DD Hammocks Frontline

About two years ago, I bought my first hammock. A DD Frontline Hammock. I've been rather satisfied with it, but not 100%, so I've been looking at others all the time. Sometimes I've been looking at making my own, and other times looking at buying a new one. Why? I'll try to sort things out below...

Size
The size of a hammock is very important, both the length and the width. Your length and build determines what is needed for your comfort. Me, I'm about 1.86 meters tall and weighs in just below 80 kg. I'm fairly athletic and guess that I my shoulders are a bit wider than average. DD Frontline comes is 2.7 m x 1.4 m and that gives you a rather small space. There are much bigger hammocks out there if you're a big guy, but you might manage with this one as well.
As I said, this is a bit on the small side for me. I have read several other persons saying that this is big enough for them, and they have been taller than I am. So... It's very much a personal preference.
The width might give you some shoulder squeeze though. It does for me if I don't find the right lay. This can be handled in different manners, they say, but I haven't been able to fully adjust to it.
The weight of a hammock obviously depends on the fabric, and the amount of fabric. And DD Frontline is 860 grams (hammock only). To that you need to add the weight of your preferred suspension system.

Design
The design of the hammock is really straight forward. It's a rectangle of the above mentioned size (2.7 x 1.4 m). The extra you get, is a attached mosquito net and spreader bars for the same. The new model also has tie-outs, for spreading the hammock and pegging it to the ground (that might help with some of the shoulder squeeze I get in it). The suspension system is of the simpler kind. One long piece of rope that you tie around a tree. I don't really like this set-up as it's very hard to adjust once you're done.
One good thing though, it has zips on either side of the mosquito net which allow for entry/exit on either side of the hammock. And this also gives that you don't have to decide which side is head and foot.
When I got mine, it came in one colour (green), but now it's available in four different colours.
In the package, there are two spreader bars for the mosquito net. that helps getting the net up and out of your face when you're in the hammock.

Lay
Most often I lay on the diagonal in my hammock. The reason for this is (as you might know) to get a more straight lay. Many people say you should string your DD Hammock rather tight, but I think I prefer it a bit more slack, almost 30 degrees.
One thing that I have noticed on some occasions is that a crease/ridge can form in the middle of the hammock. I have gotten rid of it by forcing the sides of the hammock outwards.

Insulation
The hammock has two layers, so you are able to use a sleeping pad in between for bottom insulation. I have tested with both a foam pad and an inflatable pad. Both work really smooth, but I prefer the inflatable one for comfort. The only down side of this solution is that it can be a little tricky to get the pad to be exactly where you want it. When you move around during the night, it's a little to easy to end up outside of the pad and it can get a little cold.
Instead I would recommend using an under quilt.

Modifications

I have made some modifications on my Frontline. The biggest is the change of suspension. I actually just hung it once using the stock suspension before moving over to whoopie slings and tree huggers. Now that has been changed as well, and I'm now using a strap with a carabiner around the tree, the same strap then goes down to the hammock where I have two rings. Fasten the straps in the two rings and tie it of using a quick release knot and you're done! This is very easy to adjust and is a lot quicker to set up than the stock solution.

Conclusion
I think DD is a fairly good hammock. I don't have many to compare it to, but it does what you expect, keep you of the ground :) Though the size is a bit small and therefore it's not for me.
__
Fredrik