Club Obi Wan

Hey all,

I will post pix later, but I have been working out with a Jim Markell Pocket Indy and its SOOOOOOOO cool ! He made it to fit in the pocket of my Horsehide Coat and its a blast. REALLY nice work, Jim !

Pix to follow !

Ken / JJ

Sounds like you have a pretty awesome whip there, Ken! I will be watching for the pictures.

You say its a bullwhip that fits in your pocket? That is mighty clever.

The_Edge wrote:You say its a bullwhip that fits in your pocket? That is mighty clever.

Kyle, I was waiting to see your response.

We've got to get out there and do some cracking. I'll be leaving this summer and we need to do it before I take off.

Mike

Clever? No, not really. Maybe if you weren't such and ###, Kyle, more people would be coming to you for pocket whips instead of me.

Whoa fellas!! Slow down, let's all be friends, where's the goofy little emoticons so I can tell you're kidding? Geez.

ecwhips wrote:Clever? No, not really. Maybe if you weren't such and ###, Kyle, more people would be coming to you for pocket whips instead of me.

Careful, Jim. You might hurt my feelings.

Hi Ken,

Sounds like you are having fun with it. There's something about being able to tuck it into one's pocket!

None of us whipmakers are creating anything original. Rather, we make variations on a tried and true theme. It's only in the last 10 years that information has become so available due to the internet, but I'm confident that someone before has made exactly what we currently produce. How long was the whip trade in full swing in Australia? Imagine those guys trying to out-compete their fellow whipmakers by making variations on an existing theme.

Besides, I don't think the bullwhip design is something that can be copyrighted, so we are all S.O.L. when it comes to hoarding what we think is an original idea.

Best Regards,

Paul Stenhouse

Well put Paul.

And yes, it's a lot of fun to have it so accessible to just roll out and crack a bit.

Thanks to Paul and thanks again to Jim !

Peace

JJ/ Ken

Well, maybe the kevlar fire whip combination is new, but I'm reasonably sure it's a variation on what some bubba has probably done (that is, dip a leather whip in kerosene and see how well it works on fire).

No whipmaker I know if in his/her right mind is going to tell a prospective customer, "No, I can't make that. Go to my competitor!"

Best Regards,

Paul Stenhouse

Paul,

No whipmaker I know if in his/her right mind is going to tell a prospective customer, "No, I can't make that. Go to my competitor!"

I know Paul Nolan tells customers to buy stockwhips from Janine Fraser, so there is at least ONE whipmaker who says 'go to my competitor'. Though, I guess if Paul doesn't make stockwhips, they really aren't true competitors.

With the fire whips, I saw a picture of Wild West performer Frank Dean using a fire whip made from fiberglass and asbestos. I think the picture was from the 50s.

About there being nothing new in whipmaking, I know Mark Allen said that there was also nothing new to whip cracking. The Australian whipcrackers, however, seem to be coming up with a lot of new stuff using two whips. The number and level of difficulty of new two-handed whip routines has really gone up in just the last decade.

-Adam, www.winrichwhips.com

"...There is no new thing under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 1:9

What more can I add to this discussion? Nothin' really.... Except to say that there really is not a whole lot that can be done in our business of making whips. There's only so many ways to make long braided things that crack.

As for me, I'm a nylon whipmaker, so there's really a limit to what I can do. And face it, there's not a whole lot ya'll leather whipmakers can do differently. We all just have to find some way to vary what is already out there, and make our level of quality worthy to be in competition with others. So, why don't we all just get along?

That's just my random .02....

High Regards,
-Indiana_Hall