Whipping with loops

[Gryphon2]

Anyone know of instructions on how to whip rope end with twine left in a couple of loops the way riggers do to attach a mousing line? I have made it up but good to know the right way!

 

[Tranona]

Easier to sew the loops in afterwards using a sailmakers needle and whipping twine.

 

[Refueler]

As an ex seaman who did this ... I can say there is no ONE way to do it ...

There sewn loops and whipping .... there are variations on the sailmakers whipping ... there are variations on the standard whipping .... usually the loops first - then the whipping completed trapping the loops.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Anyone know of instructions on how to whip rope end with twine left in a couple of loops the way riggers do to attach a mousing line? I have made it up but good to know the right way!

I can imagine several possible ways that would probably work, but I think that the suggestion of simply sewing a loop in is the most straightforward. Use a long needle, sew the end in below the whipping, then use the needle to take the end through the whipping on one side of the rope and then back down the other side. Finally take a few stitches to secure the end, and then tie the two ends together.

 

[Refueler]

I know it sounds terrible coming from an old salty seadog .... but I have moved on from mousing with sailmakers twine ....

I create the loops by sewing through the ropes end ... the twine ends are small knots that sit in the lay or plait of the rope ... I then pass heat shrink tube over and shrink it tight .... quick and neat.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I know it sounds terrible coming from an old salty seadog .... but I have moved on from mousing with sailmakers twine ....

I create the loops by sewing through the ropes end ... the twine ends are small knots that sit in the lay or plait of the rope ... I then pass heat shrink tube over and shrink it tight .... quick and neat.

Clever!

 

[neil_s]

I heat-seal the end of the rope and also the mousing line and then simply sew them together end to end.

 

[Daydream believer]

If it is braid on braid one can cut the core back & tuck the outer cover back inside. It makes a good strong loop on a halyard. Plus it finishes the end off neatly.

 

[Sandy]

The lovely people at Jimmy Green do a smashing job with making a 'knitted loop' in their whippings. Looks good and is very strong. I must ask them how they do it when I am next over.

@Refueler you can keep your shrink tube - horrid looking stuff.

 

[thinwater]

A reeving splice is much stronger and possibly faster. Remove some core and do a bury splice eye as you would with singlebraid.

 

[Refueler]

The lovely people at Jimmy Green do a smashing job with making a 'knitted loop' in their whippings. Looks good and is very strong. I must ask them how they do it when I am next over.

@Refueler you can keep your shrink tube - horrid looking stuff.

Fair enough .. each to their own ...

Having been there and got the Tshirt as an old school seaman .. splicing / mousing etc ... there are more modern ways to do the job .....

As to horrid looking ? Given some of the sailmakers twine jobs I've seen after a few uses - I can honestly say the heat shrink looks far better !!

 

[Roberto]

Is it for regular use like say pass the third reef line while sailing (sometimes people use a messenger loop line between the 2nd and 3rd cringle)?
Otherwise for single use like replacing a rope while in port, I end to end the two ropes and use duct tape to wrap them tightly, never had any come undone; it also works with coax, electrical and radar cables

 

[lustyd]

This is how I do mine. I leave a longer tail on the whipping and then use that to sew 2-3 loops on the end of the rope. I then do half hitches to keep the whole thing together and add a bit of strength. It might make more sense to do this first and whip over the top, but I've not had one fail yet.

 

[Refueler]

One of the problems is that if the halyard is sized to the sheave it passes over - often the mousing can actually catch as it makes it a tight fit ...

In some cases - I have actually passed the needle down through the end face of the rope and exit to side further down ... the whipping or heat shrink then holding the rope end together ...

 

[Gryphon2]

Thank you for all the answers. An actual eye is no good for my application which is just to remove the ropes for cleaning. The halyard has an exit from the mast which is only just big enough for the rope itself.

 

[Wansworth]

West country whipping?

 

[Tranona]

With polyester there is no need for whipping - just seal the end and then sew in a loop which will be no larger than the rope. As an aside if it is that tight maybe your halyard is larger than it needs to be.

 

[GHA]

Anyone know of instructions on how to whip rope end with twine left in a couple of loops the way riggers do to attach a mousing line? I have made it up but good to know the right way!

If it works & keeps working it is the right way

 

[dunedin]

Thank you for all the answers. An actual eye is no good for my application which is just to remove the ropes for cleaning. The halyard has an exit from the mast which is only just big enough for the rope itself.

Then sew the halyard directly to the mousing line, as the neatest option.

I have sewn whipping twine onto the ens of our halyards for this purpose, but as noted sewn first then whip over the top. Rather than two strands of shipping twine I use plenty - twisted round each other as added. Perhaps one strand of twine in the loop for every mm diameter of halyard (eg 10 strands for 10mm rope).
Always better to spend 5 minutes longer attaching the mousing line securely than a major project to re thread a halyard if the joint fails (and why I never use tape only)

 

[lustyd]

Then sew the halyard directly to the mousing line, as the neatest option.

I used to do this, but it's not reusable hence changing to the method I showed above. Now I just tie a bowline in the mousing line through the little loop any time I need to. If you're sewing anyway then sewing a loop is just as quick and you only have to do it once.