Whip finish direction

[Steven]

In the head cement thread, herefishy asks, "does it matter if you run the wraps back from the eye, or just kind of slop them on top of each other?"

Anybody have any thoughts on whether to whip finish towards the bend or towards the eye?

I think AK Best advocates to whip towards the bend. I think the Beatty's advocate towards the eye.

[Silver Creek]

Beatty is correct. The smoothest whip is towards the eye and does not expose the thread going back over the whip. There is less chance of the thread breaking.

I don't use head cement so for me it matters. If you use head cement, it probably does not matter.

Whip towards eye



Whip away from eye

[ScottP]

Had to think on that for a minute since I rarely use a whip but I agree with SC; towards the eye.

Regards,
Scott

[herefishy]

I can't even visualize how you would do that bottom one. But I would call the top one wrapping away from the eye. Just the way I see it. That's the way I do it, just not sure I carefully lay each wrap next to it's neighbor and not on top of it. Will have to look more carefully and see if it just happens automatically.

[DUB]

Wrap towards the eye. Watch where Hans places the wraps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M482D0wFvHA

[herefishy]

Wow, you're absolutely right. And I've done it wrong all these years, with my hands and the tool.

[Byron haugh]

You sure?
An old sports magazine posts a video of the opposite

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/...ed-whip-finish

[herefishy]

I couldn't get that one to show, but did see another one on utube that is exactly like I do it and I can see the error of my ways, as that last tightening of the knot will pull all the wraps together and leave it all bunchy. Gonna change my ways

[Jayatwork]

You can see in that old video, as he is tightening it, he has that single strand over the top of the wraps, just like in Silver Creek's picture. It's too blurry so see in the finished knot. I'm not sure how much difference it really makes. I tied a lot of them front-to-back when I first started tying and I don't remember too many coming apart.

[Byron haugh]

I have done it both ways. Not me of the knots have come loose.

The advantage of tying the knot "going back away from the eye" is that you do not run the danger of crowding the eye of the hook with your knot.

Just tied a whip finish knot going back from the eye and there is no visible difference. The knot is just as smooth as going in the other direction.......................