Weeks and months went by after trying my stocks, other bullwhips, until I finally realized that the whip that I had in my hands last May, was the target whip that was the benchmark for them all. We all know that Paul makes a #### good Indy style bullwhip, but for target work I think he nailed this one.
What makes a target whip a target whip? It is basically a bullwhip with a longer handle foundation. The longer handle, like a rifle muzzle, provides more accuracy to the experienced whip handler. A shorter handle bullwhip or no handle whip, like snake whips, are far less accurate because there is a slight rotational vector when the whip is thrown. Stocks are very accurate, but the keeper attachment design in my opinion makes them not track as true as a long handled target whip.
Paul's secret sauce to not just putting a longer handle on it, is the nice taper found in the thong, the taper of each lace in the thong area and the weighting and balance. Paul shipped me this whip with some nice weight to it. This whip right out of the box, has a very heavy feel to it. Since target cracking and multiple cracking routines are way different in speed of performance, the sacrifice is that the heavier balanced whip would slice the air better.
Anyway, just wanted to share with you this picture of a Paul Stenhouse, 7 foot target whip, with a 12 inch handle foundation, and the knots braided in 2 tones. I also wanted to add that Paul is still making whips and is still charging $30 a foot. So for $210, this is one #### of a whip.
-Sergei
