My first (and last?) nylon whip

minstrel · Post by **minstrel** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:49 am

I received 300 feet of black paracord this week, because I was interested in trying to make a nylon bullwhip, mainly to have for when it's wet weather outside so I can go out and practice whip cracking without having to worry about my whip taking damage from the inclement weather.

Anyway, armed with RJAllen's tutorial over at the RPF, I set about the task of making this whip. This is the result. I present to you, "the Punisher":

I was aiming for an 8 footer, but it ended up just shy of 7½. It's lead loaded to give it some weight, and I took it out back to give it a few cracks when I finished it, and it does crack nicely. I did a couple of cattleman's cracks, overhead cracks, coachman's cracks and a slow figure eight, and nailed them all.

I bound the whip for about 2' along the thong from the handle-thong transition, like I would with a leather whip, and I pulled that nylon as tight as I could without breaking my fingers, in order to get a nice and tight plaiting. The last 6-8 inches before the fall hitch is plaited in checkerboard pattern, but the rest is done in cowtail (or whipmaker's) plait.

Now I will need to let my fingers and arms rest and recuperate. I don't normally name stuff I make, but I decided to name this whip "the Punisher" due to the punishment my poor fingers had to endure in order to make it.

I used gloves, and still got blisters, so I'd hate to think what that paracord would do to unprotected fingers...

/Nicholas

rjallen70 · Post by **rjallen70** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:34 pm

I am glad you liked the tutorial!
That thing is getting a lot of mileage.
The hands toughen up pretty quickly, but look like masons hands.
If you make another, don't let the nylon slide through your fingers like you would leather. Just pull it tight while holding firm and pinch it in place. Easier on the mitts.
Ron

minstrel · Post by **minstrel** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:13 pm

I didn't let the nylon slide through my fingers, and I don't do that when I plait leather either. But in order to get the plaiting as tight as I possibly could, I had to pull the strands really hard, and inevitably there was some friction between my fingers and the nylon when I did that. However, I believe the plaiting ended up as tight as it could be. That thong is rock hard and unyielding, just like in the leather whips I've made.

The tutorial over at the RPF is pretty good, but I deviated from it a bit and incorporated some of my own whip making practices. However, there is one thing lacking in the tutorial... and that is, what the heck do you do with all the core threads you pull out of the paracord?

I have a small bag full of that stuff, and I'm not sure what to use it for.

/Nicholas

tomek9210 · Post by **tomek9210** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:20 pm

You can do thousands of crackers to your whips

minstrel · Post by **minstrel** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:27 pm

I was under the impression that those threads aren't very good for crackers?

KatyBuckeye · Post by **KatyBuckeye** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:19 am

I've made a few crackers with the inner strings of my paracord, and it works just fine. Just pick and choose which strings you use.

minstrel · Post by **minstrel** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:06 am

I actually made a cracker out of a piece of the inner threads from the paracord, and it looks OK, but I haven't tried it on a whip yet. I untwisted the thread to get the filaments it's made up of to separate at the ends. If it works, then I think I have enough thread to make up a lifetime's supply of crackers...

/Nicholas

ST · Post by ST » Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:11 am

Don't make the mistake of trying to braid with wet hands.

I do have pretty calloused hands but when they got wet it just ripped chunks of skin out.