Does weight make a difference?

[backstagejack]

My first whip was a 10 foot cowhide 8 plait made from pure whips. I wasn't an expert at it but I could get it to crack. It had a decent weight, nothing too ridiculous.

My new whip is supposedly a 12 plait, kangaroo hide 10 foot made from classic whips and I can barely get a sound out of it. The weight on this one is less than my other one.

Does weight make a difference?

Another thing I noticed is, I wont hear anything but I can hear an echo from it in the distance, as if it IS making a sound but I just can' hear it at my location.....

[iwantamorganreelbad1]

I would say not necessarily. The thing to do is to check your fall and cracker area to see if there is a problem there. Since it is the cracker that makes the whip crack, the answer to your question is no.

[Chewbacca Jones]

Mostly, a heavy whip just makes you tired faster. Personally, I found that a heavier thong made cracking easier when I was a relative beginner, as if the weight did some of the work for me. But as I learned, the weight became more of a hindrance. Lauren of Midwest Whips told me that wasn't uncommon.

As for that echo without hearing the actual crack... that's a new one on me. Try cracking while facing something within 50 feet that the sound can bounce off of, if you haven't tried that already. I don't know if it's physically possible, but maybe you're cracking in too open of a place.

[WhipDude]

To preach what BullWhipBorton has said, it shouldn't make a difference what the weight is as long as it's well balanced. If its well balanced, it should crack easily. Or maybe it's just your skill level (no sarcasm intended). That's not to say you can't have your preference on weight when purchasing a whip, just make sure it's balanced.

It does take a bit of practicing to get use to a new whip design. When I got my first light weight whip, I could swear something was wrong with the whip. I was use to a longer heavier whip.

And there was a good idea posted already. Sometimes when I'm in a field, the whip almost seems like it's not cracking. But when I have many buildings and other objects, then it is loud.

[backstagejack]

To preach what BullWhipBorton has said, it shouldn't make a difference what the weight is as long as it's well balanced. If its well balanced, it should crack easily. Or maybe it's just your skill level (no sarcasm intended). That's not to say you can't have your preference on weight when purchasing a whip, just make sure it's balanced.

It does take a bit of practicing to get use to a new whip design. When I got my first light weight whip, I could swear something was wrong with the whip. I was use to a longer heavier whip.

And there was a good idea posted already. Sometimes when I'm in a field, the whip almost seems like it's not cracking. But when I have many buildings and other objects, then it is loud.

Well, I won't argue, my skill level is a little more than young indy on the train in LC, lol! But maybe I should try cracking it near a building or sometehing, that might expalin why it didn't seem to be cracking but I could hear echoes of it.....

[classicbullwhips]

Hi Backstagejack,

I am curious if you have any pictures of the whip you can post. I have been mainly making Indy whips in cowhide recently, its been some time since I have made a whip with those specifications (I am assuming you bought the whip used from someone else). I think with seeing a picture of it I may be able to figure out when it was made (may be one of my earlier whips) and remember if the original person had requested anything different in terms of weighting. Some of my original longer whips I know were more thong heavy and a little harder to crack for beginners (not the case now), Just curious of what whip it is and love to see some of my older work and how far I have come.

Keep Crackin,
James

[Canuck Digger]

Well if you want to be technical about it weight DOES make a difference; the more weight a whip has, the greater the INITIAL energy imparted into the whip will be. Now having said this, don't do off thinking a whip has to be super heavy to crack properly. A decently-made whip will crack effortlessly (given a minimum of technique of course). What is more important than the weight is how the whip is made. Is it tightly plaited, is it dense or all loose? This matters in terms of transfer of energy. Now for even a half-decent whip to not crack means there is probably a series of things going wrong. Possible answers might be a wide fall that flaps through the air instead of cutting through it, loose plaiting, no plaited bellies inside the whip, poor transition zone construction (maybe), improper technique, too short or too long a fall and/or cracker...

As for not hearing the initial crack but only the echo, I'm not sure that's even possible! Are you certain it was YOUR whip's crack you heard? It just doesn't make any sense because the sound would reach you before reaching an object (like a wall) to bounce off of, so I don't see how you can NOT hear the crack but the echo...

Franco

[riku1914]

I've cracked a whip in a completely open field ( no trees near me ) but only a tree line about 250 yards in front and 500 yards behind me. I BARELY heard the initial crack, but the echo I did hear clearly.