How to tie a fallhitch
Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 10:44 pm
I was wondering how to do this as i am struggling to complete a whip i started. I am completely confused as to how to do this.
Also, as long as the fall holds it really well, ( which it should ) this isn't completely necessary.Canuck Digger wrote:The two most important things about tying a fall hitch are:
-Start with the top most strand.
-Make sure the strands are all tight before you tie your hitch (just like Joe says).
True, if you are tying a long fall hitch, running the last one under a few strands and then back up again is a good idea, it's not necessary but it makes it that much tighter so not a bad idea at all. But it's rare you will find a fall hitch with more than eight strands because it's rare to find a whip that ends with more than eight strands, and even with eight strands you could make your hitch like Joe does with six and it would still work. Your biggest problem wouldn't be how you tied your hitch but the narrow strands breaking...
I do one thing different than some whipmakers in my fall hitches; the very last strand I make the hitch opposite to the others. Not in the opposite direction mind you, so if you are looping your strands from right to left, it is still from right to left, but if your hitches loop under the loop and pull the strand over it (like Joe demonstrated) then the last one would be looped OVER the loop first so that when the strand comes out of the hitch and you pull it toward the eye of the fall, the strand goes OVER the hitch. Why do I do this? Because going over the hitch "seems" (I say this in quotes because it is only my opinion), to lock the last strand a bit better by virtue of the strand being folded over itself before going under the eye of the fall. Having said that, it won't matter one bit if your strands are not equally tightened...
Just my two cents.
Franco