Half Hitch vs Whip Finish

[smallieFanatic 0]

There is no contest between the two. Whip finish in infinitely superior in durability and everything else.

 

what type of testing have you performed to come up with your conclusion of which is better??

 

Uh, fishing with flies tied by these methods. I'm not sure how else you could form such an opinion.

[neoFLYte 0]

I'm not a knotologist, but I do play one on TV.

 

Oatka... Too funny!

 

Which is more durable? I have no idea. I finish my flies with a whip finish and use Griff's Thin head cement, Griff's Thick head cement, Hard as Hull, Sally Hansen clear nail polish, or Tuffleye... depending on what effect I am after.

 

[Guest]

A properly done Whip finish hands down, learn to do it by hand and you won't need cement when you're done.

 

Fatman

[Jaydub 0]

Many years ago during my first year of tying, I half hitched my heads. Occasionally I would end up with a loose thread. I've never had that happen with a whip finish.

 

With a half hitch the tag end of thread is only trapped by a single thread. With a whip finish it's trapped by several. It should be obvious which is more secure. That said, I know of at least two very well known and respected tyers who half hitched their heads. So well placed half hitches with good head cement can be acceptable.

 

[blkvette98 0]

I have not yet mastered the whip finish. I see some guys tie it with just about their eyes closed. Some use a tool. For those who said their half hitches start to come apart or lose a hitch as soon as they trim I have a simple fix. Pull your last hitch tight and let the bobbin hang by its own weight. Add a little head cement at the bottom of the hitch and slightly down the hanging thread. Give it 30 seconds and trim it off.

Probably nothing new to many but it works. Also by putting a bit of head cement down the thread it makes for a clean cut or trim.

OK now time to learn how to whip!!!

[Crackaig 0]

Way back when I attended my first fly tying lesson the instructor walked around the room a threw every whip finish tool in the bin. By the end of the night everyone could perform a finger whip finish. No one bothered to retrieve their whip finish tool! Since then I have never looked back. Some years later I learned the single finger whip finish. Now, when the thread breaks, if there is enough thread to form half hitches, there is enough to form a whip finish. Some people do like to use a tool, but I would go so far as to say learning a finger whip finish is an essential skill for a competant fly tier. Even if after you learn you make the choise to use a whip finish tool.

 

Cheers,

C.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I agree that the whip finish is the stronger knot; that's easy to see, if you look at how they're both tied.

 

 

I don't understand why some people feel that performing a whip finish with just your fingers is somehow superior to doing it with a tool. I would agree with Crackaig that it is important to know how to execute a finger whip finish so that you can still properly finish a fly even if you don't have the tool.

 

However, doing it with your fingers does not create a superior knot to the one you would make using the tool. I know how to do it without the tool, but I only do so if I'm forced to. The tool allows me to do it so much more quickly, easily and neatly, and without the danger of my rough fingertips cutting the thread. I don't see the problem with that.

 

Granted, you're using a tool when you don't technically need to, but you CAN tie flies without using a vise or a bobbin, too, but I don't hear people poo-pooing those tools.

 

I personally don't give a rip what anyone else uses. I just have never understood why such a neat little tool that does an important job to perfection so often gets singled out for disdain.

[JohnP 0]

Another post back from the dead. After close to 40 years of finishing my flies with half-hitches, I finally learned how to whip finish this winter, and now I will never go back to half hitches. The whip is more durable, for me, and the tool is fun to use, once you learn how. As always, YMMV.

[mikechell 0]

Some years later I learned the single finger whip finish.

Cheers,

C.

Do I need to go look this up on YouTube? Are you saying a "single wrap" finger whip finish ... or a whip finish using only one finger?

I am going to look it up, so I might have an answer before you answer, or not.

[flytire 0]

[JoeBillingsley 0]

Many years ago, when I was just beginning to tie flies, I attended a fly fishing conclave and mistakenly asked if a whip finish wasn't just a series of half hitches. Wow. I was afraid the tiers there were going to call security.

 

Joe

[mikechell 0]

Just got back from shopping with Wife. Didn't have a chance to look up the single finger whip finish so, thank you flytire. I might never use it, but I am going to learn it just 'cause it looks like fun.

[Crackaig 0]

The tool allows me to do it so much more quickly,

 

 

Does it? I have an ongoing disagreement about this with someone who makes whip finish tools. The problem is the definition of a whip finish. He says that the time taken is from when you have the tool set up to when you take it out as you draw the last loop up. Yes that part of it is faster. My point is the object is to finish a fly, so the time should be taken from when you complete the last wraps on the head to when you reach for your head cement.

 

So you have completed the head of the fly and have to form the whip finish, Now what did you do with the tool? where is it. Ha there it is. Pick up tool, drop tool on floor. Pick up tool from floor. Reposition seat. Thread the tool. Form the whip finish.

 

With fingers you simply continue without a break.

 

I know you don't always loose the tool, or drop it on the floor, but these things do happen. With fingers these never happen.

 

The forming of the knott is faster with a tool. The process of finishing a fly is slower.

 

Yes I agree that if you have hard skin on your fingers they are a solution. I trained as a heavy mechanical engineer, you can possibily imagine the state of the skin on my hands from that. To give you an idea when I first saw a 3/8" drive socket set I thought it was a toy! After a lot of work with a pumice stone and gallons of hand cream I managed to get them into a reasonable state. Not, soft but with skin like well tanned leather.

 

That is the single finger whip finish I was meaning in Hans' video. It has got me out of quite a few difficult situations when demonstrating.

 

Cheers,

C.

[ditz2 0]

I am not very adept at using at whip tool because I seldom use it. I hate the interruption of picking up the tool. I do think the whip is a better knot but I tied for several years with only the half hitch but I always used head cement of some sort. I would do 2 half hitches and quit. I can only remember maybe 2 or 3 bugs ever coming loose on me while fishing. I do now use a whip on about half of my ties and mostly if I do not intend to use head cement. I don't use many tools regularly other than bobbin and scissors and vise. What I do use once in a while is a dubbing loop twister, Hackle pliers, and a hair stacker.

[kimjensen 0]

This is like listening to Frasier and Niles.

you know what? Make 2 flies, 1 finished with a half hitch and one with a 4 or 5 turn whip finish. Smack the flies around and see what holds best.