Morgan Weight

mlawson · Post by **mlawson** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:48 pm

I'm curious about the weight of the Morgan whips. I have read a few times that the Morgan 10 footers weigh somewhere between 2.5 and 3 pounds. That seems a little bit heavy to me, has anyone here actually weighed one? The 9 footers that I have built, which seem well balanced (to me anyway), weigh in at about 1.75 pounds. Terry Jacka's site lists his 10 footer at 770 grams, or 1.7 pounds. I have an 8 footer that is about 1.4 pounds and the 9 footer is noticibly heavier in use. I imagine that throwing a 3 pound beast around would be exhausting after a short while.

So has anyone measured? I'm just curious since I will probably never own a Morgan.

Oh also, how do the Strain and Del Carpio whips compare? Lighter? Heavier? Same? Thanks!

ANZAC_1915 · Post by **ANZAC_1915** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:15 am

I don't know how accurate my bathroom scales are (-0, +.5?) but they came up with 2lb (me, with and without 10ft DM). I'd say that means 2.5lb is possible. 3, maybe not.

Sorry I don't have a better set of scales. (well I do, but someone borrowed them)

Yes, it can get tiring. I spent some time cracking this weekend. With my 8ft Louie Foxx I was cutting thick blackberry vines easily. The 10ft takes some aiming, and it can be a little scary.

McFly · Post by **McFly** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:11 am

I weighed my Stenhouse yesterday and it came up to 1.8 lbs. I mention this because I've also used some Morgans before, and they didn't seem to be much heavier than mine. I'd say the Morgans are probably in the 2 lb range.

Shane

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 2:40 am

Unfortunately I don’t have a scale accurate enough to weigh them within decimal precision. Keep in mind though that the weights of those whips are only based on approximations, and that the weight of each individual whip will vary based on many factors, including but not limited to the weight and thickness of the animals hide, how much oil was put into it during tanning process, The width of the strands cut by the maker, how much plaiting soap is used when plaiting the whip, how much lead is used under the turkeshead knot, etc. Since these are hand crafted items, it all factors in and while those whip makers who try to prefect their art do their best to use strict guidelines so each model will be as close as possible to another, no two whips will ever exactly be the same.

In my experiences, on average Strain and Del Carpios Indy bullwhips have been a bit lighter then the Current Morgan’s made in the last few years. Where as Paul Stenhouse’s Indy bullwhips had actually been a bit heavier when he was actively making whips, I know Paul likes heavy whips though. Terry Jacka’s Indy bullwhips are heavier still. Sorry I can't be of more help with specific weight in numbers.

I think it’s also important to note, that with a well-made whip, It’s more about balance then just the dead weight. Even fairly a heavy whip as long as it is properly balanced out and shaped should crack with relative ease and will undoubtedly perform better in comparison to a poorly shaper unbalanced lighter weight whip.

mlawson · Post by **mlawson** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 7:28 am

Thanks for the insight guys. I understand that the weight is a variable that could be dramatically different from whip to whip. I have experienced this with many guitars, where the weight between the same model could vary dramatically, as much as 2-3 times, despite the same construction and materials. It's more a question of what is typical I guess, and I was curious if all the Morgan whips were typically that heavy. It's really a curiousity more than anything else but I do understand the importance of balance and that absolute numbers are not important.

serrecuir · Post by **serrecuir** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:48 am

The 10 ft. Morgan whip (#455) weighs 1lb., 13oz. Mine was purchased in January 2007.

Hope this is what you're looking for.

Kind regards,
Craig

McFly · Post by **McFly** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 2:25 pm

Aha! Interesting, Craig. I thought they were heavier! Guess I was wrong.

The whips definitely handle well though, and aren't heavier or lighter than they need to be.

Shane

WhipDude · Post by **WhipDude** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 4:31 pm

The vintage (1980's I believe) Morgan that I tried that was 9 feet long, was heavy. I have a 8 foot strain and I remember trying the Morgan, and wow. What a difference. No doubt one of the heavier whips out there.

mlawson · Post by **mlawson** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:20 pm

Thanks Craig, that's exactly what I was looking for.

I was thinking about this a bit today and I was wondering about how you whipmakers out there do in fact balance your whips? Do you have a standard amount of weight that you add for a given length or do you evaluate each whip seperately? If so, how do you do it? Do you weigh it or just approximate based on experience? Do you throw the whip to make a judgement before tying the final knots?

Thanks for indulging me everyone!

serrecuir · Post by **serrecuir** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 6:24 pm

WhipDude wrote:The vintage (1980's I believe) Morgan that I tried that was 9 feet long, was heavy. I have a 8 foot strain and I remember trying the Morgan, and wow. What a difference. No doubt one of the heavier whips out there.

The Jacka CS whip is even heavier. I'll pop that on my scale tonight and post the results. It'd be interesting to see who has the heaviest whip. I know some whipmakers use steel in their handles, while others use different materials like lead shot, etc. Terry uses a fiberglass core, I believe, but it's still a heavy whip. Of course, the number of plaits has a big part to do with the weight, as does the length. Maybe Dan can chime in here - he's a plethora of whip knowledge, and I'm sure he's got comparisons of many of the various whips out there.

Kind regards,
Craig

WhipDude · Post by **WhipDude** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:03 am

Assuming you mean a modern Jacka because the older Jacka's are even lighter then Strains. Steel spike may make a difference but not a whole lot in some cases, taken into consideration that my Strain is a steel spike and it's nowhere near as heavy as other whips out there which do have a fibreglass core.

rjallen70 · Post by **rjallen70** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:55 am

My 10 ft Strain weighs 1lb 12 oz.
R

serrecuir · Post by **serrecuir** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:32 pm

WhipDude wrote:Assuming you mean a modern Jacka because the older Jacka's are even lighter then Strains. Steel spike may make a difference but not a whole lot in some cases, taken into consideration that my Strain is a steel spike and it's nowhere near as heavy as other whips out there which do have a fibreglass core.

Yes, the CS whip is Terry's latest, designed for "Crystal Skull" with the shorter handle. I weighed my 10' Jacka last night - I was wrong. It weighs 1lb., 14oz. So it's only one ounce heavier that the 10' Morgan, even though it's about twice as thick at the base and handle. Of course it makes sense that the fiberglass core would weigh less than the steel handle of the Morgan whip.

Kind regards,
Craig

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:29 am

In this case Whipdude I'm just comparing the Indy style bullwhips. Comparing Terry’s other whips, or any other style bullwhips to the classic Indy bullwhips would be a whole other, much wider topic to cover. My 10 Terry Jacka Crystal Skull bullwhip weighs a bit more then my 10 ft David Morgan Bullwhip, but its also an older style 455, thinner then the ones made in more recent years.

I think what makes Terry’s Indy 4 bullwhip feel so much heavier; even though the dead weight isn’t that different then Craig’s Morgan, is that is that the majority of the weight of the bullwhip is in the thong itself, so the heft is its in the actual body of the whip, not the handle which is sometimes why people more used to other whips will describe Terrys bullwhips as being a bit nose heavy.

With the David Morgan bullwhips, and Joe Strains and Bernardo Del Carpio's for that matter, the handle section is made much more heavily weighted, first from the steel spike that acts as the foundation for the handle, but also from lead tape which is wrapped around the spike and then also around the foundation for the Turkshead knot. This is done to add weight to help balance out the handle of the whip with the weight of moderately heavy thong. Terry only uses a very small amount of lead in the handle foundation and it’s just under the turkshead just to build it up.

Dan