How long do you folks think a fall should be?
Thanks much.
Length of a fall
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Janine Fraser
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Lenght of falls
G'day Zohar,
Falls are one of those items that need to be tuned to the whip for optimal performance. Its a good idea to talk to your whipmaker if possible and get them to explain what type of fall will suit your whip. Then when your out there cracking try to feel how your whip is falling out. You will soon become very familiar with your whips performance at its best and worst. I try to encourage my clients to do this, that way they will change there crackers and falls well before they get to the point where they are affecting the performance of the whips balance. I also encourage them to do their own minor repairs themselves, like replacement of falls etc (with tuition from me the first couple of times if they feel not so confident) Doing these repairs gives you the owner a great deal of satisfaction to do them yourselves.
I suppose a good rule of thumb on fall length is about 30" and tuned to the whips point to have a continual taper through to the cracker. Hope this has helped and not confused you any more.
Hooroo
Janine Fraser
"Let a FRASER whip do the cracking for you!"
Falls are one of those items that need to be tuned to the whip for optimal performance. Its a good idea to talk to your whipmaker if possible and get them to explain what type of fall will suit your whip. Then when your out there cracking try to feel how your whip is falling out. You will soon become very familiar with your whips performance at its best and worst. I try to encourage my clients to do this, that way they will change there crackers and falls well before they get to the point where they are affecting the performance of the whips balance. I also encourage them to do their own minor repairs themselves, like replacement of falls etc (with tuition from me the first couple of times if they feel not so confident) Doing these repairs gives you the owner a great deal of satisfaction to do them yourselves.
I suppose a good rule of thumb on fall length is about 30" and tuned to the whips point to have a continual taper through to the cracker. Hope this has helped and not confused you any more.
Hooroo
Janine Fraser
"Let a FRASER whip do the cracking for you!"
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Sergei
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Allright Janine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Folks, for all of you that don't know, Janine is a "whip maker" EXTRAORDINARE from Down Under. That makes TWO whip makers that have just joined our illustrious forum. The other one that just joined, is Paul Nolan. Later on that.
But back to topic. Janine answered this tough question very correctly. Zohar, it's another "IT DEPENDS" answer. How do you like that? There is a science to tuning your fall length to your whip and your style, preference. I did a little bit more research and from the literature I read the standard is around 600mm. So for us Americans, that is about 23 inches. But that is just sort of a guideline.
My preference is what Janine stated. I like my falls around 30inches (for my 8 foot-10 foot bullwhip). So I order my falls to be (or cut them to) around 28 inches. The falls stretch out and a 2 inch stretch (or more) is quite common. With constant cracking my falls reach the 30 inch mark within about a month.
As soon as I say that, I know Kyle will probably jump on me. I think he likes his falls a little shorter. But 30 inches for me, depends on the size of the braided portion of the whip. You see the whole science behind the crack and the EASE of the crack is that the entire portion of the whip, the handle, the thong, to the fall and the cracker, MUST BE A SLOW, GRADUAL TAPER. So everything is a taper. From the handle to the thong, the laces on the thong. The whip doesn't know that a fall is attached. The whip is all the pieces tuned to a perfect taper. The science is that the fall must gradually taper right out of the fall hitch. The fall must match the diameter at this point and slowly taper out to the end. The cracker is just a continuation of the taper. And people that I know, make sure that the cracker is even tapered. You can really get to extremes. But if you are a performer, like Janine, Mike Murphy, Fiona Wilks, etc. , it's little things like that that make a difference in compeition.
When you get to be very experienced with the whip, you can start to really discriminate and start being picky with on the exact length. The serious whip crackers really devote a lot of time and energy on tuning the fall and cracker to EACH whip.
So that is a long answer to your question. I tend to replace my falls when they get to be under 20 inches, even if they are in good condition. Sometimes, I don't wait that long and just replace it. So again, once you get serious, I would order a whole bunch of falls (like 10 or 20) and just slip them in, when you feel the cracks are starting to become more work or less thunderous.
