The fall of a whip wears out … its one of the parts of the whip under the most strain when you crack it
even more so if you havent got a cracker / popper on it
even leather whip falls wear they get on the ground hit things at supersonic speeds and generally take a heap of abuse
no matter what your fall is made out of it will degrade and need replacing over time
so here is my easy guide to running repairs on synthetic whip falls (doesnt matter if they are nylon or PET its the same for both )
so your fall should look like this when new…
its a piece of paracord half hollowed out then looped back on itself the inners stop an inch to an inch and a half before the end of the fall and that last bit is totally hollow ( or should be)
sometimes a cracker / popper comes off and you dont notice you crack the whip a few times and the end of the fall starts to fluff up like this…
not a problem snip the fluffy bits (or dont) and melt the end of the fall with a lighter and squish it flat with some pliers / grips/ fingers(if yours brave or have asbestos hands like me) anything that will flatten and melt the end together to stop it fraying any more re attach the cracker and away you go …
if you have left it a bit too long…. or you have had to melt it back a few times you can end up with you fall looking like this …
still dont panic.. now this is a little more fiddly but totally repairable
for ease of photography I have done the cord in 2 colours so you can see what is going on the inner cord (with the core still in it) is red the outer is black bear in mind on your whip both parts will be the same colour and the core will be white
what you need to do is slide back the outer layer of the paracord leaving the inner layer with the core exposed
snip off about an inch of the inner paracord and then singe the end to a nice rounded shape please be careful doing this they melt at quite high temperatures Nylon hotter than PET and they can and will catch fire so ensure there is no flame before squishing it with your fingers if you choose that way
now slide the outer cord sheath over the inner so you have an inch to an inch and a half of empty cord
I am pointing to where the inner stops
snip off the end square singe the end of the cord this time making it flat I like to have a good chunk melted as it seems to strengthen the fall from fraying
then you can attach your popper / cracker
tools required: a pair of scissors, a lighter and (optional) something to squish the hot cord like pliers or grips etc
perfectly do’able in the field
Alternatively send your whip back to me If I made it and ill change it for you FOC, all you pay is the postage to and from
Please note that this will shorten the fall of a whip and the fall will eventually need total replacement
It will make the whip feel different due to the shorter fall
Happy cracking,
Daz