hanging/making a gear hammock

[Dingus Khan]

Could someone please explain to me the real basics of the gear hammock? I would like to make my own out of nylon/sil if I can find it...

(I have a HH EXUL with 1/2 ccf pad, hex fly with 4 stake out points)

I understand that it can be hung from the prusiks at either end (foot ideally for those last minute "crap-forgot-my-headlamp" moments and that it should remain snug up against the hammock body. I have a large hex fly that has adequate ground space, so i am not as confined as with a stock fly, but would still like my stuff within reach.
The two main questions I have are:
1. what shape should it be? triangular with most of the weight at the bottom or just round like a glorified stuff sack? Both will have shock cord/draw cord to keep the stuff snug right.
2. Where do you attach the bottom tie-outs? Will staking alongside the HH out at a distance provide enough tension to keep the gear hammock snug? I thought about shock-cording the ties to the D rings on the side of my HH, but found that with too much weight it would probably damage the reinforced corners, or at least, pull them into an awkward position. I have also considered running shock cord around the sides of the hammock through the D rings and tieing them off to the opposite prusik, but that seems kind of stupid and the shock cords would most likely be annoying once I was inside the HH trying to sleep. (think nose wedgie)

I do not use an underquilt, (i have found that with my mountain light 20 bag and a full lenght ccf pad (spe is my next diy project) i have stayed quiet warm down to about 30F. I usually tie up pretty high, but on real cold temps can lower the hammock to basically bivy height with the tarp staked directly to the ground, works well but is a pain to get into and out of) and therefore am not worried about the quilt getting into the way.

I have not really looked into buying one simply because it appears to be a pretty easy job, but if someone knows of a good one for sale through either moonbow, HH, speer's site, etc, please let me know, I have not really checked them out yet.

Thanks and happy hanging