Dave wrote:

On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:12:04 -0800, "Capt. JG" said:

However, when I replaced my fender lines recently, I dipped
the ends instead of taking the time to whip them. So far, it seems just
fine, the only difference seeming to be the asthetic.

I have to dissent from the prevailing wisdom you seem to be getting. If it
works, I see no reason whatever not to go with the easier alternative.

Agree.

The lines on my boat are whipped, but that's only because I didn't have any
of the "gook" required for dipping around when the time came to tidy up the
ends.

As to Joe's back splicing, it's an abomination.

A back splice leaves a lump at the end of the line that is neither fat
enough to make a decent stopper, nor thin enough to run through the
block. Plus, it doesn't play nicely with double-braided lines. I
learned to back-splice in scouts way back when, but I've never found it
useful in practice.

For small stuff, I just melt the ends. And since it's all small stuff
on my boat, no whipping or dipping, just melt the end or cut it with a
hot knife. For high-tech cores that don't melt (e.g. technora), pull
the cover back, cut off half an inch of core, pull the cover back over
the core and melt just the cover.

//Walt