Club Obi Wan

I bought a bullwhip on ebay that looked decent for the price. It is plaited nicely, at least on the outside, but feels quite light. I understand that any skimping is often done on the inside. It's my first whip so I don't know how heavy they should feel. I understand and appreciate the desire not to comment on another whipmaker's work, but I get the feeling the process is outsouced to Mexico anyway. Here is an auction for a similar whip, identical in length and plaits:

(MOD EDIT: Ebay Auction link removed)

I can get it to crack easily overhead but a front crack is quite difficult because of the weight(at least I think). I was wondering if someone could comment on this whip and possibly recommend how I could add weight without taking the whole thing apart. Perhaps wrap the entire thing with lead tape? It's not pretty but at least it might be functional. If your hesitant to post here, please just email me at mgdpublic@yahoo.com

Thanks all.

Mike

Hi Mike, I had to delete the eBay link. Posting current eBay links is not permitted on the forum. It can causes a run on the auctions and could falsely inflate the price for other members who may be in the bidding, even for that. The exception being if the item is your own, I am sure you’ll understand.

For those curious, here is a picture of the whip in question though.


I’ve seen worse but it’s probably got a rope material core. Most of those Mexican made bullwhips use them for the internal structure and then use a low grade of cowhide for the overlay plaiting. It’s not so much about how light or heavy the whip feels, but rather the balance and weight distribution though out the length of the whip so that it rolls out easily when thrown. Unfortunately you can’t expect too much from those types of whips, but there are a few things you can do that will improve its performance. First, Narrow the wide fall down to better match the taper of the whip, and put on an 8 inch twisted popper on it. Secondly, Put a heavy coat of leather dressing on it and allow it to completely soak in, that will add some weight back to the leather and also help lubricate the leather fibers if its dried out. If your not worried about the whip in terms of long run care, another trick you can do is to soak the whip in leather oil, like neat’s-foot oil. Normally this is not recommended as it can cause some problems over time, but in this case it will add even more weight to the whip. After it soaks up as much as it can, hang it up for a few days to let the excess drip out, then wipe it down. Try these at your own risk though and good luck.

Dan

My apologies for the ebay link. Thanks for pasting the pic. I trimmed the fall a bit but I'm gonna go a bit thinner. Should the fall itself taper? Thanks for the other info.

The fall should taper, yes. ThoughI'm not very good at making mine as smoothly tapered as I'd like them to be.

Starting out with a big one like that might make it easier though.

Regards,
Swindia

No worries Mike.

You are better off if you can cut the fall so that it does taper a bit, or you can just replace it with a better fall altogether. Cutting those can be kind of difficult though as they are usually a bit narrow at the point to start with and depending on how strong the leather is, you want to be careful not to narrow it too much to where it will break on you.

Dan

Dear Mike,

Since the whip will crack, have you considered that it might be your form? Not to sound like a jerk, but if it will crack one way and not another, try altering your form.

I realize that some whips won't crack well one direction v. another because of the way they lay. And, having a lower quality core doesn't help matters, either.

Best Regards,

Paul Stenhouse

hi their mike the advice you have got all ready is good and you should take it here is a pic of a whip bought on ebay and it the loudest cracking whip i have ever heard! it used to 14 ft. long but i cut it down to about 9 ft.