I would say that this black Morgan is definitely more solid than the new ones, and the plaiting is indeed neater and less cramped.
I did have another 8 ft Morgan made in 2000, which I traded to Bernardo. The braiding was nice in that whip, but I didn't like how it cracked. This whip is more robust and I like how it cracks.
The couple funny things with the whip are that the diameter is so large just after the handle (it's a little over an inch), and in the turk's head on the knob, the lace must've stretched down because the lace was worked a little further. So in a couple spots the knot is 4-laces wide instead of the regular 3.
The guy that had this whip said he cracked it for an hour and then put it in storage, putting Pecards on it occasionally. I figure he must not have cracked it a whole lot in that hour, since the cracker looks to be the first one tied onto the fall, and when I cracked it, the knot actually tightened up. There's also a fair bit of shellac left on the whip, all the way down to the fall hitches.
For specs on the 'most stock whip cracks in a minute', the handle has to be at least 19" long, the braided part of the whip between 4 1/2 ft and 6 ft, the fall at least 27", and the cracker at least 6". I made this whip as close as I could to all the minimum measurements.
I still haven't heard anything about my attempt last year to set a new 'bullwhip cracks in a minute' record, but I have started the process with Guinness to attempt that record again.
-Adam,
www.winrichwhips.com
