mal said:
Cheers mate are all of these normally purchased with the cords attached or do you by that separately
A lot of the time (nearly always) you attach your own cordage, the advice that has been given with reference to keeping costs down is good advice, you can use a hammock all year round, but it will take a while before you learn exactly what is needed (I have been using hammocks year round for quite a long time).
What Gary said about a Basha and Bivvi bag is quite true, the military have been getting by with it for a long time now, so it is a tried and tested method.
I would get used to using that and then from the experience you gain adapt things so that you have a system that suits you rather than a system that conforms to someone elses ideals.
You can get a lot of advice from people that use the kit on here (hammocks, pods, Hennesys, therma-rest / ridge rest (they are made by the same company), kip matts and a multitude of sleeping bags), but you would be better tackling each as a seperate entity.
Basha or Hootchie doesn't matter, they both do the job in the same way, they are light and pack down small, all will probably agree that the issue Bivvi bag is value for money, but your body is different and as such a sleeping bag that some may consider a deep freeze you will be quite comfortable in and vice versa.
If you go through some of the threads on here you will find that there are questions from people whose body's work in similair ways to your own and you can make informed choices from that. You very rarely get an area on kit that everyone agrees on totally and the reason is we are all different. Have a good search through the threads on hammocks, sleeping bags and the like you will find something that will ring a note with you. All the best Leon :wave: