The DutchWare Chameleon hammock may stand as the most anticipated camping hammock ever; I figured 734 Kickstarter backers couldn't be wrong (I was #5!)...and we weren't!
Thomas "Dutch" Ressler is one of the most well known and well regarded personalities in hammock camping, and as a popular cottage vendor in enthusiast circles, he is particularly appreciated as a prolific inventor and innovator of virtually boundless creativity. In recent years "Dutch bling", the collective term for his ingeniously fabricated titanium tidbits that connect webbing and cordage to hammocks, tarps, and stakes, has become its own subcategory of must-have hammock gear, and now the adaptable, modular Chameleon gathered-end hammock is enjoying its time in the spotlight has the hot hang to have.
Among Dutch's many attributes that have afforded him fame, adoration, and gratitude within the hammock camping community has been his consistent and aggressive support of "do-it-yourself" camping enthusiasts who make their own hammock gear. It is because of his generosity in this specific regard that I happened to learn about the Chameleon hammock prior to its announcement and introductory campaign launch on Kickstarter. As an avid DIYer myself, I have placed orders for hammock gear components from Dutch regularly for the last year, and when I contacted him looking for some two-way separating zippers for a detachable bug net on a hammock I was designing, he offered me a chance to use the new reversible Vision zippers that are the Chameleon's unique and proprietary hallmark. I was able to be one of the of the very first production Chameleon hammocks from the wildly successful inaugural Kickstarter campaign, and under Dutch's kind auspices I was even granted a small customization because of the extra lead time available on my build. He is the man, after all...
I backed the Chameleon campaign within the first few minutes of it coming online back in mid-January, and I selected the Complete Chameleon Early Bird Package for $230, which got me the hammock with integrated zippered bug net and top cover plus the new Beetle Buckle suspension with lightweight bonus carabiners mounted on 15-foot hybrid Dyneema/polypropylene tree straps, at a savings of about $40 over anticipated retail pricing. It came with a variety of other accessories, including a double-ended stuff sack, smaller mesh stuff sacks for the individual components, and a nicely finished set of elastic shock cord tie-outs with snap-on hardware. For an a additional $50, I ordered two of Dutch's artfully engineered peak shelves and a modular storage pocket.
My standard-width Chameleon modular hammock is an 11-foot (132") sewn end channel hammock made with a body of midweight Hexon 1.6 oz fabric that is 58" wide with a 110" ridge line length. The complete hammock system with the zippered mesh bug net, accessory vented zippered top cover, 7/64" Amsteel Blue continuous loops, Lash-It fixed ridge line, shock cord tie-outs, two peak shelves, a storage pocket, and stuff sacks weighs in at just under 29 ounces (816 grams). (My custom top cover added about 55 grams, or just under two ounces, to the weight of the standard top cover made from Argon 90 fabric.)
The key features of the Dutch's Chameleon are:
1) Modular Design: Dutch created the Chameleon to be an all-purpose camping hammock -- one hammock to do it all -- adaptable to any environment, weather condition, or style of camping. The elegant base hammock is feature-laden, replete with attachment points, and integrated zippers allow easy installation of a companion bug net or vented top cover as needs change. The end user can start with just the hammock and build the entire system over time.
2) Reversible Vision Zippers: The proprietary two-way separating Vision zippers built into the Chameleon set it apart from virtually every other netted hammock on the market, allowing the net and top cover to be reversed; thus, the hammock has no dedicated lay or direction, but it can accommodate the preferences of any occupant, unlike many integrated-net hammocks. There is no dedicated head or foot end.
3) Attachment Points: Every Chameleon comes with a complex set of useful multipurpose attachment points inside and out. These can accommodate shock cord guy lines going to the ground, underquilt suspensions, or interior storage solutions as required. An extension of the hammock system's fundamental modularity, the available accessories for tie-outs and storage can be deployed in multiple modes and at multiple positions on the fly with no special modifications or decisions at the time of ordering.
My Chameleon arrived on 9 March in the middle of a persistent rainstorm; I had eagerly anticipated the day of its arrival for a couple of months, but adverse life events beyond the nasty weather turned what should have been a gleeful day into a very hard one, and the Chameleon remained untested for over a week. I finally caught a break in the rainy weather last night, as the skies grew clear after dark, so I shelved the included Beetle Buckle suspension system -- wholly deserving of its own in-depth review in the future -- in favor of Dutch's new no-brainer woven Daisy Chain straps and pitched my Chameleon out on my property almost effortlessly despite night having already fallen.
