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  1. #1
    Darbe's Avatar
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    Apr 2020
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    Need the voice of experience

    Probable too long winded and maybe confusing but;
    I'm a newbe and planning on upgrading my hammock setup from an ENO and construction type tarp and need advice. I looking at the Dutchware Chameleon kits and also just a netless double layer hammock from them. I like the idea of the kits because it comes with some of the Dutch Bling I'm coveting and a nice hammock and tarp plus I save a few bucks. The reason I also was looking at the double layer hammock was so I could add a pad in between the layers of the hammock when its really warm out instead of using my underquilt. I've tried the pad, blanket in the hammock and that just isn't doing it for me. Do the pads when put in between the layers stay pretty much in place well or is it going to slide around a lot when I get in and out of the hammock. I slept out with the quilt on a hot and really humid night and it was just too uncomfortable with the quilt. Problem is by morning you need a little something to keep your backside warm.
    With the Chameleon kit you get a good tarp that'll help with better airflow on warm nights and the ability to add the top cover to the hammock in cooler conditions but I'd have to forgo the double layer. If I was to purchase the double layer hammock I'd probably add a winter tarp to make up for no Chameleon top cover and adjust the tarps setup for warmer conditions but not so much Dutch bling. Overall price is a big concern of mine so getting another warmer weather quilt is pretty much out of the question for now. Summer hanging is mostly in the back yard due to my work schedule. Backpacking this fall and some winter backpacking is what I'm planning on with the new equipment along with still swinging year round in the backyard(s).
    I already have a quality bugnet from Dutchware and a really nice 20° underquilt from Cedar Ridge.
    My main hanging spots will be here in northern Illinois and central Wisconsin to give you an idea the weather I may have. So pretty much anything from 40 below to 100°F and some serious rain storms. I'm not really worried about snow as snow = fun. Backpacking locations may be any where from North Carolina across to Missouri and up into the BWCA or farther north.
    My goal is to have a setup that with small changes will do it all well and eventually acquire new equipment to do what's planned on great.

  2. #2
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Oct 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darbe View Post
    Probable too long winded and maybe confusing but;
    I'm a newbe and planning on upgrading my hammock setup from an ENO and construction type tarp and need advice. I looking at the Dutchware Chameleon kits and also just a netless double layer hammock from them. I like the idea of the kits because it comes with some of the Dutch Bling I'm coveting and a nice hammock and tarp plus I save a few bucks. The reason I also was looking at the double layer hammock was so I could add a pad in between the layers of the hammock when its really warm out instead of using my underquilt. I've tried the pad, blanket in the hammock and that just isn't doing it for me. Do the pads when put in between the layers stay pretty much in place well or is it going to slide around a lot when I get in and out of the hammock. I slept out with the quilt on a hot and really humid night and it was just too uncomfortable with the quilt. Problem is by morning you need a little something to keep your backside warm.
    With the Chameleon kit you get a good tarp that'll help with better airflow on warm nights and the ability to add the top cover to the hammock in cooler conditions but I'd have to forgo the double layer. If I was to purchase the double layer hammock I'd probably add a winter tarp to make up for no Chameleon top cover and adjust the tarps setup for warmer conditions but not so much Dutch bling. Overall price is a big concern of mine so getting another warmer weather quilt is pretty much out of the question for now. Summer hanging is mostly in the back yard due to my work schedule. Backpacking this fall and some winter backpacking is what I'm planning on with the new equipment along with still swinging year round in the backyard(s).
    I already have a quality bugnet from Dutchware and a really nice 20° underquilt from Cedar Ridge.
    My main hanging spots will be here in northern Illinois and central Wisconsin to give you an idea the weather I may have. So pretty much anything from 40 below to 100°F and some serious rain storms. I'm not really worried about snow as snow = fun. Backpacking locations may be any where from North Carolina across to Missouri and up into the BWCA or farther north.
    My goal is to have a setup that with small changes will do it all well and eventually acquire new equipment to do what's planned on great.

    One you get the pad set right for you between the layers it is very effective.

    You can always vent a UQ on a hot night.

    In Summer just pitch your tarp higher to catch a breeze and open up...weather depending.

    Enjoy the comfort quest.
    Shug



    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  3. #3
    FLTurtle's Avatar
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    Dec 2018
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    Orlando FL
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    You definitely found the voice of experience!

  4. #4
    Darbe's Avatar
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    Thank you Shug (if I may call you that) and that's two vids I seem to have missed. You have got me leaning in a direction now.
    One point I do disagree with you on is what you called dreadful weather in the first vid. But I'm told I march to a different drummer than most.

  5. #5
    Darbe's Avatar
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    I'll say! Wow.
    I've watched so many of his vids and love that he takes such pride in making great videos informationally, entertaining and also technically speaking.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
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    May 2012
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    no doubt, if there's ever going to be a Medal of Freedom, Nobel Prize or Oscar awarded for hammocking, it should be going to Shug.

  7. #7
    Darbe's Avatar
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    I’d forgotten that feeling as a kid of Xmas is coming. Placed the order for a Dutchware Chameleon complete package. Then the wait, anticipation, excitement. An Email shows up that it’s been shipped. Arrrrgh it’ll be at least three more days I can’t stand the anticipation of it all.
    Today was Xmas now I’m trying to get work done so I can go play in the backyard. Ugh.
    Had to go set the hammock up and try it. It’s fantastic to look at. Workmanship is outstanding and as for comfort. Is it bedtime yet(2:30pm)? My ENO is a well made hammock but its a bed of nails compared to a Chameleon.
    Santa Dutch makes a wonderful product and has put together a really good crew of co-workers that even answer Emails on a Sunday.
    As for that extra tarp sleeve I ordered by mistake. Well I see a winter tarp in my future.

  8. #8
    cougarmeat's Avatar
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    Aug 2012
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    Bend, OR
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    There are a few other pluses to the DL. Reputidely, a mosquito can’t “bite” through the double layer but if skin was next to a single layer they might get it. Also, if is very warm, and you also invested in an under quilt protector (UQP), like from 2QZQ, the UQP might do a good enough job of blocking the wind that you’d be warm with just the hammock and UQP. If it’s not too heavy, you could allow put the pad in the UQP so you won’t feel it from the hammock. The DL construction has a higher weight capacity so you could use a lighter fabric.

    The downside of the DL is extra cost and extra weight. Also, it “firms up” the feel of the hammock fabric - a plus or a minus.

    I started out getting everything in DL. But then I bought a “few” used hammocks on the forum and ended up with single layer models and also moved from pad to UQ’s. But the temperature+humidity in the PNW is not like the midwest.

    Beside’s the UQP, another item to consider is a HUG bugnet. Because you are not getting a net built into the hammock and it only takes one mosquito to ruin a night’s sleep, it’s good to have something. The weight and bulk of a full coverage stand-alone net setup is significant. The HUG is sort of a half bugnet. It attaches to the head end of the hammock with Velcro and has a mitten hook that clips to the hammock’s ridgeline. Depending upon your size, the net covers your head area to about mid body. The idea is, the rest of you is already covered with a Top Quilt (TQ). Very small and light package size. But, if there are no flying irritants at all, it is an unnecessary extra. In the spring, I wouldn’t leave home without it. These days, around here, there’s nary a flying inconvenience in sight.
    In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.

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