“Holy mackerel, there, Kingfish!” ;D
You hit one of my “sore spots”. To me, the ideal is the “classic” double-braid eye splice. Done right, it looks like an eye just magically “grew” on the end of a rope.
But Double Braid isn’t the answer to every cordage problem, so we have to learn the new techniques or step off the merry-go-round.
To me, whipping is just to keep stranded rope from unlaying, which means it only goes on the unadorned ends. (At the risk of ticking off the salty crowd, I suspect “worming”, “parceling”, and “serving” rope is just to give hormone-laced sailor-boyz something to do while on a 5-day reach, but I’m not “salty”, so I don’t know!) (With that said, I use the technique of “serving” to cover steering wheels, grab rails, flashlights, etc. – because I like it better than hitchery! How’s that for incongruous?)
I’ve put in more 3- and 4-strand splices than I can recall, and the “fuzz” just annoys me no end (pardon the pun); BUT, I’d rather live with the fuzz than that clabbered-on whipping some people use!! Not that the “whippers” are wrong!!! But the look offends my eye, and I suspect it weakens the rope some as well. Marline or sail thread, so what, who cares. At a minimum, it’s a place I can’t readily inspect, so I never know for sure if there’s a catastrophic failure hiding under there or not.
However, as I write this, I’m looking at one of my latest tools, a couple furlongs of 5/8" huge, solid-braid (aka “anchor plait”, aka “shock cord”) Nylon, with round-eye hooks in each end. To attach the hooks, I used eyes (instead of knots), which must be stitched & whipped in this material. So I’m not “evangelizing” here!
So, to answer your question: Is whipping integral? Yes and no. ;D
I have purposefully avoided “laid-core” rope, as the splices are ugly, whether the core is twisted or straight. My first laid-core eye (in 10mm straight core Kevlar) has held up surprisingly well, but it is so ugly, with its whipping of several diameters to secure the cover, plus the heat-shrink to cover the ugly whipping, it’s “not to be countenanced”. I throw it at the nastiest jobs, hoping for an early death, but Kevlar is made of sterner stuff…
Meanwhile, I have since learned how to successfully bury the cover, so I’m happy to again resign my Marline to “tatting”, “flashlight service”, and the inevitable Constrictors used in everything knotty.
Most materials I’ve seen so far will allow a significant enough cover bury (IFF you can get it buried!) without killing the strength. The extra constriction in the buried area apparently doesn’t bother Kevlar too much, and the Spectra/Dyneema, etc., with the “sock” has “plenty” of room for the cover bury, so IMNERHO, there’s no need for whipping those either. (“Plenty”? That’s a euphemism for “you can jerk the cover bury home with something less than a bulldozer”!)
To me, the first thing to do is get the manufacturer’s instructions for whatever splice you want. Some of the instructions are easy to find, some are not. Sometimes finding a similar construction (materials and technique) of another brand should serve you fairly well.
A lot of manufacturers want pretty splices too, so after you master their exact, precise method, pay attention to the “insides” of the splice & see if you can visualize what’s happening under the cover. Be aware that sometimes the constriction of the cover holds the core in place, sometimes not. No, I can’t be more specific. Just visualize the splice going together & try to see where the cover ends up. Remember the old German saying: “Take life as it comes, but try to make it come the way you want to take it.”
As a case in point, splicing Sta-Set-X calls for taping the cover to the core, so burying the core tail pulls the cover tail in with. The tape is icky, but it makes a very lovely splice, and – generally speaking – if Brion Toss says it’ll work, I’d trust him (but verify!!) with material, if not my life.
Mostly, though, just
A- remember your “Chinese Handcuffs”,
B- make sure you understand what part(s) of the rope provide strength & hold that “sacred”,
C- stitch (or tuck a-la the Brummel) for low-load security, and
D- whipped or not, finish it off as fair as you can.
And, most importantly, hold on to your requirement that the splice not fail under any circumstances!!! That’s your biggest asset right now!! “Waste” as much of your favorite rope as you need to, by destructive testing, until you know your splices will hold – then show them off to your friends.
Whipping won’t kill you, and some actually like the look. But you only “need” whipping on ropes that can’t effectively be spliced.
)in diameter in 12 strand something with a something cover. (polypro? that sound familiar, hmmmmm, i’ll get back on that)