Reddit mentions of Nite Ize GearLine Hanging Organization System, 4 FT Webbing With Loops, S-Biner Clips, + Bendable Gear Tie Ends To Hang Your Gear Anywhere, Colorful S-Biners, Multi-Colored (SS-SMS-4005776)

There’s a guy who replaced the two-piece steel spreader bars with DIY three-piece carbon fiber spreader bars, to make it lighter and pack down smaller… I haven’t done anything nearly so ambitious, but I’d like to give it a try sometime.

You will have to get a suspension system if you don’t have one already. I use these carabiners and Kammok Python Straps. You might need something different if you’re not hanging from trees, but the hammock doesn’t come with any kind of suspension system.

I set mine up with a four-foot Nite Ize Gear Line between the two attachment points at the top. Useful for storing small items out of the way (so they don’t end up sliding under your butt). It can’t take anything heavy, but I hang my keychain, glasses, headlamp, hat, gloves, etc. I also threaded the line with some battery powered fairy lights. It’s small, simple, lightweight, and bright enough to light the whole tent/hammock when I need it, without having to put on my headlamp. Maybe not bright enough to read by, but I read eBooks on my phone. The nice thing is, the Gear Line and lights can just be left in place and packed away with the hammock.

The inside has velcro anchor tabs along the perimeter. I use them to anchor some Reflectix under me as insulation. It really helps on any night below about 68 ℉ (which means most nights, even in summer), and the anchor points mean I don’t wake up to find the pad flipped around on top of me… again. I just used some velcro to connect to the hammock, flat bungee cord, and plastic tarp clips on the reflectix pad. I like having the pad just in case I have to stake it out on the ground as a tent. An underquilt would just flatten out and be useless. The Reflectix also acts as a barrier between me and the hammock fabric, so even if something pointy and metal ends up under me, it will only damage the pad, not rip through the hammock. My multitool, for example, likes to find its way out of my pocket. Metal rivets in jeans and metal zippers on hiking pants are also a concern… though the fabric is probably tough enough, I don’t want to risk it. The Reflectix is a nice padded barrier.

Just today, I rigged up an underquilt using… another hammock! A cheap rope/net hammock under the underquilt provides just the right kind of flexible tension across the whole bottom of the hammock to keep the quilt up under me. Like I said, I only just set it up today, so I still have to test it out overnight, but it seems to be working better than anything else I’ve tried so far (which always leaves an air gap, making the underquilt useless—especially as the hammock flexes). With spreader bar hammocks, underquilts are tough. This solution seems like it will work.

Lastly, I’ll mention simple DIY self-tensioning guylines. You can guy out this hammock to reduce swaying if you don’t like to swing in the hammock, or if it’s really windy, OR if you just find it too tippy and you’re afraid you’ll fall out. The self-tensioning lines allow for some give as the hammock moves, while still preventing you from freely swinging or tipping. I find it pretty stable and almost never use the guylines, but on windy days it’s nice to have so I’m not randomly swaying in the wind all night.