Cutting Whip Falls

Rusty Jones · Post by **Rusty Jones** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:48 pm

Hey guys, I got a great deal on an 8ft whip off Ebay, so far, its pretty good, but it has two excess long falls, and two excess short falls in edition to the fall with the popper, I'm considering cutting these extra falls but I wanted to see what you guys though... would it affect the crack you think?

Calico Jack · Post by **Calico Jack** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 7:02 pm

Mine had 2 extra falls, each about 2 1/2 feet long, and I cut them off... it works much better now, in my opinion.

You're from Raleigh? I lived in Cary for a summer, my sophomore year.

Rusty Jones · Post by **Rusty Jones** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:31 pm

Cool thanks, definatly gettin rid of the extra falls... (unless I hear of a profound reason not to before whenever I get around to it)

I'm from Atlanta Orginally, but I've lived in the Raleigh area for about 5 years now...

(is yours an Ebay whip too?)

Bufflehead Jones · Post by **Bufflehead Jones** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:44 pm

Do I understand your question correctly? Does the whip have all of these falls connected to the whip at the same time? I can't see the whole whip in the photo.

Rusty Jones · Post by **Rusty Jones** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:26 am

yeah, sorry, its a kind of 'flailed' end... like each strand of leather was set aside for a fall, but on the longest one has a popper on it... (it is knotted so its not just loose ends)

Texas Raider · Post by **Texas Raider** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:35 am

Yeah, that's one of those less expensive Mexican, or the like whips. I had one of those once. It has a rope core

. Cut the extras off. Unfortunately, my friend, those aren't the greatest to learn with. You have to work pretty hard to even get the things to crack, they hardly weigh anything. You probably could have gotten a Winrich IOAB for a few dollars more and had a FAARRRR better whip. Still, do with what'cha got for now and enjoy. You'll see what I mean when-( I know you'll want to upgrade sometime in the future

)- you get a higher quality whip.

have a nice day.

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 4:33 am

Rusty, If that where my bullwhip I would cut the three extras off but I would leave about two inches of the leather remaining. Keep the longest for the fall, and then narrow it down closer to the diameter of the braided end of the whip, or better still taper the fall if its wide enough. That will improve the whip somewhat. Keep the extras as spares; you may need them later on if the fall breaks. Good luck

Dan

Indiana Jerry · Post by **Indiana Jerry** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 6:14 am

Right - the point is to not cut so close to where they are knotted in so as to weaken it, or you could lose a lot more.

J

Calico Jack · Post by **Calico Jack** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 1:14 pm

Yeah, mine's Mexican, too, but it's all leather (no rope core), albeit of a rougher finish, except for the (presumably) wooden handle inside the bottom.

Mine wasn't ebay, but I liked it a great deal when I saw it.

Rusty Jones · Post by **Rusty Jones** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 6:30 pm

Yeah I wouldnta gotten it except it was I think about 25 bucks with shipping... I'll be looking into a much nicer whip in the future...

thanks for the advice guys!

Indiana Jerry · Post by **Indiana Jerry** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 6:46 pm

Yep, my first two whips were $10 eBay finds...until Adam started making the IOAB there wasn't anything w/ the right look down in my price range.

First whip I got had dried out - snapped it once and it crumbled, popper flying off into the trees...

Second whip had a wooden handle...I was in the process of trying to figure out how to make it more Indy looking (shave the handle, plait over it, etc.) when I got the IOAB...

Ark Hunter · Post by **Ark Hunter** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:45 pm

Yeah, I think I know what you are talking about, as I had the Mexican ebay whip too, but can't tell hardly anything from your photo.

It's just how they ended the plaiting. It's definatly not the normal way to attach the fall (or the popper to the fall for that matter)

I trimed mine off to about 3/4". If you cut them flush they will most likely start unbraiding if you are actually cracking the whip. Mine is sort of loose at the end. I also trimed the real/main fall to about 1/4" width. (becareful not to cut to close to the slit at the popper end)

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 6:52 pm

Many of us had these whips in our collections at one point or another. There usually a simple 4 plait with a bare wooden swivel handle with a bundled rope core. The quality varies but you get what you pay for. If the leather is in good shape with a lil modification they can be improved and a skilled whip artist can still do some fun tricks with them. Unfortunately most of these whips wont stand up to much use, so if you take a serious interest in whip cracking you will want to trade up. I usually don’t even bother with these type whips anymore; however I have a few that are 15, 20 years old that are not too terrible. I can see the appeal of them though to some one just starting out, but be careful, many are made from such poor leather or have dried out so badly that they just fall apart.

The slit in the fall won’t hold the cracker that well, I recommend just trimming it down and punching a hole in the fall with a leather punch or a nail and thread your cracker though that. It will hold it more securely. Or if you thin the fall enough and the leather is sound you can try tying it on with Kimberly knot like you would with an Australian type fall. Your fall looks a lil “furry” you might want to put a leather dressing on that whip it might be a bit dry. Good luck and be safe.

Dan

Rusty Jones · Post by **Rusty Jones** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:31 pm

Thanks again for the tips, it cracks better without the extra falls. Hopefully I'll be getting a better, more 'official' whip soon, but for now, this one is a worthy place holder; it does have only 4 plaiting, but its plaited over handle so it looks similar to indy's... aside from the 4 plaiting/color