Do you remember the first time you tried using a whip?

[Jens_Hoppe]

I do!

I had my first (and so far, only) whip cracking session a few weeks ago. It was great fun.

Armed with my lovely new Del Carpio cowhide whip as well as a Rhett Kelley nylon whip, and prudently wearing sunglasses (having read the horror stories here), I had a lot of fun for a couple of hours. Only ever had a serious go at the basic cattleman's crack, and while I am sure my technique was far from perfect, I did get to the point where I could consistently get nice cracks out of the whip. Of course, I also tried all sorts of experimental foolery, and managed to both entangle and hit myself repeatedly.

Anyway, I can't wait for another chance to try it out!

A question: Any city-dwelling whip enthusiasts out there, and if so, where do you go to practice? I do have lawns right next to the apartment building I live in, and there are parks nearby, but I'll have to admit that fooling around with a bullwhip in public does make me a bit self-conscious. Also, I worry that people will get annoyed by the sound!

[Mike]

Yep.

I was 11 and my parents got me a 'dime store' whip to use for my Halloween costume. After explicit instructions that I wasn't to hit anyone with it after a couple of "straight up" cracks that you're not supposed to do, I wrapped it around my brother's ankle. Somehow I talked him out of telling mom and dad, so I never got it taken away.

Once the VHS tapes came out, I'd watch the movies and try to emulate the cracks that Indy did.

[Raider Of The Lost Ark]

Well as posted nearby my first time was yesterday morning. While not living in the 'city' my garden is not big enough so off to the park I went, rather early in the morning

I did get some looks from passing dog walkers but I don't think anyone stopped to watch, thank goodness. I felt REALLY self concious but its the only way I'll ever get to learn. I'll try agin next weekend, weather permitting. I spent nearly an hour before I got too tired and there were more people around. I had limited sucess but I may have been tryint too hard. I thought I was not trying hard enough, but I'm willing to take advice, the side flick ended up with me catching my head EVERY time. I REALLY want to be able to use it and not just have it hang on my belt, so to speak.

[kooniu]

hmmmm about 25 years ago , during very rain and boring holiday I made my first whip from 8-th , 10mm nylon . this whip I use next 18 years. When was destroyed by custom officers on the italy border I made new one and next one and next ..... (to today I registred 128 whips )

[pfcyoung]

i bought my first bullwhip off of the medieval collectibles website... and by the by any potential first timers out there DO NOT BUY THIS WHIP!!!

http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/p-2 ... lwhip.aspx

I didnt have it for two days and the top of it blew out and it was instantly worthless... Then i did some chores for an aunt of mine who is a rancher and she gave me a free whip for doing the chores... the only drawback, it was literally a piece of rope with a spinning wooden handle! I learned all my techniques on it (needless to say they werent proper, that and because i was not using a "Real" whip. while i was learning i used YT as a reference to teach myself with and i also had a Viking buddy of mine who has a real bullwhip and he taught me as well. i would ask Adam Winrich for advice off and on and finally he suggested to me in an email that i should get a 6 FT nylon whip from Western stage props and finally six months later (last december, really) i finally picked up my first "Real" whip and i have been getting better and better since. one of the good things i liked about that rope whip (which i still have) is that its very flexible and very heavy (for a whip) and that helped me to swing my nylon whip easier. I have videos of all my whips on my YT channel but i will post on the other thread.

thanks for taking the time to read my "life story"

[Jens_Hoppe]

I thought I was not trying hard enough, but I'm willing to take advice, the side flick ended up with me catching my head EVERY time.

Heh, if it is any comfort, when I tried to do a side flick, I invariably ended up diving for cover or hitting myself on various parts of my body. Definitely room for progress.

[Marhala]

Back in 1989, I was really into whips... I was nine or ten. And I insisted my parents on buying me a bullwhip. We finally went to a saddlery and they bought me this 10ft black thick leather 4 plait cowhide Mexican whip. When I got home, I handed it to my father, and asked him to show me how... I can still remember his face: . Yep, that's pretty much how it looked like. He would throw the whip to the front and jerk it back as many a person do when they don't know how a whip is cracked. Well, it served me then. Later (a couple of years) I made a "mix tape" with all the whip scenes from movies, obviously the IJ trilogy, and Batman Returns, and would watch them closely and practice them. Then came the Whipcracking Made Easy II, The Art of the Bullwhip and John Brady's videos...
That's pretty much. Later, I tried some whipmaking, in 1997, making 7 whips (3 stockwhips and 4 bullwhips) until last year, when I made a couple of rope whips in Mexican fashion and more recently, two stockwhips.

All the best,

Aldo.

[McFly]

I remember!

I was maybe 13 or 14. I was in Utah with my boyscout troop and we were riding through the desert looking at caves and things - we were studying the wilderness because we were going to learn some survival techniques. Well anyway, my friend and I went into this cave and not seconds after we walked in, we heard voices! So we look around and see this little opening in the ground. Inside the opening were several men who looked to me like some group of cowboy thieves. My buddy asked what they were doing, and I told him what I thought, and then lo and behold, one of the guys pulls out the Cross of Coronado! This thing has been lost for ages and now these cowboys have found it. Well I knew it should have been in a museum, so I grabbed a rope and snuck down to where they'd put it, and I grabbed it. I tried to sneak back out but as I was nearing the end of the rope, I had a leg spasm and kicked a support beam. ( ) So I get out of the hole, push my friend down there (it slowed down the cowboys and nearly plugged the hole), and take off out of the cave. I hopped onto my horse Latigo, executing a perfect Roy O'Bannon (jumping onto the horse from up above), and raced off towards home. Apparently my fellow boyscouts had all gotten lost, and taken their horses with them - because I didn't see anybody for miles.

Anyway - I race off on Latigo and I'm trying to get home (which is far away now) and I see a train coming by. Well I decide it's faster than the horse and it's worth trying my luck there, but by now the bad guys have picked up their boss Michaelson and they're in his Plymouth chasing me, and this thing must have had at least 2 horsepower, because it was catching up quick. So I jump on the train and run towards the back, going through the reptil..... the rept... going through the different box cars, and finally I'm running across the lion box when I step on a wooden cover and FALL IN. Now you're saying "What did he do?" Well I'll tell you what. First I pee'd my pants. Then I backed against the wall and screamed a little. But I look to the right and there, on the wall next to me, is a beautiful black bullwhip with a red handle. So I grab this thing (I had seen this in the movies and knew it was my only option at this point.) So I stepped forward and flailed the whip out towards this lion. Unfortunately the whip came right back and cut me in the chin - RIGHT where I'd gotten my scar from a car crash I had been in just a few years before. Well I tried it again a few times, being more careful, and this lion backed off alright. Then one of the cowboys shows up on the roof and says, "Toss up the whip!" So I did that and got out of there as quick as I could!! And THAT was the first time I used a bullwhip.

Shane

[Indiana County Jr.]

Shane,
Amazing story! The same thing kinda happened to me while I was in the amazon trying to find this hidden temple. Long story short, It started out well, but in the end, an old nemisis ended up with not only my prize idol, my whip and my gun, but then had the local natives chase me out of the jungle to my nearby seaplane.... I barely escaped.....


Crack On!
Allen

[racerx]

I'll bet you hate snakes to, .




Jim J.

[Marhala]

Could be good for the opening scene of a blockbuster action movie, Shane.

[McFly]

I've thought about selling the story, but just have never gotten around to it, you know?

Allen - that's crazy! Glad you're alright though! Whew..

Shane