parachute cord question
Moderator: BullWhipBorton
-
- Professor of Archaeology
- Posts: 779
- Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:14 am
- Location: Fall Creek, Wisconsin
- Contact:
parachute cord question
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
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
- Dig Leader
- Posts: 502
- Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:49 pm
- Location: Da swamps o' sou' flordee
- Contact:
Re: parachute cord question
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
Ron
-
- Archaeology Student
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 2:26 pm
- Location: Austin, TX
- Contact:
Re: parachute cord question
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
-Will
Re: parachute cord question
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
or something like that i cant completly remember.
ill try and find that again
- darksideman13
- Field Surveyor
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:03 pm
- Location: Shawnee, KS
- Contact:
Re: parachute cord question
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
- Archaeologist
- Posts: 204
- Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 3:11 pm
- Location: Doing something dangerous of course!
- Contact:
Re: parachute cord question
Firstly, how do you throw together 4 whips in a couple days?!winrichwhips wrote:I've thrown together about 4 nylon whips in the last couple of 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.
Re: parachute cord question
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?willthebold wrote:...or just plait slightly looser.
- classicbullwhips
- Vendor
- Posts: 217
- Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:07 am
- Contact:
Re: parachute cord question
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
Keep Crackin,
James
-
- Dig Worker
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 8:41 pm
Re: parachute cord question
WOAH!
adam askes questions????
to who do i look up to now?
adam askes questions????
to who do i look up to now?
- Long John Tinfoil
- Professor of Archaeology
- Posts: 1003
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 12:27 am
- Location: Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt
Re: parachute cord question
Shouldn't that be "to whom..."
LJ
LJ
Re: parachute cord question
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).