The 5 minute whip: make a whip in minutes

[winrichwhips]

A link below to pics of the 5 minute whip:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... e=1&ref=nf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At the moment I'm in the UK, and last week I was in Holland. While I was in Holland I met up with a couple beginning whip crackers, one of whom started because of Indiana Jones. She had bought a couple of 10 ft bullwhips off of Ebay, and while she could crack them, the length and the weight were going to limit what she could learn. The other guy bought a 4 ft nylon bullwhip off of Ebay, and in this instance the short length was going to be a limitation.

After seeing what the two of them had, I thought it would be a good idea to come up with a whip design someone could make at home in a short amount of time without having to braid. Then a person could make their own without spending too much time or money, and have some assurance that it will work.

I've also had the idea for a while to be able to walk into a hardward store and buy everything needed to make a whip. After watching videos on how to make a duct tape whip I felt a lot could be done to improve the design without making it much more difficult to build.

So with that in mind, I came up with a whip design that used rope and ball chain for the thong, PVC for the handle, and couple wraps of athletic tape up and down the whip for the overlay. The rope and ball chain are cut to length to form the taper, then they are tied into the PVC handle and the athletic tape is wrapped on the outside to hold the thong together. The length of rope that you see extending past the tape actually goes all the way through the whip and out of the butt end of the handle, where it's anchored in place. Having a full-length core/fall should make it pretty durable. Once I get back home I intend to make a YouTube video with full instructions on how to make one.

What seems to be wrong with most whips on Ebay is the weight and the taper. With this design, as long as everything is cut to length according to the instructions, the weight and the taper will be fine. The only variable from person to person becomes the wrapping of the tape. But hopefully if I say it cracks all right, people will believe me.

Considering that the overlay is athletic tape, this whip may not sound that durable. However, since whoever is using it probably built it, when it does break I bet they can fix it themselves, or build a new one.

Thought I'd post it here to get some feedback. Again, it's not meant to be the end-all-be-all whip. It's kind of meant as an afternoon father-son project, boy scout project, or a frat boy project.

-Adam

[InexorableTash]

Andrew Conway used to teach a whip cracking course where the students would construct their own whips. While I haven't attended the course, I've tried the "demonstration model" whips from his collection. They're simple braids of 3 pieces of paracord, going from one strand to three strands to five strands. Tie a popper to one end, and secure the 5 loose ends at the other with duct tape to make a rude handle. I'll ask him for the lengths the next time I see him.

Not as elegant as what Adam depicts, but can definitely be constructed in under 5 minutes by a novice and they do crack, albeit like a well worn signal whip.

[winrichwhips]

Restita DeJesus mentioned also doing a course with students on making a beginner whip. Here's used rope, PVC, and duct tape.

I've thought about doing that before, but I felt the disadvantage was that rope and tape by itself isn't very dense, at least not as dense as leather. With the 5 minute whip, the ball chain adds the density.

I just went with Pete Gamble (in Wales) to drop off a birthday present and did a bit of a demo for his friends with both of these whips. They were plenty loud and did the Queensland Crossover pretty easily. And they were also really good for target cutting. So I think what's cool about this design is that a performer could also use it in a show, making it more than a simple 'look at the whip I made'. I was doing the 4 corners with one of them earlier today as well.

-Adam

[Marhala]

That's a very interesting way of getting a pretty well made whip with little effort, Adam. I think people could learn easily how the shape and taper of a whip are achieved when using what you recommend.

I had seen a similar bullwhip once here in Mexico, about 4 years ago, and the construction was very similar. I don't really know whether the person got the information from internet or he figured it out by himself. He used blind cord and wrapped it with electrical tape. His had very little taper and thus, was very light and difficult to crack.

Even though I can make a very well shaped kangaroo hide bullwhip, the mere sight of the whips you made, makes me want to give your idea a try.

Thanks as ever for your unconventional creativity!

Aldo.

[Indiana Jeff]

Awesome! Can't wait to see the video. This will be a great project to do with my boys.

