Welcome to the addiction!
Dewy,
welcome to HF and the addiction. I too was hooked in a very similar way to you. Saw a hammock, did some research, found this site............. You will find this more then just an addition to your camping, you will find as I did that soon you will start looking for excuses to get the hammock out, then you will catch yourself looking at trees and thinking hmm my hammock would fit perfectly there and then .............. But it is okay we are all here to help out and feed that addiction for you since it makes us all feel better about our own addiction. :laugh:
"- Tarp tension – I really like the simplicity of having the tarp attached directly to the suspension but I could not get it to stay tight. Even after adjusting, when I got into the hammock it would sag – especially on the zip side. The light breeze I had last night made it flap a bit and I could see real wind really blowing it around. Maybe replacing the stock tie-outs with shock cord would help? Has anyone tried this?"
I think You will find you will want to use a separate line for your tarp. The three most common reasons I have found around the forum are (in no real order) 1. It will remove the sag from the HH stock setup 2. you can get the tarp up quick then set up your hammock under it incase it is raining 3. If it is raining you can easily pack it up separately and keep your hammock dry. I also find that I can pull the tarp down tighter then stock then when I get in and the hammock sags a bit this gives me the room I need without being so far away that I am concerned about rain and wind. Here is a link to a great illustration by Dejoha that really helped me figure this one out. Most of those who do this use the snake skins to pack up the tarp so it can be deployed really rapidly. This also keep things dry in our pack should the tarp be wet when we pack up camp.
"- Size – I’m just under 6 feet. Although I was comfortable, there was not much extra room – especially with the sleeping pad and bag. I could see the Expedition becoming my wife’s hammock and me switching to an Explorer. A little more weight but I think the extra space would be well worth it."
I would definitely recommend the explorer for you, my wife finds the expedition more then comfortable for her but the explorer just fits me better. Just my opinion though!
huauqui