I am looking for advice for which color hammock to buy, woodland camo or olive green. I am going to buy a Mosquito (Claytor) Jungle hammock. I live in Michigan and we have a mix of hardwood forests and pines. I want to blend in with the environment as much as possible. I have noticed that woodland camo can stand out more than olive in drab at times. I am leaning towards buying the olive colored one but would like to know what other people think.
Well, I can't speak much for the Michigan woods, but here's my 2c on camo.
Woodland camo like many camouflages is meant to break up the outline of whatever it is placed on. However, most camouflages are simply too dark to do this in most environments. They end up making you (or your hammock in this case) into a gigantic dark blob with a well defined outline. The other negative with large areas of camo patterns is that it is a continuous pattern, which the human eye is drawn to.
The OD green because of it's lighter color has less of this effect, but still will stand out in the right circumstances. It will also look more subtly different in shadows and lighted areas than a woodland camo. Lastly, I think it's easier to fit in with some two-legged animals when you don't have gear that looks like it's from the military. There's not much difference between tree huggers and tree hangers sometimes, and it can be easier to "get along" with the militant types when your gear doesn't scream Invasion of Panama.
Again, just my 2c. If it were me I'd go with the olive too.
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Benjamin Franklin
I have found that coyote brown blends in pretty well most places. May want to add that as a color to check on...? I don't know if Claytor makes a brown one.
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities." - Mark Twain
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” - John Burroughs
I have to agree with Naegling. If you're particularly fond of woodland I would get it, if you're only getting it b/c it may or may not blend in better then I would go with the OD. I guess what I'm saying is get the one you like more, not the one you think will blend more.
I have some plain grey silnylon tarps and some dark olive tarps and they both "blend in" surprisingly well. I've never been much of a camo man (I do like OD a lot tho') but if Multicam was avail in silnylon I'd be all over it, something about multicam I really like, but I like it like people like the color blue (for example) rather than b/c its such a good camo pattern.
Good luck,
RED
My Youtube Channel
Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace without end to you.
adapted from - ancient gaelic runes
Agree with all of the responses so far.
Woodland camo doesn't always break up outlines like people think.
It absolutely can give people the thought that you're a militiant whackdoodle. (I'm an ex-Army Sgt...took me a long time to convert over to less military looking gear, and you'll never see me out in anything bright colored).
Coyote brown seems to be the best non-military 'blend' I've found. My HH Hex and HH Explorer tend to blend very well in nearly all the spots I hang. Olive green is a close second.
Stick with browns or greens. Also your tarp color will probably make more difference than hammock color.
S
When Amazon had 2 GTUL's shipped to my door fot $25.47 at Christmas I ordered one for each of the rug rats. To get it just above the $25 threshold for free shipping I had to order one in Forest Green and one in Royal Blue..
I merely assumed when I would "borrow"one of the kids hammocks it would be the stealthier of the two. but before I ever modified either of them I weighed them. The bright blue one was nearly two ounces less. Not to harp on the quality control of a large volume vendor, but you can probably guess which hammock I used this winter!
...I've since picked up a 1.7 SL Traveler, so the color option is now moot and I'm back to blending in...
Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
Here is my Olive Green hammock with a darker green OES tarp. I think it blends in just fine with Oregon forests.
Won't matter much which way you go, once you hang your UQ, unless it's the same color/pattern.
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." -Plato
Beyond the use of camo patterns for uniforms, 1st/2nd/3rd line gear, solid colors or camo netting should be used.
An individual with equipment is a small silhouette that benefits most from a pattern. Multicam is great in arid and many wooded environments. ATACS works great in arid, fall-time wooded areas. Woodland is still a good all-around camo pattern for most of the United States. ACU is my least favorite choice for wooded areas as its color stands out too much - the only upsides to this pattern are the 'tan' versions created in random batches that wind up in arid environments, and the IR-ambiguous nature of the combination of colors and digital pattern.
As for solid colors, OD and to a greater extent, Alpha Green/Ranger Green (think low-saturation OD with some grey) work great for tarps and hammocks. Coyote Brown and its equivalents also blend quite well, even when paired with other gear that is OD.
Having sewn a primaloft bag out of 70d Multicam, I can tell you that IMO even an under quilt would cause the overall signature of your setup to stand out more.
TLDR; Go with solid colors for maximum signature reduction, camo will only be of much use at distance when combined with obscuring foliage).
YMMV.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks