Club Obi Wan

OK this is the only place I could post this without feeling too much embarrasment. So after rereading several threads about Indy's bullwhip last night, I went out in my backyard to practice with my own. Now, keep in mind my whip s*cks. It's a 10-foot Mexican plait whip with a swivel wooden handle that I have had since I was about 10 years old. I have always known it was terrible, but I can make it crack fairly well if I choke up on the handle and don't let it swivel.
Well, last night while practicing, I thought hmmm, let's check this swivel thing out and see if it does anything differently. The answer I found is that yes it does change things. . . for the worse. I took the whip, threw it fairly hard, and then quickly lost control with the stout leather flailing out of control. It came back, popped my square on top of my head, and sat me on my butt with a throbbing headache and a few spots of blood. For some reason, I wasn't wearing my Camptown fed which probably would have protected me at least a little. It definately would have deepened the center dent for sure.
The reason I am telling you guys this horribly embarrassing story is that it's always good to hear of someone else being incredibly stupid and unsafe so you don't have to do it yourself.
Just a reminder: BE CAREFUL. These devices can really hurt. And you feel like an idiot sitting there in the grass bleeding and holding the source of your pain, a lengthy piece of leather, in your own hand.
Regardless, don't follow my example.
Cheers,
Chaos

When I was learning to crack my whip, my wife used to make fun of me because I wore safety glasses. She said I looked super dorky swinging around the whip with the glasses on. She's supposed to be the smart one out of the two of us.

So of course the first time I took off the glasses I smacked myself in the face!

xoxo

Louie

Yeah, I insist on either impact resistant glasses or safety glasses when I teach, (I wear glasses when I crack because otherwise I can't see my target.)

cuts and bruises heal, and scars become conversation pieces. Eyes become pink jelly, and don't heal too well ;-)

Happy SAFE crackin'!

-Dan

IndyChaos wrote:OK this is the only place I could post this without feeling too much embarrasment. So after rereading several threads about Indy's bullwhip last night, I went out in my backyard to practice with my own. Now, keep in mind my whip s*cks. It's a 10-foot Mexican plait whip with a swivel wooden handle that I have had since I was about 10 years old. I have always known it was terrible, but I can make it crack fairly well if I choke up on the handle and don't let it swivel.
Well, last night while practicing, I thought hmmm, let's check this swivel thing out and see if it does anything differently. The answer I found is that yes it does change things. . . for the worse. I took the whip, threw it fairly hard, and then quickly lost control with the stout leather flailing out of control. It came back, popped my square on top of my head, and sat me on my butt with a throbbing headache and a few spots of blood. For some reason, I wasn't wearing my Camptown fed which probably would have protected me at least a little. It definately would have deepened the center dent for sure.
The reason I am telling you guys this horribly embarrassing story is that it's always good to hear of someone else being incredibly stupid and unsafe so you don't have to do it yourself.
Just a reminder: BE CAREFUL. These devices can really hurt. And you feel like an idiot sitting there in the grass bleeding and holding the source of your pain, a lengthy piece of leather, in your own hand.
Regardless, don't follow my example.
Cheers,
Chaos

I can PERSONALLY testify that my Camptown has withstood a few bad whip throws and with my Joe Strain, that mother comes back at you like a train. Live and learn and for pete's sake, Chaos, keep your eyes covered !

Peace
Ken

When I finally got the hang of cracking my whip I bailed on a swing and caught the thick part of the whip beside my head. It wasn't moving very fast, but it still stung a bit.

Russ

There's no fun in wearing safety glasses. What happened to taking risks and living life on the edge?

There's no fun in wearing safety glasses. What happened to taking risks and living life on the edge?

Because it might lead to this...



I don't like to wear them when I am cracking either..........

Yeah, I've bruised myself quite a few times with my whip.....now I always wear long pants and boots when I use it.

indy89 wrote:There's no fun in wearing safety glasses. What happened to taking risks and living life on the edge?

Well, for when I teach it's a very simple game. You want to play, you wear them. Otherwise, you don't play.

