Tag Archives: camping hammock

3 Days Hammock Camping with 8 Pounds of Gear

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3 days of Hammock Camping & Solo Ultralight Backpacking in Virginia’s George Washington National Forest.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this backpacking trip, I headed down to the border of Virginia and West Virginia for some early spring camping to get a dose of some warmer weather, babbling brooks, and mountain views.

With the milder temps and decent forecast, I was able to get my base weight down to 7.75 pounds, a welcome change after hauling some pretty heavy loads my previous few backpacking trips.

For sleep and shelter, I went with my minimalist hammock camping setup consisting of a 10 oz hammock, 5 oz tarp, and a pair 40° down quilts.  The 14 mile Little Schloss Loop has a decent amount of unofficial, but preestablished campsites with some nice  open areas and decently spaced trees, making it a great loop for hammocks. You can find my full backpacking gear list for this trip at the end of this post.

Water is plentiful on the Little Stony Creek side of the loop, but the ridge side of the loop that I started with is dry for the first 5 miles, so I packed in a full load of water for my first day.  Finding water every couple of miles on the remaining two days was no problem at all.

Route Overview – Little Schloss Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

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Dutchware Double Chameleon Hammock & Spreader Bar System

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Hanging Two Hammocks & One tarp on a single set of Trees using the Dutch Chameleon Hammock with Beetle Buckles and Spreader Bar.

Click here to visit the Dutchware Chameleon Kickstarter Page 

For this video, Sara and I will be experimenting with our new double hammock system by Dutchware to hang both of our hammocks side by side without the need to find 3 or even 4 trees in order to set up without having the two hammocks bump into each other.

The key pieces of hardware that make this possible are the Dutchware Spreader Bar pole with end pins that lock into the holes on the new Dutchware Beetle Buckles suspension system.  When attached at the head end, the spreader bar will keep the two hammocks at a comfortable distance apart.  For the video, we’ll be using a 36 inch spreader bar pole, shorter poles can be used as well, or you can even cut down your existing poles to shorter lengths.  This can help minimize see-sawing, as well as create opportunities to use narrower tarps.

Speaking of tarps, one of the very attractive points of using this system is the ability to pack just a single tarp to be shared by two hammocks.  However, you’ll have to keep in mind that you’re required space will be a bit wider than usual.  This is especially compounded by non-rectangular tarps, such as those cut in the popular hexagonal shape.  Because tarps of those kind are only at their full length along the middle seam, you may find that you’re hammocks don’t quite fit underneath anymore, due to the tapered sides of the tarp.  My 10’x12 Hennessy Deluxe Hex Tarp is a hexagonal cut and suffered this symptom.  For future trips, I may experiment with a narrower spreader bar, or I may just get a dedicated rectangle shaped tarp for use with this hammock system.

Link to Sara’s Instagram: @SarasGreatAdventures , as mentioned in the video.

Dutchware Chameleon Hammock – Up CLOSE detailed look

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A close up look at the Dutchware Chameleon dual hammock system.  On kickstarter now.  Field test to follow in part two.

Click here to visit the Dutchware Chameleon Kickstarter Page 

Hammock Length:  11 foot for flatter diagonal lay.
Hammock Width: 58 inches

In the video I’ll give a close up table top look at all of the components of the Chameleon hammock.  The Chameleon is a modular hammock system, allowing customization depending on specific needs such as lay direction, top coverage (bug-net, sold winter over-cover, or netless) and various storage accessories.

The feature that interests me the most though, is this hammock’s ability to be set up with two hammocks connected to the same single set of trees, using an aluminum spreader bar combined with Dutch’s new Beetle Buckle suspension system.  This could come in particularly handy for hammock camping trips with my wife.  Stay tuned for the field review!

Product overview from Dutch

“The Chameleon is a full-featured hammock designed from the ground up. Each of the components that go into the Chameleon have been developed by us to create a versatile and modular light weight hammock that adapts to its environment. Because you can remove and change out components, the Chameleon will be the only hammock you will ever need.”

Link to Shug’s video that I mentioned: A Peek at the Dutchware Chameleon Hammock

Link to Sara’s Instagram: @SarasGreatAdventures , as mentioned in the video.

Amok Draumr 3.0 – A Super Flat Hammock? – First Look

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An unboxing and first look at the Amok Draumr 3.0 hammock for camping, backpacking, & lounging. 

This a quite different looking, flat laying hammock that is specifically made to work with your existing sleeping pad. It looks pretty cool – almost like a floating one person tent! Stay tuned for updates usage in the field on upcoming backpacking and hammock camping trips.

Specs and info, as per the manufacturer:

*Suspension and bug net included. Available with and without tarp.

  • Hammock weight:
    1340 g / 47 oz (without tarp)
    2056 g / 72 oz (including tarp/stakes)
  • Capacity:
    150 kg / 330 lb max weight
    22 kN carabiners
  • Tree distance:
    minimum 2.5 m, maximum 6 m.
  • Use of the hammock:
    The hammock requires an inflatable sleeping pad – you can read about size recommendations on their website, http://www.amokequipment.com/ , as well as more details, specs, etc.