A visit to David Morgan

[winrichwhips]

Right now I'm on my way to Japan for some sight seeing and a whip workshop. On the way I spent a few days with Will and David Morgan talking whips, making whips, and visiting Joe Strain. Will, David, and I first took a road trip from Seattle to Spokane to meet Joe Strain and his family. Joe is a great guy and his family is really nice. Joe had several whip around for us to look at, and I ended up buying a couple stock whips.

We went to Joe's on the weekend, and then I spent three days hanging out at the David Morgan company in Bothell. Here's a few pics from my time at David Morgan's.

Here's a pic of four 10 foot 450-series bullwhips in stock:


As many of you know, David no longer makes the whips (though he does crack every one before it goes out). Megan Baldwin and David's grandson Alex do all the whip making. I really liked the work that they're doing. The whips crack nicely and the plaiting is very neat and tight. Megan cuts out the whips and has a big interest in cutting the strands as neat and even as she can. Alex does most of the plaiting on the bullwhips and could give Joe Strain a run for his money on tight plaiting.

Here's some pics comparing one of David's whips kept as a demo in the shop with one of Megan and Alex's new whips:


-Adam Winrich


I did some braiding while I was there. They just reintroduced the blacksnake to their line of whips, so I had a go at making one. It's 12-plait, 8 feet 8 inches long.


They had a blacksnake that David had made a while ago. Here I am with David comparing the one I made to the one he made.


I liked Megan and Alex's work so much that I bought one. It's an 8 ft 450-series black bullwhip. I think it's great for wraps and Delongis-style whip cracking. Here I am with David holding the whip I bought.

[Canuck Digger]

Amazing Adam! You're very fortunate, good for you! BTW That's quite the job on that snake too!!!
Sayonara Adam-san,

Franco

[ShanghaiJack]

Thanks for sharing the photos Adam. I've always been partial to snake whips for some reason, and those look great.

Have fun while you're in Japan, and if you get a chance to head down south, or west as the locals say, you ought to check out Fukuoka in Kyushu. If you do PM me and I can recommend some nice places to visit and some places that have great food.

SJ

[BendingOak]

Thanks for sharing.

[Gorak]

Great report ,Adam....does this mean you will be doing some snakewhip videos soon? I love snakes but have had a hard time finding any videos that show some decent handling....not just plain cracking but something alittle fancier. I know that without a handle you are kinda restricted but I just thought someone with your background probly had a few tricks up his sleeve with these particular types of whips!

[whiskyman]

Great to see David Morgan looking fit and well. He's such a lovely gent. Thanks for posting, Adam!

[parttime]

That's too cool man!

-Dusty

[Canasta]

Nice pics, Adam.

[TREX]

Adam,
That is soooo cool- Looks like you had an awesome time! Thanks for sharing!
I hope to meet those guys in person someday my self! Have fun in Japan!

-T.Rex

[winrichwhips]

Gorak,

I'll admit I haven't spent a whole lot of time playing with snake whips, though the chainmail bullwhip I use in my shows handles a lot like one. Since there's no handle it can be difficult to change the direction of the whip, making the flick one of the better cracks for a snake.

I'd recommend trying out some Anthony Delongis-style moves with your snake, especially the flicks involved in all the different angles of attack.

Years ago at a fur trade reenactment I saw a guy doing a whip demo and he had some bullwhips and a snake whip. He told the audience that the difference between a snakewhip and a bullwhip was if you hit the stem of a crystal wine class with a bullwhip the whole glass would be shattered, while if you hit it with a snake only the stem woud be snapped and the bowl would fall over. I've forgotten his reasoning, though he was known for spinning yarns, and truth or accuracy aside, I like this one )

-Adam

[Zuiun]

He told the audience that the difference between a snakewhip and a bullwhip was if you hit the stem of a crystal wine class with a bullwhip the whole glass would be shattered, while if you hit it with a snake only the stem woud be snapped and the bowl would fall over.

Ahhh.... but would the wine still be in the bowl and you can drink out of it like your aluminum can trick? I think NOT! HA! Bullwhip wins!!