSurfr]

Your "critter" sounds like a possum... Dumb as box of rocks. They just keep coming back again and again.
I have one I hear while I go out to smoke. I flash the lighter and he stops rustling around... 5-10 seconds later he's moving again.
Hard to know how they have lasted

Possums are definitely stupid, but I think this was probably something smaller, probably a field mouse or something.

[Malcolm]

I love the quilt hooks, though I also find they release the underquilt if I’m moving around a lot. I could see wrapping the shock cord around some of them, but the lower ones attach on the grosgrain channels (and those are the ones that tend to come undone). Glad to know I’m not the only one with this problem, I guess, though I wish I had a solution.

[Shug]

Don't really use the quilt hooks on mine either. My UQs are trained to stay in place. And one less thing to do and undo.
I do find the quilt hooks get hooked on my Chameloen ridgeline a lot setting up.
Might snip snip.
But I find my Chameleon one of my most comfortable hammocks.
Shug

[silentorpheus]

It was all rather surreal. Surfr showed up at the Thanksgiving hang:

1.) Wearing Jeans (he loves to rail against wearing cotton in the woods ... "cotton kills!")
2.) With his new camo chameleon with zippers (he has historically hated zippers)
3.) With straps and beetle buckles (he's a staunch tree straps and whoopie hooks guy)
4.) With a matching overcover - also in camo (he's posted extensively in opposition to all things camo)

It was almost as if a whole different person joined us in the woods. As if someone had taken possession of his earthly form, and was masquerading as SilvrSurfr. A doppelgänger, if you will.

Then he began to speak ... and we were reassured that it was, in fact, the SS we knew so well. Apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks. But when he opens his mouth, he still barks like a dog.