World Record attempt: 216 ft whip, UPDATE: It's official!

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:06 pm

UPDATE:

I just checked my record attempt on the Guinness website, and it said that I now officially hold the Guinness World Record for the longest whip that can be cracked. It was made official today, July 17, 2006.

I'm still waiting to hear about the other record attempt for the most bullwhip cracks in a minute, but I should hear something about it soon.

Below you can read my intial post made back in May.
______________________________________________________

Today I cracked a whip that I made of rope that was a total length of 216 ft. It was cracked by me and my dad; the whip is stretched out its full length, one person on the handle and the other holding the cracker. The person on the handle (me) throws a loop into the whip, which travels all the way down the whip to the end, and the person holding the cracker lets go at just the right time and the whip cracks.

I'd been thinking of doing this record ever since I made the attempt for the most bullwhip cracks in a minute. I talked to a lot of people about it, and finally got around to starting this project a few weeks ago.

This attempt was caught on two cameras, and was on the local television nightly news report, and will be in the local paper tomorrow. Now all I have to do is gather all the information and witness letters and send it all into Guinness to have it verified as an official Guinness World Record.

The previous record was 184 ft 6 inches.

I'd post pics of the whip, but it isn't very interesting to look at: just imagine a huge coil of rope tied to a shovel handle.

-Adam
www.winrichwhips.com

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:14 pm

I'd still like to see it. Congrats at beating the world record, Adam!!

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:17 pm

oh, okay, I'll go take some pics.

it makes me think of this emoticon:
;0

-Adam

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Wed May 24, 2006 9:31 pm

As you can see, the whip is made from rope, starting with 7/8" manila rope, going down to 1/4" braided nylon rope. The handle was a shovel handle, and yes, that is duct tape ;-)

One may ask, "why isn't this whip braided and made from leather?" For starters, that would make setting this record fairly cost-prohibitive.

Before I made this whip, I received the official rules from Guinness, and they say nothing about the whip being braided or being made from leather. So this whip is legitimate.

Ancient man actually used whips, but they probably weren't much more than sticks or sticks with pieces of vine or stringy tree bark tied onto the end.

Now this whip was a total beast to crack, and it took about 5 tries to get it to crack during the official attempt. Before that I practiced with a 120 ft whip, and the a 160 ft whip. Practicing with the 160 ft whip left my back in a big ball of knots.

-Adam

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed May 24, 2006 11:16 pm

How much total weight were you throwing out in front of you with that pile of rope?

Regards! Michaelson

rebelgtp · Post by **rebelgtp** » Wed May 24, 2006 11:45 pm

seeing that and thinking about something that long and that heavy makes my shoulders hurt

congrats on the record

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:16 am

I don't know how much weight.

You start out by throwing a loop into the whip that is about 7 ft high, and by the time it gets to the end it is about 7 inches high. At the start I would say that the moving loop is about 20 ft of 7/8" manila rope. So, whatever that weighs is what I threw. You would also have to account for the lever arm of the shovel handle.

My shoulders were fine. What killed me was when I practiced with a 160 ft whip for about an hour. After that my back was all knots, since cracking such a whip is more in the back than just the shoulders or arms. While suffering with what felt like a giant side-ache up and down my back, I decided that the next time I crack that whip it's going to be for the official attempt. My back and shoulders feel fine now.

I run and lift weights regularly, so cracking this whip wasn't that much of a toll on my body.

-Adam

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:22 am

Now there’s a whip you could swing on!

Seriously though, that’s excellent Congrats Adam, good luck with the record-breaking process . If you can post a copy or a link to the news paper article. I bet we would all enjoy reading it.

Dan

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Thu May 25, 2006 2:54 am

winrichwhips wrote:One may ask, "why isn't this whip braided and made from leather?" For starters, that would make setting this record fairly cost-prohibitive.

Uhm, yeah!!

Aw, come on! You don't want to make a 216 foot roo hide whip?

BullWhipBorton wrote:If you can post a copy or a link to the news paper article. I bet we would all enjoy reading it.

Certainly!

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Thu May 25, 2006 4:33 am

http://www.wqow.com/news/articles/article_6764.shtml

This is a link to the TV station webpage. They said it was 215 ft long because that's what I kept telling the reporter all day, and I forgot to tell him that he should use the official measurement taken before the attempt.

There really won't be an article in the newspaper, www.leadertelegram.com, but there will be a picture with a caption. The paper did a full article about me last fall.

-Adam

midwestwhips · Post by **midwestwhips** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:15 am

Hey Adam,

That's Awesome!!!

