Falls, Hitches and Crackers

Hitches: The hitch is what attaches the fall to the braided portion of the whip. The most common is the four-point fall Hitch in which the remaining four strands tie "half hitch knots" around the fall. This can also be done with more than four strands. Another fall hitch is the "English Eye" or "Pseudo-English Eye". This is where the thong ends in a flat braided loop. In a normal English Eye, the whip maker starts backwards, first making the English Eye and the strands on the way up the thong towards the handle. In a Pseudo-English eye, the maker plaits normally from the handle down, then looping back after making the flat braid at the end of the thong. Ending the whip in a tapered twist works as a built in fall and requires no hitch.

Falls: The fall is the last piece of the whip before the cracker. It can be tapered, flat, hitched, or built into the thong, but it serves the purpose of aiding in the crack and also dissipating excess energy to avoid a rebounding wave in the whip. The average length of a fall varies, but on a nylon whip it is usually between 1.5-3ft

Crackers: The cracker is a twisted piece of thread or similar material that aids in the cracking of the whip. Watch this video on how to make a cracker: