I am new here and so is my whip!

AlexL3000 · Post by **AlexL3000** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:54 pm

Hi I am new to this forum and I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Alejandro but my friends call me Alex and I live in Hamden Connecticut. I have been looking around here for some time, and now, I finally became a member. I wanted my first post here to have pics and details of my first whip, so here it is!
I have a 10 ft raiders style bullwhip from Bernardo Del Carpio in natural tan.
It is my first whip and I love it!! it cracks so loudly and looks as if I had taken it strait out of the raiders movie the plaiting is nice and smooth and it moves smoothly to! All in all it is a wonderful well made whip. Thanks Bernardo!!

sorry for only having 2 pics photobucket was not working

myrddin · Post by **myrddin** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:14 pm

That's darker than most natural tans... And I mean that in a good way.

Fine looking whip, Alex. And welcome!

AlexL3000 · Post by **AlexL3000** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:33 pm

Thank you myrddin. i love the color but i also saw that is was darker than other natural tan whips i had seen (i was thinking it was because the screen on my mac was making the whips look lighter, but i see now that that was not the case)

~Alex

JimL · Post by **JimL** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:37 pm

Welcome Alex!

I'm usually in Hamden/New Haven every weekend...

Cracker · Post by **Cracker** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:23 pm

Welcome Alex, nice looking whip. How old is it?

AlexL3000 · Post by **AlexL3000** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:57 pm

thank you j!m and cracker

cracker~ the whip is brand new its the color that makes it look older. maybe bernardo can tell us why its so dark (not that I'm complaining I absolutely love the color,actually, I was hoping it wouldn't be to light)

Mannie Bothans · Post by **Mannie Bothans** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:36 pm

Wow, that is truly a fantastic whip. I met Bernardo a few weeks ago, and he is an amazingly nice person.

I lived in New Haven for a few years and I used to drive over to Hamden to buy my groceries and go bowling. Those flowering trees that line the streets were beautiful in the spring and Hamden had some very nice fall colors as well.

I bet that 10-footer looks magnificent unfurling!

Happy cracking!

Bernardodc · Post by **Bernardodc** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:24 pm

Hey Alejandro,

Glad to see you joined Cow, the biggest Indy fan community in the galaxy!

)

I am also extremely pleased to see how happy you are with your whip. Along with the darker color, your two 7-hour long practice sessions over the last weekend have really made the whip look older than it actually is.

Regarding the color, I'd love to say is a proprietary finish process to get the "used" look, but it is more a combination of factors. One, I use exclusively hides from Packer tannery. They come drum-stuffed, a process that improves the braiding characteristics by means of adding fats and oils to the finished hides. These oils and fats darken the leather. Some batches are more greased than others, which affects the final color. The latest batch I've got was darker than usual.

Also, I normally use pure kidney fat in my braiding soap, but after the soap supply that I brought from Peru run out, I made some more here in the States, but using lard instead of fat, and it seems that it darkens the leather quite a bit more. I've also found that as the days go by, the oils in the braiding soap will evaporate and the whip will get lighter.

Mannie,

Thanks a lot for the kind words. I couldn't really spend much time cracking whips with you, but I am glad that at least we got to talk a bit as you certainly are one of the nicest guys I've ever met.

Here's some more pics of Alejandro's whip, when it was still looking new, only a few days ago

)

Regards,

Bernardo

McFly · Post by **McFly** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:38 pm

Hey Bernardo - did you get my email?

Shane

Bernardodc · Post by **Bernardodc** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:46 pm

yep, I'm writing the reply actually

)

myrddin · Post by **myrddin** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:50 pm

AlexL3000 wrote:thank you j!m and cracker
cracker~ the whip is brand new its the color that makes it look older. maybe bernardo can tell us why its so dark (not that I'm complaining I absolutely love the color,actually, I was hoping it wouldn't be to light)

I love the color too. I went with a whiskey color with my Strain (that will hopefully be here next week...) because I didn't want a real light whip. Yes, I know it would darken in time, but I've waited 25+ years for a "real" whip, so I wanted it drak out of the box (so to speak).

If I had seen this option, I might have gone with this brand of natural.

Good job, Bernardo.

AlexL3000 · Post by **AlexL3000** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:46 am

Thanks Bernardo for clearing that up!

