From falls & poppers to plaiting & cracking technique, this section is dedicated in memory of Sergei, IndyGear Staff Member and Whip Guru. Always remember to keep "Celebratin' Life!"
I thought I would post a couple of pics of my FL Cracker.
It is a very heavy whip. It is 8'6 measured on the thong, and 13'6 over all.
This one shows a unique double fall. One braided one not.
A little history from http://www.dallasdogsled.com/
The Florida Stock Whip or Cow Whip is the tool of the Florida cowboy. The Florida Crackers, or cowboys have used their long leather whips to help drive their cattle for five hundred years. The long whips were considered to be unique to Florida, where cattle often drift off into the tangles and woods. The Florida stock whip is normally used in herding cattle from the back of a Marsh Tackie or Cracker horse. It is common for a Florida Cracker to use a whip 12 feet long and sometimes longer. The unique "tie on" design is intended to increase durability and reliability when a thong may have needed to dry out for a time.
In the 1970's thongs made from nylon paracord began to replace the leather cow whips. This innovation gave the cattlemen of Florida a worry free whip to use in the swamps and during the often wet weather conditions in which they had to work their cattle. For sport whip crackers, it allows us to practice in the damp grass of early morning when those expensive kangaroo whips have to stay safely inside and unused. Many say that it cant match the speed and accuracy of a kangaroo whip but at the Dallas Whip Enthusiasts Whip Weekend IV it was raining. This whip won a medal in the speed and accuracy event.
