The common whipping is the simplest type of whipping knot

Whipping knot

A whipping knot or whipping is a binding of twine around the end of a rope to prevent the fibres of the rope from unravelling.When a rope is cut, there is a natural tendency for the cut end to fray. A whipping is one way to try to prevent this, by applying multiple turns of twine tightly around...

, a series of knots intended to stop a rope

Rope

A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

 from unraveling. As it can slip off the rope easily, the common whipping should not be used for rope ends that will be handled. This whipping knot is also called 'wolf' whipping in some parts of the world. The 'Hangman's knot

Hangman's knot

The hangman's knot or hangman's noose is a well-known knot most often associated with its use in hanging. For a hanging, the knot of the rope is typically placed under or just behind the left ear. When the condemned drops to the end of the rope, the force is supposed to break the neck...

' is a variation of this whipping knot.

The benefit of a common whipping is that no tools are necessary and the rope does not need to be unlayed. The problem is that it will slide off the end of the rope with little provocation. Other whippings avoid this by interleaving the whipping with the strands of the rope and creating friction with the strands to avoid slipping.

Normally a natural fiber rope is whipped with twine. The size of the rope dictates the size of the twine. Any twine can be used, but tarred two strand hemp (marline) is preferred. Artificial-fiber ropes should have their ends fused by heat rather than whipped to prevent unraveling.

Process

	The rope should be whipped a short distance (One and a half times the diameter) from its end.
	Lay the head of the twine along the rope, make a bight Bight (knot) In knot tying, a bight is a curved section, slack part, or loop between the two ends of a rope, string, or yarn. The term is also used in a more specific way when describing Turk's head knots, indicating how many repetitions of braiding are made in the circuit of a given knot.-Slipped knot:In order... back along the rope
	Begin wrapping the twine around the rope and bight of twine securely. Wrap until the whipping is one and a half times wider than the rope is thick
	Slip the working end of the twine through the bight. Carefully pull on the standing end of the twine until the bight and working end are pulled under the whipping (Note: It is normally necessary to maintain tension on the working end to prevent the bight from being dragged completely through and so destroying the whipping)
	Cut the twine flush with the edges of the whipping and the rope end not less than half its width from the whipping to give the rope end a finished look