Whips STILL Dangerous

Gater · Post by **Gater** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 10:51 am

In adding an experience to Zohar's previous post where he lashed himself in the face while cracking, I contribute this. Now that my gal and I are all moved in and settled in the new place, I am finally allowed to turn my attentions to 'The Indy Room'. We all have that one room in the house with our gear/collectibles and I wasn't allowed to set mine up until the rest of the house was finished. So yesterday, while putting everything up, I noticed that the popper of my DM was looking a tad frayed and needed replacing. thankfully, I still have the ones provided in the kit. Going by the demonstration in Pyro's QM Summit video, I replaced the popper and went into the backyard to crack a few off, and set the popper on the fall properly. Unfortunately, my backyard is mostly deck, so I didn't have grass to work with (and since I'm new to the neighbourhood, didn't want to go out to the front yard) It was a nice day, so I was in shorts and a tee, with no protection on since I was just gunna snap off maybe 2 or 3 at the most. I snapped off a few nice cracks, then I think it got caught slightly on a board, cuz the next crack was askew, and now there is a rather large welt from my right butt-cheek, down the back of my leg, to the bottom of my calf. I can honestly say that this is one of the most painful experiences of my life (and I've been shot!) No wonder it's a common weapon of choice for days gone by!! The lesson is 'Always wear protection' even if you're just snapping of one or two! I consider myself a fairly experienced whip-cracker with a lot of practice, but the unseen variables can leave you with a rather red and sore reminder of the importance of safety. But after years of self-indulgent meandering...I can finally say "I got my butt whipped".

agent5 · Post by **agent5** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:40 am

Canasta has been practicing the art of whipcracking for over 20 years and when I saw what he could do with not one, but two whips, it made me realize more than ever that these are very, VERY dangerous weapons in the right hands. I believe you could literally beat someone to death if you are an expert such as he is. Thankfully he's a nice guy. I've only hit myself badly one time with the tip of the braid and not the popper. It hurt SO bad and I swore I was bleeding. Still, you can't be scared of it or you'll never get anywhere.

Gater, I'd love to hear your story about getting shot if you're comfortable telling it. Are you a cop? I only know one guy who was shot and he's a cop. Vest saved him.

Gater · Post by **Gater** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 12:07 pm

Agent,

it's not a story I tell often. I was a private investigator for about 10 years starting when I was 18. In the Fall of 1991, a woman hired me to watch her husband because she thought he was cheating. About 3 days into the surveillance, I was grabbed outside of my apartment. It turned out that the guy wasn't cheating, he was a General in the Ottawa sector of the Russian Mafia. I was beaten for 2 days, and although I had my license and sang like a canary, they didn't believe my story as to why I was watching him. The wife denied hiring me because she was scared, but when she was brought to where I was, and saw, more or less, what was left of me, she admitted everything. When they let me go, I was told not to tell anything to anybody or they'd kill me, and torture my family. Of course, since they grabbed me outside my own apartment, I had no reason not to believe them. To make a point, I was kneecapped with a .22. The bullet ricocheted off my knee cap, so it didn't penetrate, but the tear, and powder burn marks are still there. I told the hospital that I fell. They didn't buy it, but there wasn't anybody else to say otherwise.
I also have a split lip and a chipped front tooth. I never got it, or the scars on my left knee fixed as a reminder to be more careful. After that, I got out of Marital, and went into Insurance Investiagtions, and changed everything out of my name, from my vehicles, to my bills. As it turns out, one of his watchdogs saw my car a few times, and the guy had a few buds on the cops who ran my plates.

To make this remotely a Gear related story, when I was grabbed, I was wearing a black bomber jacket that I considered my Indy jacket (pre-Wested discovery). I still have it in the closet. Blood stains, torn collar, scrapes and all. My gal thinks it's pretty disgusting and creepy, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it.

sab04 · Post by **sab04** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 12:28 pm

holy @#$%

to lighten the mood....thats one way to distress a jacket.

seriously though, thats awful :evil: #### mafia

-scott

Gater · Post by **Gater** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 12:32 pm

"thats one way to distress a jacket"

got THAT right!! And I still wore that thing until I grew out of it. When I get a website up, I'll post pics. (of the jacket, not the knee!

)

agent5 · Post by **agent5** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 3:01 pm

Geez.

I'm almost sorry I asked. I could never crack a distressing joke on you after hearing that story, man. You must be a nice guy to take it so lightly. Insurance Investigator would be a slightly more stress free career I would think. That's what my Mom does. In any case, thanks for sharing that story. I have a similar one in which a friends predecessor doing repo's was seen by the guy he was trying to repo. The guy snuck up on him and shot him from a few feet away right in the back of the head and then ran. The bullet bounced off his skull and he got right back up with a massive headache and a flesh wound. Amazing what the human body can take. To keep this sort of gear realated, the guy probably wasn't wearing a Wested.

Mulceber · Post by **Mulceber** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 10:26 pm

Wouldn't you be a little scared to even tell us?! That WAS the Russian Mafia, Those b*****ds make the Chicago mob look like playground bullies! I'm definitely not anxious to get into that line of work! -IJ
Ps. to keep this based on Indy, I'll bet you looked like our hero after the German Mechanic was through with him!

agent5 · Post by **agent5** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 10:38 pm

Those b*****ds make the Chicago mob look like playground bullies!

Hey! Our mob guys are tough as nails, buddy! Capone or Giancana ring a bell?

Mulceber · Post by **Mulceber** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 11:06 pm

I agree, they are pretty tough, but as of now, the Russian Mafia pretty much has control of Russia. If your a businessman there, the only way for your business to survive is for you to get "protection". The Russian government is fighting a losing battle every time they try to reign them in. Unlike our government, which usually had a fair ammount of control. I'm not saying Capone and Giancana weren't tough, but they were up against a strong government, unlike the Russian Mafia who have a weak government to go up against. Regards, -IJ

Gater · Post by **Gater** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 2:15 am

if I amy get off topic without being shut down, I have had dealings in one capacity or another with the Russian mob, Italian Cosa Nostra, Chinese Triads, Outlaw Biker Gang and Jamaican Posses. The Russians win! Ruthless people who will kill everyone you've ever known just for crossing them. I never gave the guy's name up. To this day, I am still very afraid, and he went back to Russia years ago, after the fall of communism, and Russia became one giant mass of coruption. He's probably long forgotten about me, but ya just never know...

agent5 · Post by **agent5** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 11:31 am

Hey! Our mob guys are tough as nails, buddy! Capone or Giancana ring a bell?

I was really only joking. They're all ruthless in one way or another and we could all do without them.