Dutch Chameleon is my love

[dirtbag]

1. just showing off my love.  Did a short overnight trip to Nuclear Lake in NY via the Appalachian Trail. My Dutch Chameleon hammock. I use a saddle bag from simply light designs and a dutch side car (mesh). I love the side car to put my shoes in.. i have this fear of leaving my shoes out under me and some chipmunks,  or porcupine or other rodent chew them up or carries them away.. so the side car is my shoe rack. I am considering eliminating the saddle bag and just adding another mesh side car to the other side, opposite the existing one. Not sure yet.. but i rarely ever bring enough stuff to warrant using that saddle bag.. i do like it, and it would swallow up any extra clothing or gear.. but maybe overkill for me. 

[Black Magic]

I like the idea of keeping shoes outside the hammock, but off the ground and close to the hammock. Depending on how low the overnight temperature dips, it might be enough to keep them from freezing solid on some cold nights.

I unintentionally performed a freezing experiment this past Thanksgiving in a Blackbird XLC, when I kept a nearly-full one-liter water bottle on the shelf, and thus within the hammock micro-climate, and had another water bottle outside, in my pack’s side pocket, hanging from the tree. The overnight temperature dipped to 14°F; the water bottle in my pack froze solid, but the bottle kept inside the hammock on the shelf got icy, but did not freeze.

[dirtbag]

Lol.. Interesting but sounds about right.

[Ken Thompson]

I love mine as well.

[dirtbag]

Pulled the trigger. Gonna go with another mesh side car instead of the saddle bag. If I carried more gear, that saddle bag is a keeper for sure, but taking the bare necessities,  it is overkill for me.

[Kevin Babione]

I have no need for yet another hammock so I haven’t pulled the trigger on a Chameleon of my own, but I do really like the idea of the side car.  I wish it was an option on the Dutch Halfwit (my preferred hammock during bug season).

Because of your post I just bought a saddle bag – I like the idea of keeping my shoes off the ground when I sleep.  I just hope it’s not too much of a hassle to reach them at the end of the hammock in the morning.

[dirtbag]

Uummmm… lol. Its a little tough maybe.. the saddle bag is great for gear storage.. shoes/boots???  I dunno..

I guess try it and see.. if its the only option maybe it is better then nothing..

[Kevin Babione]

I typically just leave my boots under my hammock and only ever had one issue (I might have had a little too much Scotch one evening and apparently kicked one of my boots to right under where I was dumping my pee bottle – it was frozen solid the next morning).  I have a Jacks R Better “Jeff’s Gear Hammock/Pack Cover” but don’t like the way it hangs below my hammock, but it might be worth trying again.

At some point I’ll go the route of the Chameleon and take advantage of how flexible it is.

[Stan B]

I just use a carabiner to clip my shoes to the tarp ridge line so I can keep them off the ground but still reach them from the hammock in the morning. I tie the laces together on my boots and sling them over the hammock suspension in the winter where they are heavier.

[dirtbag]

Got my 8 foot spider/poly straps with beetle buckles, and dcf double end stuff sack today. My other mesh side car will be here .Monday.  This will shave a very little weight off my set up..

I just find after a few years that I have never needed 15 foot straps.. Always too much!

[dirtbag]

shaved a few grams off my chameleon!!

Shorter straps, DCF stuff sack and did away with the saddle bag.

[Author]

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