I am sliding into hammock camping on the slow and cheap to try it out. I got a Grand Trunk Ultralight from Campmor for $15 and I have a bunch of carabiners and various cordage. My thought was to try this one out for day hikes and a couple makeshift overnighters to see how I sleep. If I don't like that, I can still use it for day hike napping and sitting.
I have some 1/2" Kevlar mule tape (pulling tape) so I am going to use that for a first-try tree strap arrangement. The stuff burns at high temperature, but it won't melt like many synthetic fibers will. I was thinking about some sort of glue to whip the ends, like silicone or polyurethane, but I saw my hot glue gun while rummaging around my shop and the light bulb went on.
I found you can almost paint the hot glue on the end of the tape. I made a strip about 1/2" long on both sides and trimmed the end clean when it cooled. It penetrated the weave well and looks very neat and clean. I needed to cut one section in half, so I did the glue thing for about 1" in the middle and cut it when cool. It leave no loose threads and seems to be very durable. With the hot glue, it is immediate gratification--- no waiting hours for the stuff to dry.
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