LOL... definitely not a constructive conversation at Hammock Forums.
I have gotten into hammocks very heavily(literally)... but from this side of the conversation (LD backpacking, weight considerations, functionality and going to ground).
That said... I have come to appreciate the very diverse makeup of the Hammock crowd and it's helped with my designs overall. More importantly... it's been very refreshing to talk with Scout Dads, Hunters, fisherman, or just plain old outdoor users who simply are happy getting out and having a trip. I really love going to the local group hang. It's a whopping 3 mile walk in and we worry more about what food, whiskey and scotch will be there than who brought what gear or how. It's nice.
Anywho...
I had/have the same issues most of you had:
There ARE times you would want to go to ground for LD hiking... sleeping in a shelter, staying on a bald, scoring a free town stop on somebodies porch, sleeping under a table at an AMC hut or just flat out cowboy camping in a beautiful spot. Yes you could work around any and all of these... but like most hikers, I like to stay flexible and open to adventure and opportunity. It can be nice to never know where you will end up.
Weight (and bulk) does matter... though sparing a pound for comfort is reasonable, especially considering advances in the rest of our gear. And like many I found that my 1/8" torso light pad scraps I used in my 20's gave way to 12-16oz air pads to sleep on the ground. And I don't care how much you want to argue it... a poly cro ground sheet, tarp, foam pad and quilt is still the lightest thing you can take. But once you have based your system around a 1lb air pad... that changes your outlook a bit.
Winter... hanging a hammock in winter is more a novelty than practical in my experience... if we left the ground to be comfy... well when there is plenty of comfy snow to sleep on and perfectly good pads we already own to insulate us perfectly well... At some point deep winter hanging feels more like a badge of honor or proof of concept than a viable plan. If you need to add a pulk to your system just to carry all your sleeping gear...
Pads... Pads do suck in a gathered end hammock. They suck less in a double layer. They pretty much don't suck at all in a bridge. Underquilts are amazing... especially in a gathered end. But they sure make about the crappiest sleeping pad I've ever seen... That said when i was testing my fancy new winter pod at the Harriman hang a few winters back... I was forced to go to ground... and i slept on a 20x20x10" tapered zrest sit pad and my pack and slept in a ball quite nice and warm... so it's not impossible to ground out with an UQ... just silly. However... LD hikers are used to sleeping on a pad. A pad you can lay on without any uneven ground, pressure, or things sticking into you or crawling on you... well that's a pretty good improvement. So I think the pad issue tends to be overblown for many backpackers. If you are a dedicated hanger, or a casual outdoor user with options- I'd take an UQ any day of the week. But for LD hiking where you might not just desire a pad, but need one then a pad in a hammock is more comfy than a pad on the ground. And you can use "less" pad than you might need to be anywhere close to as comfy on the ground so there is some weight to be saved there. I have an M10 hammock that weighs roughly 6 ounces "tree to tree" I can hang that with a 1/8" thinlight pad in it and still end up at less weight than my Large neo-air. I wouldn't do a thru with that rig but the point is that there are some times that a hammock can actually be lighter if you're talking a fast and light weekend.
Sleep positions... My back is messed up, I have a torn rotor cuff at the moment and I can't sleep for more than an hour or so in anything without rolling over, that includes a memory foam mattress. Fortunately years of camping out have accustomed me to falling right back to sleep if i even wake up in the first place. I can sleep in a ball (fetal) or side in a gathered end... so wouldn't call that a deal breaker, though much more than a weekend and I'm done with a GE. But I can sleep in any position I want in a bridge. I think GE hammocks can work for folks... I think you should start there. But if you do and it's not quite working out for you. A bridge is like a floating cot- though not all bridges are created equal or readily available.
Fiddling... when a gathered end is working just right, and all the parts and pieces are hung just so and your last micro adjustment complete there is nothing more comfortable. When it's the end of the day and you hiked 20 miles and want to throw your pad down and pass out... nothing worse than a fiddly hammock. I found bridge hammocks (specifically recessed bar bridges) to be the middle ground. They are way more forgiving of pitch mistakes or errors and go up pretty reliably and consistently. So even when you blow the pitch because you're on a hill, or tired, or don't care... they hang just shy of perfect with little work. A half ass gathered end pitch and no matter how tired I was it seemed after the nap monster had been slain I would get up and finish hanging it right at midnight. Not so with a bridge.
