This past weekend, I finally got to put new hammock system through its paces on a 2 night backpacking trip. It did not go nearly as well as I had hoped.
I'm very new to hammocking, though I've been watching a lot of youtube videos and have read quite a few threads on here trying to get as much advice as possible ahead of time.

The gear:
Dutchware Gear Chameleon (standard width, Hexon 1.2) with asymmetric bugnet with integrated sidecar
Warbonnet Yeti 20degree underquilt (standard lay: head left)
Sleeping bag unzipped and used as a topquilt - I think this is a a 20degree bag. I've had it for ~25 years. It's some sort of synthetic, and still in good shape, though it probably needs to be washed properly to restore it to full loft.
Cheap foam sitpad in the footbox of my sleeping bag.

I'm 5'11, 175lb. Temperatures got down to ~29degrees this weekend. I realize the insulation I'm using is getting borderline in those conditions, which is probably making it tougher for me to get comfortable in the hammock. With that caveat, here is what I'm running into:
  1. The yeti UQ suspension is very tight. It sounds like that's intentional to keep it snug against the bottom of the hammock, but I also found the cords pressing against the side of my head where it's running up from my shoulder.
  2. It seems like the Yet UQ doesn't play well with the chameleon tieouts. The tension on the UQ and its positioning didn't seem to leave room for them.
  3. The UQ seemed to want to slide up during the night. It may be partly due to my shifting around trying to get comfortable, but every so often my thighs would start to feel chilly and I'd unzip the bugnet, reach out and realize the top of the UQ was under my head instead of at my shoulder.
  4. Cold feet. I know for this one I just need some combination of a better top quilt, thicker/warmer socks, and sitpad with a bit more insulation value. I did wrap my down coat around my feet to stay a bit warmer as long as I didn't move around too much. And this is probably one of the factors limiting how comfortable I was able to get.
  5. Major calf ridge. This and the next one are the biggest ones for me. I can deal with the UQ and warmth issues as long as I can lay comfortably. I did try setting the head end of the hammock lower than the foot end. Maybe I needed to go further with this. I was basically able to find one position that minimized calf ridge: my legs had to be fully extended and pressed against the side of the hammock to keep it in tension. Of course, that compressed the insulation around my feet (see point 4).
  6. Attempts to lay on my side resulted in major pressure on my hip. I couldn't stand it for more than about 5 minutes. At home I normally side or stomach sleep, and I roll around a good bit most nights. I was hoping to have some flexibility in the hammock to lay in different positions, but that wasn't possible this weekend.


I'm not giving up on this. I can't really say it was less comfortable than sleeping on the ground (though my ground sleeping pad is just a thin 3/4 length thermarest I've had since I was a teenager, but I opted to go the hammock route rather than investing in more comfortable ground camping. I would really appreciate some advice though. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take some pictures of my setup before I packed it all up. Does it sound like I'm setting up the UQ incorrectly? I'm wondering if the way it pulls on the hammock is contributing to the calf ridge and my inability to lay in different positions.