parachute cord question

[winrichwhips]

I have a quick parachute cord question:

Do any of you nylon whipmakers out there rinse or wash your parachute cord before you make a whip out of it?

I've thrown together about 4 nylon whips in the last couple of days, and the last set I took outside and cracked them in the rain (they weren't waxed) and the plaiting that got wet tightened up.

(And I DID take the core out of the cord before using it. I've heard of bad things happening to parachute cord whips that used cord with the core left in)

I had plaited the whips as stiff as I wanted them, and was kind of miffed when the lower halves of the whips tightened up.

The only thing I could think of to fix the problem was to pre-shrink the cord by washing it before plaiting. I wondered if anyone else was doing this.

-Adam

[rjallen70]

Adam, I don't do that, but I do wet the handle/transition and knots and dry before sending them out. That way they start as stiff as they are ever going to be, and break in normally.
Ron

[willthebold]

I've made just a few nylons, and I was curious as to whether flattening the cord would really help that much in plaiting. Just for experimentation, I took out my iron, and set the steam to high. As I flattened everything out, I could feel the cord shrinking and pulling out from under my hand. I guess you could do that before hand to cut down on shrinking after it's made, or just plait slightly looser. The former would probably make the tightness more consistent.

-Will

[cabbynum]

Iv never made a nylon whip but i remember reading some where (I think on a website selling Para Cord) that they highly recommend pre shrinkage. THen let it dry so that it is kind of a mixture of tight and loose
or something like that i cant completly remember.

ill try and find that again

[darksideman13]

Hey Adam, I always soak my nylon in cold water before i start. It does shrink when it gets wet for the first time. After that you should be fine. as for the Turks head and transition knot i get those wet after i braid them. Keep the good work and the cool videos

[Dangerman009]

I've thrown together about 4 nylon whips in the last couple of days...

Firstly, how do you throw together 4 whips in a couple days?!

Secondly, I have to echo what darksideman said. I made a couple whips that I didn't preshrink the cord on. That was a BIG mistake.

[fenris]

...or just plait slightly looser.

is this a good option? plait loosely then make the whip shrink in water to tighten it up? or will the plaiting bunch up on certain areas?

[classicbullwhips]

Don't plait loosely, no matter what material you are working with, just a bad idea. Also it is all about personal preference when it comes to washing your para cord before plaiting.

Keep Crackin,
James

[fatcatrocky]

WOAH!
adam askes questions????
to who do i look up to now?

[Long John Tinfoil]

Shouldn't that be "to whom..."

LJ

[fenris]

I purchased some nylon cord which was core-less... Problem is it doesn't seem to wanna flatten out. Hehe... I tried to make a whip out of it... Didn't turn out hat well in terms of looks, but it does crack easily (and hit me on the shoulder blade easily).