New Hanger Questions

Greetings, all. New hanger here. Of course, I have questions. I tried hanging in the backyard over the weekend in my Speer, with a section of closed cell foam (also bought from Speer) as insulation (about 25X42). It did not go well. The pad was very clammy and scrunched and folded every time I moved. On the plus side, I got a great workout trying to flatten it down and stretched myself out good, too. On the negative side, I didn't sleep. Before I overreact and go straight to an underquilt, thought I would solicit advice. I have seen the SPE design; is this an effective solution? What type of material should it be made out of? Any other solutions I should think about?

Other questions:
- had some trouble with constriction around the shoulders, too. Is that just a function of sag, or is there more to it?
- I had some discomfort in my knees, too, like they were bending the wrong way a little bit with the shape of the hammock. Lying on my side helped a little, but also felt like different torquing going on. Any suggestions?

All that and it was still more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. Thanks in advance.

RE: the shoulder squeeze and the hyperextended knees. These can result from too little sag. I found it hard to eyeball the proper amount of sag (at first). Having a ridgeline (generally at 80% of the hammock length) can make the sag management setup a LOT easier, at least it did for me. With enough sag (around 30 degrees from horizontal), you can lie diagonally almost flat. If you're lying "on axis", you will likely experience the reverse banana/hyperextended knee feeling.

FWIW, I abandoned using a 20 inch wide pad after one night. Tried a wider pad (26" wide) the second night. It was better, but I still experienced "cold shoulders". I bit the bullet for a down UQ (Yeti 3 Season...and later a Crow's Nest) and haven't looked back.