Not an Indy Whip, I know, but I thought some of you might enjoy a peek at a new whip I'm developing. Chris Hall seems to not really be making these anymore, according to a few people I've spoken with who have chatted with him recently, and since I've been messing around with nylon lately I figured I'd give it a try. They're amazing whips - best performing nylon whips I've ever had the pleasure to lay my hands on - and I just didn't want the design and style to die.
So anyways like I said, this past Christmas I ordered a bunch of paracord to start fooling around with, which ended up turning into a sort of quest to make a whip similar to Chris Hall's (particularly because Paul never had the opportunity to get the pair he's wanted to order from Chris). In my spare time in the evenings, I'd been making and throwing out thongs for a couple of months now, trying to get the balance and performance just exactly the way I wanted it to be, when finally I managed to make one that I LOVED.
I'm giving that particular one away on the Cutting Edge Forum to help them expand their member base (those of you who know me, know Paul and I will both do anything we can to help spread the love and enjoyment of cracking whips), but I'm already working on making more now that I have a good pattern worked out.
For anybody who hasn't tried a whip like this, I'll try to explain why I love them so much. First off, they're not too expensive (I'll probably be able to make this length for somewhere right around $100 each). Second, they're nylon, so of course they can handle inclimate weather and cracking on abrasive surfaces better and with less damage than a leather whip. And third, they handle so well! Chris Camp and Adam Winrich both like and use this style of whip - they are made with a nice, simple cow-whip like construction, but they handle somewhat more like a stockwhip. The longer handle gives you the leverage, the whip is light overall but very evenly balanced like a good stockwhip, and the handle even flexes a tiny bit, just like toheti cane on a stockwhip will. To me, they even have a little bit of a bullwhip feel thrown in there too because the transition is more solid and not a hinged keeper - so as similar as they are to a stockwhip, they aren't exactly the same. But anyways, it would be a good whip for a beginner to learn basic cracks on, but it's also built to work well for more advanced folks trying to learn the fast and fancy routines.
Well, enough yakking - here's the picture of the first one, the prototype, that the CEF forum is getting. Our COW friends shouldn't feel left out though I hope, because we have always given fellow COW members a nice exclusive discount off of all our MidWestWhips Indy Whips.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/Indy%20-%20Big%20Grin.gif)
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/Indy_cool.gif)
![Image](http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o11/LemonLauren/BlackOverhead.jpg)
Lauren Wickline
www.midwestwhips.com