I cant believe how much the color has changed in just a few days

the TH knot and the ring knot are the most different.
I can already do the cattleman's crack, the overhead crack and the flick (I don't know how good i am at it. lol). I did hit myself on the face when I started Saturday, but I'm OK! I also got some blisters on my hand which have gone down, but i could just not stop cracking!

Mannie Bothans where did you go bowling??...........

Any way, thank you all for welcoming me here and thanks Bernardo for the pics(and for the great whip)

P. S. Mannie Bothans when the whip unfurls its so beautiful.... but at the same time....... you get a sens of power and danger from it so i have decided to call it ............... THE BEAST!!

P. P. S. i will have some more pics up tomorrow in better light!

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:48 am

Hey Alex,

Welcome to Club Obi Wan. You got a great whip there, I really like that one a lot. Mr. Del Carpio has out done himself once again!

Dan

P.s. make sure you resize your pictures

viewtopic.php?t=27845

Mannie Bothans · Post by **Mannie Bothans** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:03 am

AlexL3000 wrote: Mannie Bothans where did you go bowling??...........

P. S. Mannie Bothans when the whip unfurls its so beautiful.... but at the same time....... you get a sens of power and danger from it so i have decided to call it ............... THE BEAST!!

P. P. S. i will have some more pics up tomorrow in better light!

I'd love to see more pics.

(BTW-- for over 25 years, "The Beast" was the name of the world's longest wooden roller coaster.... It is not too far from where I live and I still find it a thrilling ride after all these years.)

I lived there from 1995-1998 and we just went to Hamden Lanes. A buddy of mine who was the son of professional bowlers always complained that the machines there would eat the ball alive with all kinds of rough nicks and dents, etc.-- but I didn't care, I was the world's worst bowler. We always ate at the little Chinese restaurant near there. Both places were down the street from the parking lot with all the neat scupltures, asphalt-buried cars and whatnot.

rjallen70 · Post by **rjallen70** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:26 am

Nice whip!
And I used to live near Kings Island as well...
That rollercoaster'll beat you to death!
I still love the old woodies the best.
Ron

SHoWhips · Post by **SHoWhips** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:34 pm

Hello and welcome Alejandro!

As others have said and as you must know by now, this is THE place for all things Indy related and whips specifically. I know I've spent hours reading the posts and have received great information(as well as a few laughs).

You've got an excellent whip there as I hold Bernardos work in high regard. Like a good book, treat it well and you'll have a lifetime friend.

~Scott

AlexL3000 · Post by **AlexL3000** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:19 pm

I have changed the pic size dan.(thanks for telling me)

Mannie Bothans I am sorry to say that they dug up the asphalt buried cars a few years ago. they where really nice but the Hamden Plaza wanted more parking space

wood rollercoasters ARE the best!

any way, here are more pics

~Alex

Bardoon · Post by **Bardoon** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:55 pm

Beautiful whip and coloration! It looks aged to perfection with the way the darker leather came out from Bernardo.

If you hadn't mentioned it was new, I really would've thought the whip was several years old.

Canyon · Post by **Canyon** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:17 am

Hi Alex.

Welcome to the forum.

Thats a gorgeous whip, too.

Solent MKIII · Post by **Solent MKIII** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:35 am

Nice, very nice. Bernardo does a bang-up job on those whips of his - color looks great too.
Man! - now I want another whip. BTW, welcome to COW. Just make sure to stuff tissue into
your wallet so it'll have something to cry into when you log in here! :junior:

Weston · Post by **Weston** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:41 am

Fantastic whip Alex! I love the shape of the handle, and the color is great. It's about the same color as my EM brand, but it took 4 years to get to that shade.

Weston

giovanniceleste · Post by **giovanniceleste** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:15 am

hello AlexL3000,
glad to see you joined Cow!!!
My compliments nice Bernardo whip!!
cheers - G

Andymac84 · Post by **Andymac84** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:06 am

myrddin wrote:That's darker than most natural tans... And I mean that in a good way.

Fine looking whip, Alex. And welcome!

Yep, I agree with that. Looks really nice and got an authentic touch through the darker aged look.

I am new here and so is my whip!

I am new here and so is my whip!

Cool!