AB Bullwhip has arrived!

[Greatdane]

I finally have a good excuse to start a topic in this section of the discussion board.

Haven't visited this place in months. I've been so busy with everything else, but I got a little story for you...

The doorbell rang yesterday and I wondered who it could be,
turns out it was the mailman with a package for me.
When I saw the label said Adventurebilt I was filled with joy,
I said to myself 'I bet this is my bullwhip, oh boy oh boy'!
And it was said whip in all it's glory,
and this marks the end of my shotty story

...Allright, I got my whip in the mailbox yesterday.
I have to say that I was curious as to the quality and feel of the whip. Being a "poor" student the cost of this baby could probably feed me for months.

I had to try it right away, despite knowing absolutely nothing about whipcracking. I was immediatly attacked by a smaller group of kids who all wanted to have a go, sadly none of them knew who Indiana Jones was. I managed to produce some nice loud cracks though and people from the nearby apartments stuck their heads out to see what the heck was going on.

But as we all know:

[wwhisko]

That is a BEAUTIFUL whip!!! What length is it?


David

[riku1914]

I know since you are first starting that this might be difficult to understand, but try everything you can not to over-torque the whip.

It can weaken the transition and make the whip not as good as it is, again, this may be difficult because as a beginner

over-torquing it will just come naturally, but the whip SHOULD crack with the least amount of effort, when used correctly.

Check out Adam Winrich's youtube channel, he has teaching cracks from the most basic, the cattlemans, as far as a tough one,

the arrowhead ( working on this one myself )

[Greatdane]

Well when I first got it I of course couldn't help trying it out, basically cracking it using my strength. After about half an hour my arm started to hurt too so I went inside and watched one of the instructional DVD's included. Now I'm beginning to crack the whip through finesse and technique instead, but it will take some more practice to fully transition.

It's 10 feet long, 12 plait in tan kangaroo leather
not the ideal whip for practice, but I can't afford another one at this point.

[riku1914]

Even when you know the crack, when the first start you will still over torque it, trust me, I REALLY over torqued the first piece of

junk I made.

I hope you do well with 10 ft. though not ideal for a beginner, when you get it down, 10 ft. whips flow out really nicely.

[kwad]

That is a beautiful whip!

Were the AB whips made in that color, or have they been exposed to sunlight since they were produced?
Either way, it is a great color.

[Greatdane]

It's a bit long yeah, I would imagine some of the cracks would be easier with a 6 footer. Would be nice to get a shorter nylon whip for practice purposes.

The whip appears slightly darker in my pictures than it actually is. In reality it's a pretty standard leather tan color. Try to imagine in a lighter and more pale color.This is probably what it would actually look like if it got a suntan.

I think I am over torquing the whip, the fall keeps breaking of pieces. I can do a few cracks, about 20 or so, and then a piece of it falls off, even if I'm cracking with very little effort. I know the fall is replaceable, but I think I've lost a total of 5-6 inches already. And that's in only 3-4 days time. Am I doing something wrong?

I think I'm a quick learner when it comes to whipcracks though, I seem to get the hang of it pretty quickly - I'm doing well with the cattlemans crack, and I'm getting better with the underhand crack.

[riku1914]

Actually a great starter length is 8 ft. it's what I started with, it's easy to use

You'll get the cracks down, just be patient

[indydude18]

Greatdane,
About how far did whip set you back?

[Greatdane]

indydude18 - about $960 (5000 danish kroner)

in retrospect I could have gotten another bullwhip for a lot less, but I'm still very pleased with this one.

[IndianaBravo]

That sure is pretty, I hope you got a favorable exchange rate and did not get hit with severe import taxes. I had to pay one hundred bux import on my Strain a few years back. Worth every penny though.
Cheers

Indianabravo

[thefish]

If you've blown off that much of the fall already, then you are REALLY overpowering your cracks.

Something I've found that helps is to slow down. The whip will accelerate by itself, and on those Morgan-design whips, all the mass from that lead in the heel knot really gets amplified out at the "Business End" of the whip.

The DeLongis addage "The whip moves fast, so you don't have to," applies here.

Beautiful whip, by the way!

All the best,

-Dan

[whiskyman]

Greasing the fall might help too, it might be dried out.

[Holmes]

Thats a great looking whip. does it have a shellac finish?

[Noah]

The whip looks great! Yeah maybe the fall is dried and needs to be greased. Some Pecards should help. Try not to use too much force, because you don't need a lot for it to crack. And try to focus on your form. Have fun with it!

[Greatdane]

Don't know what shellac means, it's not particularly shiny if that's what you mean. The pictures make the whip seem more "glossy" than it actually is, in reality it's more pale and more natural looking.

I don't really know what to make of the fall. I've given it some Pecards and it seems to have helped. But it could very easily be my technique; being a beginner it's safe to say my form is far from perfect. I put a lot of effort into making sure each of my cracks are done correctly, they're getting better each day.

[riku1914]

Don't know what shellac means, it's not particularly shiny if that's what you mean. The pictures make the whip seem more "glossy" than it actually is, in reality it's more pale and more natural looking.

I don't really know what to make of the fall. I've given it some Pecards and it seems to have helped. But it could very easily be my technique; being a beginner it's safe to say my form is far from perfect. I put a lot of effort into making sure each of my cracks are done correctly, they're getting better each day.

You WILL get better, I know getting smacked in the back and legs and even face can get discouraging, trust me I know I was

there just recently. It gets better

Glad to know it's going better though

[kwad]

I've run across two brand new falls that have acted like that (one whitehide and one latigo).
They were well greased and I wasn't over-powering my cracks, but they just kept breaking.

I ended up replacing them and had no further problems.
I think in both cases, it was just a matter of getting a bad piece of leather.

[IndyRiv]

Indeed,

I think it might just be the leather. Always maintain good whip care though with your whip. Grease the fall generously after each whip-cracking session as that's the part that, if used for target practice, gets the most hits and, otherwise, gets the brunt of the work and dries out extremely quick. With the body of the whip, LIGHTLY (and I can't stress that enough) grease the body of whip after about 5-10 cracking sessions. You can tell when the whip needs to be greased. The handle - be VERY CAREFUL with greasing that. That's the most finicky part of the whip for greasing and you can easily overgrease it. The recommendation on that is after a good long time of cracking your whip, use the remaining grease residue that's left on your hands after greasing the body (which should be hardly noticeable) and gently massage the handle. This will be MORE THAN ENOUGH grease for the handle.

I bought a 10ft whip a year ago after a long lapse in time from when I first owned my whip at the age of 8. I hadn't forgotten how to crack the whip, but still a 10ft proves a challenge. And I know the desire is to constantly hear the crack, but like everyone else has said - break her in gently! Don't try to coil the whip like Indy does when you first get it as you'll ruin the inner workings of the whip. Trust me, after some time of cracking it, it'll loosen up and become more flexible to coiling on its own without much resistance. Also, try gentle whip cracks such as the side crack or cattlemen's crack for now.

Remember that this is a very big investment for most people, including yourself from what I gather, and with the right care, will last a lifetime. The key is to read up on whip care, and talk with a variety of whip-makers and research information on their sites until your mind explodes with knowledge. There's nothing more enjoyable than knowing at the end of the day that your whip is resting in your house having been well taken care of.

Now what are you waiting for?! Go and crack that thing around the nerdy hot girl upstairs and reel her in like in TOD!