That's my opinion. I don't think I stepped on too many toes.
-Sergei
Folks, for all of you that don't know, Janine is a "whip maker" EXTRAORDINARE from Down Under. That makes TWO whip makers that have just joined our illustrious forum. The other one that just joined, is Paul Nolan. Later on that.
But back to topic. Janine answered this tough question very correctly. Zohar, it's another "IT DEPENDS" answer. How do you like that? There is a science to tuning your fall length to your whip and your style, preference. I did a little bit more research and from the literature I read the standard is around 600mm. So for us Americans, that is about 23 inches. But that is just sort of a guideline.
My preference is what Janine stated. I like my falls around 30inches (for my 8 foot-10 foot bullwhip). So I order my falls to be (or cut them to) around 28 inches. The falls stretch out and a 2 inch stretch (or more) is quite common. With constant cracking my falls reach the 30 inch mark within about a month.
As soon as I say that, I know Kyle will probably jump on me. I think he likes his falls a little shorter. But 30 inches for me, depends on the size of the braided portion of the whip. You see the whole science behind the crack and the EASE of the crack is that the entire portion of the whip, the handle, the thong, to the fall and the cracker, MUST BE A SLOW, GRADUAL TAPER. So everything is a taper. From the handle to the thong, the laces on the thong. The whip doesn't know that a fall is attached. The whip is all the pieces tuned to a perfect taper. The science is that the fall must gradually taper right out of the fall hitch. The fall must match the diameter at this point and slowly taper out to the end. The cracker is just a continuation of the taper. And people that I know, make sure that the cracker is even tapered. You can really get to extremes. But if you are a performer, like Janine, Mike Murphy, Fiona Wilks, etc. , it's little things like that that make a difference in compeition.
When you get to be very experienced with the whip, you can start to really discriminate and start being picky with on the exact length. The serious whip crackers really devote a lot of time and energy on tuning the fall and cracker to EACH whip.
So that is a long answer to your question. I tend to replace my falls when they get to be under 20 inches, even if they are in good condition. Sometimes, I don't wait that long and just replace it. So again, once you get serious, I would order a whole bunch of falls (like 10 or 20) and just slip them in, when you feel the cracks are starting to become more work or less thunderous.
That's my opinion. I don't think I stepped on too many toes.
-Sergei
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The_Edge
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LOL Sergei!
I really don't have much more to add. Janine and Sergei covered it very well. Funny this question should come up though. I just recently cut and skived about forty new falls for myself. And just today I untied the hitches, re-braided the points and replaced the falls on most of my whips getting ready for Spring weather. The beauty of having such a large supply of falls to choose from is that I was able to go through and find the right size fall for each specific whip. I wasn't stuck with what the whip vendor decides to send me which may be too wide or too light for the particular whip I want it for. Sergei is right about me liking shorter falls. I've found that with my particular cracking style I like my falls to be between 18" to 26" in length. Any longer or shorter than that and I don't get the types of cracks and results that I like. None of the falls I cut recently go past the 24" mark.
BTW, if any of you Pocket Bull owners out there ever need a new fall for those little whips let me know and I'll sell you the right size fall for well below standard pricing.
I really don't have much more to add. Janine and Sergei covered it very well. Funny this question should come up though. I just recently cut and skived about forty new falls for myself. And just today I untied the hitches, re-braided the points and replaced the falls on most of my whips getting ready for Spring weather. The beauty of having such a large supply of falls to choose from is that I was able to go through and find the right size fall for each specific whip. I wasn't stuck with what the whip vendor decides to send me which may be too wide or too light for the particular whip I want it for. Sergei is right about me liking shorter falls. I've found that with my particular cracking style I like my falls to be between 18" to 26" in length. Any longer or shorter than that and I don't get the types of cracks and results that I like. None of the falls I cut recently go past the 24" mark.
BTW, if any of you Pocket Bull owners out there ever need a new fall for those little whips let me know and I'll sell you the right size fall for well below standard pricing.