I hung my Dark Olive 1.6 oz Hexon standard-width Chameleon with the zippered top cover in place with precise 30-degree angles on the suspension and only the most modest favoring in height at the foot end (no more than a couple of inches). I'm 6'2" and 175#, and from the first lay it was apparent that my choices for the hammock body had been appropriate ones. Hexon probably has the best feel on the skin of any available high-end hammock fabric; the midweight 1.6 oz weave is suitable soft and yet reassuringly substantial. It has enough give to make space for feet, legs, and shoulders while still providing sufficient firmness and ample comfort; that uncanny combination support of suppleness obviated any problems with either calf ridge or shoulder squeeze. Instead, the midweight Chameleon just seems to cradle you from the moment you lay down.
I am not sure I can stress sufficiently how many small details of construction, components, and sewing go into the assembly of a single Chameleon hammock. For example, there are 12 interior D-rings, 8 exterior D-rings, and 8 exterior pack hooks sewn at precise locations on every hammock! The elegant method used for sewing the bug net and top cover so that the raw edges of the material are neatly and permanently hidden with the two sides appearing as alike as possible requires three parallel rows of perfect stitching along the entire perimeter where the zippers are attached; on a complete hammock system (net and cover) that's nearly 1500 inches of precision thread injection at the highest cosmetic standard -- each one an opportunity for error -- just to get the zip-on upper half components to look nice inside and out. One can only imagine the burden of maintaining such quality while making over 600 hammocks to fulfill the launch orders. My hat is off to Dutch and his crew for their painstaking work.
My top cover was made for me custom from 1.55 oz Multicam Epsilon nylon instead of the standard Dutch Argon 90. Both the cover and the lightweight all-mesh bug net were thoughtfully designed with a unique curvilinear parallelogram shape and expertly finished on both sides with a high degree of precision. Not a single thread was loose. Not a single seam wavered noticeably. The cover's mesh vent provides a welcome amount of airflow and view. I realized a positive thermocline of about 7 degrees F in the hammock on a 40-degree night with 66% relative humidity, and I observed virtually no condensation on the interior surface of the cover.
The reversible toothed Vision zippers are a marvel of design and engineering, and I can see why Dutch has sought a patent on them. They allow for easy alignment and installation of the net and top cover on the hammock, and the generously curved lateral corners on the top cover and net help ease zipper action over the points that might otherwise be trouble spots where the hammock gets tied out asymmetrically. Entry and exit were a breeze, and the zippers operate well when the hammock is under load. Dutch provides ergonomic and substantial zipper pulls on all the tabs as standard equipment.
Changing the hammock from left lay to right is a simple matter of re-installing the net or cover with the opposite side up. Except for the minor differences in the "wrong side" of the top cover fabric, once can hardly tell which lay direction on the net/cover is standard and which is inverted.
The Chameleon's attachment points work perfectly, inside and out. Nylon D-rings mate to the snap-hook termini on the shock cord tie-outs (optional but recommended (by me) when using the net or cover) to support the hammock's asym shape as afforded by the reversible net/cover. The accessory pack hooks serve to anchor your underquilt if needed (although I didn't have to use them overnight). Interior D-rings allow for the installation of peak shelves and storage pockets throughout the Chameleon. I put Dutch's thoughtfully designed peak shelf in each end; the all-mesh shelves hold a lot of volume, so an down jacket or even a rolled-up shoulder season top quilt can be sequestered up and out of the way using his ingenious squeeze hook mounted on the ridge line to cinch down the load. The standard mesh storage pocket is a small two-pocket modular organizer that spans any two adjacent interior D-rings or mounts on the ridge line in conventional fashion.
In a word, the Chameleon hammock is comfortable. The supple Hexon 1.6 oz body gave me a great night's sleep and made for cozy, compliant lounging in the morning. The fabric breathes well underneath you and feels delightful on the skin. As a fan of firmer hammocks, I still found the support offered by the midweight Chameleon to be more than adequate.
My first night's user experience was excellent. Every feature on the Chameleon performed as advertised, and the fit and finish were superb to the last stitch. I wouldn't really change a thing about this design, and I trust that with more nights spent hanging in this hammock, I'll discover new uses for all the little features that make it so convenient and adaptable.
I would recommend the Chameleon to just about anybody looking to spend a night in the woods. I think Dutch is a genius.
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