And it will help me fill the Young Indy black whip void I have without having to spend mucho bucks to do so.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[sylviarosat]

We was very lucky to have Adam demonstrating how to build your own Instant Whip at the Uk Whipcracking Convention last week.
I have to say i was really impress how the whip cracks!It cracks loud ,it's very ok for targetting,not too heavy, not to light and it is even a nice whip!
I'd say wait for the instructionnal video of Adam when he gets back , and make one ! you'lle see it's a good whip for the time and money you put in it.
I did one friday and it works very good!Perfect for peoples who are interested in the sport of whipcracking but don't want to spend a lot of money on a braided whips in nylon or leather.They can practice with the Instant Whip ,then if they like it and wants to practice more at one point they will want to buy a braided whip!

Sylvia

[Marhala]

That's awesome, Sylvia! I'm glad you personally gave a try to making that whip. Will definitely be looking forward for Adam's video. And you're right, involving people in the process of making a whip, even as simple as this one may be, will help them understand better all the work involved in making a braided whip out of leather, nylon, etc.

Aldo.

[The Intercept]

Ha insanely brilliant. leave it to the crack master to come up with a cheap whip that works. Makes ya wonder tho if this kinda stuff is dumbing down whip making an whip cracking, IDK. Wont be long till you see these popping up on ebay as the winrich design tape whip.

Peace.

T~I

[fenris]

I'm really looking forward to the video...

[winrichwhips]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOcRZrESYCI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's a link to the video instructions. To make this whip more Indy, you can paint it brown after you make it, or to make it Young Indy, get a red tennis racquet grip and use black athletic tape to make the whip.

-Adam

[Indiana Jeff]

THAT. IS. AWESOME! I can't wait to build one of these with my kids.

Thanks for the great instructions.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Indiana Jeff]

So here it is! I put together a 15 minute whip (took us just over an hour from laying out materials to cracking).


I think the twisted nylon rope I used was more the 'plastic' variety than Adam's. That may have effected the overall weight a bit.


Untwisting some of the rope to cut the tapering ends. The Boy was actually having a good time. (I promise we didn't wear matching t-shirts on purpose. Just ended up that way. )


This mess is going to crack?


Wrapping 'the business.' Definitely the toughest part of the build. It wasn't easy keeping everything from twisting while I taped it. When I got to the end things were fairly lumpy, but going back down the length to the handle helped smooth things out quite a bit.


The rope I used for the core/fall was 8mm instead of 5mm so the way Adam showed to tie on the cracker wasn't going to work well, I just couldn't get a tight knot on the end. So....


I attached the cracker this way. With the ball of melted nylon it holds very well.



The finished product! I got a nice crack out of it on the first throw. It's definitely light, but very serviceable. I ordered some red tennis wrap for the handle to complete a Last Crusade Young Indy whip.

I made a couple changes to Adam's tutorial. For the core/cracker I used 8mm instead of 5mm rope and for the twisted nylon rope I used 5mm instead of 3/8" (9mm). I was using rope I already had on hand. Overall I lost about 7mm in the thickness at the base and had originally planned to add an extra length of the twisted nylon to make up the difference. In my enthusiasm to get the project done today, I forgot to add the extra rope. The whip still cracks nicely, but is very light.

Thanks again, Adam, for a great tutorial!

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[fenris]

I can imagine making the core a little less thick and wrapping the core with the athletic tape THEN plaiting over it with paracord or something.

[Vaderbreath]

Thanks, Adam! I can't wait to make one of these with my boys.

[Vaderbreath]

Just made one of these with my 9 yr old. It was so much fun, turned out great, and cracks well. I'm making another one tomorrow it was so fun. Thanks again, Adam!

[Vaderbreath]

Just made another one with my sons and it was even more fun. I'm passing your video onto several dads I know as a project to do with their kids. Thank you so much Adam!

[Indiana Jeff]

I'd love to see the finished product.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[thatoneguy]

Wow! Just made mine yesterday and it's amazing! I used quarter inch electrical cord instead of ball chain for the core, and it seems a bit stiff. however the weight makes it feel almost like a snake whip for a thong!

[CalMusquez]

I decided to try my hand at this.

I made a few adjustments to better suit an Indy look. Cut my handle to 8" instead of 12". I didn't use a pvc coupling to transition between the handle and thong and instead just wrapped the transition with a ton of electrical tape to reinforce it. I also adjusted all of the measurements to make an 8 foot whip instead of a 6 foot like Adam made in the tutorial. I ended up using brown electrical tape instead of athletic tape. I plan on adding a layer of plaiting on the outside made of tan duct tape to simulate leather, but we'all see if that works out.

I had a lot of fun making it and it cracks like a beast