Club Obi Wan

I've come to be aware that cracking my whip in the back yard might be disturbing my neighbours and not wanting to be anti social I was wondering if cracking a whip without the cracker would damage it at all?

That way I can get some practice in without setting curtains twitching all the time!

(The sound of a whip does sound like a small pistol going off to folk who don't hear guns that often!)

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure it would damage the fall..

Also, why crack a whip without the noise, I thought that was a part of the pleasure..

montana

That's bad on the fall if I'm correct and the whip will probably feel like its jerking not to mention you'll barely be able to hear the crack since you'll have nothing to disperse the energy.

Try a really small cracker, it makes just a tad louder noise than no cracker at all. But what's the point of crack practicing if you don't know if the whip cracked or not?

Smaller cracker could work but they'll just get used up quicker and they'll have to learn how to make crackers as well. Ever try finding a good quiet park or something?

I've done it many times with an old 10 footer I used to have. It can still sound pretty loud if you get a good snap. The end got a little furrowed, but I'm talking after having it for about 20 years. Not that I practiced everyday mind you, but it did get some good use.

You CAN technically get a crack out of the fall with no popper attatched, but after continued use, I promise you it WILL chew up your fall, KT.

Try a thicker made cracker, it tends to give off more of a muffled crack, and different cracker materal also tends to contribute to the sound factor as well.

Also, the more you learn your whip and get used to the way it cracks and let it do the work, you can learn to produce a more controlled sound, like a pop for instance, if that makes sense .


Hope that helps.


Cheers

Jim J.

Thanks folks, I tried cracking with no cracker and it still made quite a sound... They are just going to have to live with it...

I'll tell them my doctor advised some aerobic exercise.

I did some two-handed stuff once with a pair of whips that didn't have poppers. I was in the process of putting on new poppers, having taken the old ones off, and someone asked me to demonstrate a routine. Since cracking the whips loudly would've upset a few people at the time, I did the routine slowly, and without any cracks at all.

So, cracking a whip without a popper can be good if you really slow down, and try not to get a crack at all. It forces you to develop a fine touch with your whips, so you know just the right hand movement to make so your whip doesn't crack and still make it move the way you want.

However, yes, the noise is the fun part. If I didn't like the noise I'd do poi or something ;-)

-Adam

To prevent torquing out the end of your fall by removing the cracker, try clipping all of the "Fluffy" bits off of the end of the cracker, so all you have left is the knot.

The whip will still emit an audible crack, but it will lack the thunder you get with a fluffy cracker.

Plus, there's links here that lead to several good popper-making tutorials.

Good luck!

-Dan

A nice public park sounds like a pretty good solution, if you've got one nearby. Getting a nice BANG is often what makes practicing so satisfying and fun! I used to live in an apartment in Cincinnati, so my only option was to go practice in a park. At first I was hesitant about it, but no park officials ever tried to question or stop me. On the contrary, I'd have at least one or two interested people per week walk up and want to talk with me about cracking, and several even wanted to try it!!

-Lauren

I live in a condo in seattle and so I have to walk up the street to the park to crack my whip. But since I'm on the road often and hotels don't offer a good place to crack, I use a lot of parks to practice.

I've had police show up a couple of times...usually all they want a quick lesson on how to crack a whip! I've never had anyone tell me I couldn't crack a whip at the park.

I'm exceedingly spoiled, as all I've had to do for the past 3 or 4 years is go out in my backyard and throw the whip around. The only things I bother are the birds, bugs, bunnies, and horses, (who tend to ignore me. In fact, our landlord, who owns the horses has thanked me, as it's conditioning the horses not to spook so bad at loud noises.)

The closest I've had to any actual complaints is the neighbors complaining that I sometimes cracked whips after 10PM, (and the funny thing is, the only reason I did that was because they're D@#*ed "Huntin' Dawgs" had treed some poor critter around 2AM on a weeknight and were making a bloody racket, so I went outside cursing at the top of my lungs, let off two or three loud KA-BANGS! The Dawgs hear that as rifle and shut up and run away. Of course, THE neighbors don't HEAR the Dawgs, because they're their dawgs...but that's my baggage, and I apologize for opening it here. This ain't airport security, and you're not TCA. ;-) Also, for those grammar conscious among us. I realize the spelling. It's meant to emphasize the attitude of my beloved neighbors.)

Next month, I'm moving to town and will lose the luxury of just going, "Hey! Let's go work on that!" or "Oohhh! That [YouTube/Myspace] video of [Chris Camp/Adam Winrich/Gery Deer/Dan Borton/etc. etc. etc.] was inspiring! I think I'll go work on that!" and just put on a pair of shoes and head on out.

But, there's multiple public parks around, (I have three or 4 within walking distance,) and the college greens are always fun too, (getting passers by as well as both campus security and local police interested in what I'm doing.) I've NEVER had a complaint in town. Just, "Wow! That's really cool! How do you do that?" typically followed by my standard PR spiel about the sport of whipcracking, and usually a brief lesson for the passer-by.

I'm actually looking foward to this, as I'm going back to being a performer part time come Fall, (used to do semi-pro work in high school and early in my college career. Quit cold turkey to be "behind the scenes," and have really started missing it lately.) Get me used to working with a live audience again. ;-)

So, all the best in your cracking efforts. Something else to work on in urban areas: It's EASY to crack loudly. Anyone can do it.

Work on volume control. Good exercise I do is to start cracking as soft as you can, and increase volume every successive crack to full blast, then slowly decrease volume until you just get a hushed pop from the whip, (it's a drum warm-up too!) Going through this several times per cracking session, (especially as a warm-up,) really builds up that muscle memory, and builds INCREDIBLE control skills.

As usual, all the best, and happy cracking!

-Dan

Kt Templar wrote:I've come to be aware that cracking my whip in the back yard might be disturbing my neighbours and not wanting to be anti social I was wondering if cracking a whip without the cracker would damage it at all?

That way I can get some practice in without setting curtains twitching all the time!

(The sound of a whip does sound like a small pistol going off to folk who don't hear guns that often!)

Seeing as you're in London, this would seem like a good time to spam London and SE Whip Crackers on Yahoo:http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/lsewhipcrackers/

Admittedly, it's pretty quiet in there, but I know half a dozen people who are interested in meeting up in one of the locals parks in S/SW London; probably later this month. With a bit of luck, it could become regular (at least through the summer.

Don't forget the British Whip Cracking Convention if you can get there: www.ukwhipconvention.com. It's on 14th July. I know of at least one person who's offering to share transport from London.

With regard to practicing quietly, I recommend learning to do so with a cracker on. With a good whip, it is usually possible gain sufficient control to choose the volume of every crack. You can practice up and down the volume scale. Learning to throw the whip with the minimum force necessary to get a crack really improves your sensitivity and technique; and allows you to introduce more variety to multiple cracking routines.

Dave
English Whips
www.whipstore.com

If it's not too far I may just come along. Please keep us posted on where you decide and when. .