Congrats'!

Paul Nolan
MidWestWhips

Lightning · Post by **Lightning** » Thu May 25, 2006 7:38 pm

I just saw the footage on the Fox Report, really cool.

midwestwhips · Post by **midwestwhips** » Thu May 25, 2006 9:26 pm

Hey Adam,

I just had a nice chat with Russell Schultze, and he said to tell you that he saw you on his television this mornging! He said it was about 20 seconds or so on the news I think it was. How cool is that!!!! You were on TV in Australia!!! That's so cool, Good on ya'!!! Looks like your getting great publicity from it!

Regards,

Paul Nolan
MidWestWhips

Paul_Stenhouse · Post by **Paul_Stenhouse** » Fri May 26, 2006 2:44 pm

Adam,

Nicely done! That's one #### of a bullock lash you've got there.

Best Regards,

Paul Stenhouse

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:43 am

Now that this record is official, I plan to go after the record for the most stockwhip cracks in a minute. This record will be a challenge, but I think the key is maintaining a consistent pace throughout the minute.

-Adam

Mola Ram · Post by **Mola Ram** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:50 am

I succusfully cracked a 150 foot Whip made out of XLR audio cable,
so Im doing what i can to build a 200Fter. Ill see what happens and tape when i do it. so watch out.
Adam

Indiana_Hall · Post by **Indiana_Hall** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:55 am

Adam,

My congrads to you on the record - my hat is off to you! Good luck on the most stockwhip cracks record....

Highest Regards,
-Chris

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:01 pm

Hey Mola Ram,

Good idea using the audio cable. It's more dense than rope, to be sure. Though, I bet it's also more expensive. I think I only spent $100 or so building the 216 ft whip, and could have got by with less if I hadn't spent an extra $50 on rope to experiment with.

I say if you can get a 200 footer to crack, you should shoot for 250 ft, and really beat my record. However, I practiced for an hour with a 160 ft whip, and that was easy compared to cracking the 216 ft whip. If you don't jog/run and lift weights now, you should start.

Peace out,

Adam

Mola Ram · Post by **Mola Ram** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:31 pm

winrichwhips wrote:Hey Mola Ram,

Good idea using the audio cable. It's more dense than rope, to be sure. Though, I bet it's also more expensive. I think I only spent $100 or so building the 216 ft whip, and could have got by with less if I hadn't spent an extra $50 on rope to experiment with.

I say if you can get a 200 footer to crack, you should shoot for 250 ft, and really beat my record. However, I practiced for an hour with a 160 ft whip, and that was easy compared to cracking the 216 ft whip. If you don't jog/run and lift weights now, you should start.

Peace out,

Adam

I do a little of that,
I guess i will have to step up my work load

Well, congrats to you for beating the old record. Hopefully i can make it
up there myself with the 250Fter. What is the best crack for something that big? I tried a sidearm crack with the audio cable, and ended up having to roll out of the way as it cracked, right over my head. I was in a hallway so there was not enough room for a overhead.

Canyon · Post by **Canyon** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:39 pm

Adam, this is great news! Congratulations!

winrichwhips · Post by **winrichwhips** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:41 pm

Mola Ram,

A hallway is pretty good. It it's a smooth floor, just start running one way with the whip trailing behind, get it really moving, and then start running the other way as fast as you can. Good luck finding a hallway long enough to do that in.

My idea for cracking a longer whip was to find a gym that was really big, and have the whip slide on the floor. Then do what I wrote above, run one way, then run the other way.

When I cracked the 216 footer, it was outdoors on a hill, and I did a samurai sword chop over my head with the handle and that got a big loop traveling down the whip. That crack only works if someone else is holding the other end. And it is also hard to do with a whip over 200 ft long, because the loop has to stay vertical the whole way down.

Well, keep me posted on how things go for you. I plan on doing the stockwhip record next, but if you do beat me, I just might try the long whip record again.

-Adam

Minnesota Jones · Post by **Minnesota Jones** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:36 pm

Since it's official, congrats my friend!

I still want to get together one of these days (SOON!) to do some cracking as I've gotten rusty lately, but I'll pass on the 216 footer....

Well done!

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:47 pm

Congratulations Adam, glad it finally became official. Good work.

Dan

USNavyBlueAngel · Post by **USNavyBlueAngel** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:41 am

Congratulations, Adam!!

I'm very happy for you!!!

Are you going to be in Ohio next week?? I heard Chris won't be there. Hardly anyone I hung out with last year is going to be there! LOL!

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 5:29 am

'grats!!!