Tent feel... A tent is a portable house, a room with walls, a roof, and a floor. That's nice. While you can start piling on the accessories and complicating the pitch with hammocks and doors, and floors, and beaks, and pole mods- you're not going to beat the simplicity and ease of a freestanding tent. Cuts the wind, the bugs, the rain. You can sit up, sort gear, you name it. You can cook food in the vestibule. You can have sex in a tent. You can share it with a partner, or play a game of cards with your kiddo. Nobody is getting in and out without the "ZZZRRRUPPP" of the zipper waking you up. There is still plenty good to say about tents. I think the only reason to abandon one (if you like it) is if you are not sleeping well on the ground. I don't think one has to do with the other... though there are several hikers (female especially) who value the privacy and security of a tent over the sleep factors. But if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
So long story short...
I don't think this is as cut and dry an issue as some make it.
Much like LD hikers can focus on weight to their detriment... hammock folks can focus too much on comfort. We each have our soapbox but I think there is some very solid middle ground.
If you take a variety of trip types- you'll likely use a variety of gear... no magic bullet here. But I find that a bridge is a pretty solid hammock option that works well with a pad and fits better than most options for LD hiking style trips. It's not a piece of gear that is highly used or familiar for either user base.
I have been working with some hammock forums folks though who were "done" with camping because of sleep issues. That blows. I was in scouts and I am talking to guys trying to get involved or go with the kids who struggle for that reason... reminds me of some of the dad's who didn't participate in the camping trips when I was a kid. So if at any point any piece of gear or lack of gear is stopping you from going- it becomes the most critical piece of gear IMO. I think that's what many of the hammock zealots are trying to get across to some of us UL folks. There are people who literally had their lives changed switching to a hammock... that's pretty cool.
I hadn't planned on it, but the last few months I adapted some of my UL bridge designs (i have the lightest bridge hammock in the world) for big guys. They are still in testing but i have a dozen folks, some as big as 360lbs and 6'6" tall testing these. In this bridge I can sleep in any position, even belly sleeping. It was originally designed to use with my 6 year old and a Exped Hyperlight Duo Pad that works perfect for us. And works out lighter than carrying two pads and two quilts coincidentally. I basically built the bridge to hold the pad... but then I reached out to some of these "Big Boys" who either stopped camping or relegated themselves to car camping and tried to see if we could figure something out for them. (Bridge hammocks stop at 200-250lbs).
This product isn't available for sale beyond a few prototypes... and not trying to sell anybody here on it. Just showing it as an idea and concept of what is possible with hammocks. While many hammock users do back pack, and hammocks are on the LD trails more often... it's still a pretty new deal and there isn't a lot of focus or innovation on "alternative" designs IMO. I think there is much that could be done with hammocks and pads... And i don't mean laying your hammock on the ground and putting a rainfly on it... I mean a whole new shelter system built around a few base models of bridge type hammocks that work with, not against, a traditional sleeping pad.
To give you an idea- I do have some "UL" versions of the luxury bridge at 1lb 9 ounces. My first full coverage bug nets are coming in at 8.5 ounces, and my first full coverage rain fly at 16 ounces. You'd need your pad/quilt to finish that system but it's not insane and even compares favorably to the weight and bulk of some tents folks use solo.
But on the flipside... my micro bridge is under 10 ounces (9.125). Wear a headnet, add a 6-8 ounce poncho tarp, put in a 3/4 length wide air pad at 12 ounces and a SUL top quilt at 12 oz and you have a very versatile ground and air system with insulation at well under 3 pounds. In fact we are getting closer to the 2lb mark for that system all in... that's pretty cool and approaching the lightest ground systems available if you swap out a thin light pad for an air pad... but you can balance your system depending on how often you feel you may go to ground with your pad choices.
Here's the folder of photos and such that I have been sharing with my test group on the Big Guy/Luxury bridge.
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Apygyt54yYPwg4tUiQQ-mi9wtMxgFQ
I don't show off the micro bridge.
Sorry for the rant... guess I missed talking to backpackers about hammocks as opposed to hammockers about backpacking, lol.