Not being a hard-nose about it, it's just me doing what is called "Covering my...err...Interests."

A verbal, "Yeah, I resume responsibility and if I lose an eye, it's my own stupid fault and not yours." doesn't necessarily hold up in court.

If you want to lose an eye, fine, but not on my watch when I'm supposed to be the "responsible adult."

As for me, I often don't perform wearing glasses, unless I'm cutting targets (but then, I'm doing things I've rehearsed or done hundreds, if not thousands of times.) But I don't try learning new stuff unless I'm wearing them, (my eyes are my livelihood. I lose them, I find a new job.)

But, hey! That's just me!

IndyChaos, just as long as you're okay, my friend.

I once cracked a whip (or at least I think I did) and the end flew back and hit me on the lip. Luckily, it didn't leave a scar.

Whip Safety… Whip cracking is not an injury free sport. Whips can cut flesh, break bones or easily remove an eye or ear. Treat them with respect and use these common sense safety precautions to limit damage and the occasional welt. Take safety seriously.

Quoted directly from the top of this area.

Regards! Michaelson

It's that whole "common sense" part that gave me troubles. Like I said, I was being foolish, and I just hope my example, embarrassing though it may be, can save someone else the misfortune of hurting themselves far worse than just a crack on the head (pun intended). Michaelson, thanks for the salt. It'll go nicely in my wounds.
Cheers,
Chaos

ballcap and sunglasses when i go whip cracking.....primarily because if i wear my AB during practice, people will think i'm harrison ford shooting the next scene of indy iv.....cuz i look so much like him......really......<crickets chirping>......scuse me michaelson, i'm gonna take a nap under the plymouth now

Maybe this is what happened to old Indy.....the whip finaly got him.......

IndyChaos wrote:Michaelson, thanks for the salt. It'll go nicely in my wounds.
Cheers,
Chaos

No salt intended, my friend.

We can NOT emphasize safety enough in this hobby when it comes to the use and practice with the whip, and, of course, handling of firearms.

Even the veterans need to remind themselves of the basics.

As Shakespere once wrote, 'Familiarity breeds contempt!'

I'm just posting the reminder.

Regards! Michaelson

Stupid newbie whip cracking question: What difference does having a swivel handel make over a regular one? How does it affect how you crack (Or don't) the whip?

Russ

i played around with a mexican 14 footer with the swivel handle....my take is that it is obviously easier to swing it around your head with the swivel handle....it's definitely harder to throw a controlled crack from her for sure.....as well as pulling it back in recoil. then again, my good whip is an 8 footer so there is a tonne of control difference in between the two......

I'll take my chances.

I used to have a whip like that too, and a friend of mine just got one of them. I cracked it a bit last weekend and that fxxxgxn swiffel is a really nasty thing, I ended up hitting myself on my arm twice, left two nice marks , and now i've got the battle scars !

LOL

Ordering my Bernardo whip next week!! So Iam not taking any chances anymore the hat and the glasses will come in nicely :G

Regards

Dirk

be sure to post the bernardo beauty when you get it in DJ.....i truly love his whips!

start up a new thread on her so i can post my question of "can i have it?"

I think the seceret to not getting injured is to NOT hit yourself with the whip.....

....or not to yank your whip back so hard after you've wrapped around something.....like a coatrack....that has never happened to me personally......i just heard somebody's friend did that one time.....and hit himself.........a friend...........

To give you guys an idea of what a whip can do, here's a pic of me cutting a beer can in half. Look around the wooden stool, you should be able to see the blurry top and bottom halves of the can still in mid-air.



Hitting or cutting aluminum cans with a whip can really damage the whip if you're not careful. When cutting cans I use the cracker to hit the can. One time I broke a glass jar with a whip, though not only did I break the glass I also cut off the end of my fall.

-Adam
www.myspace.com/adamwinrich

Michaelson wrote:

IndyChaos wrote:Michaelson, thanks for the salt. It'll go nicely in my wounds.
Cheers,
Chaos

No salt intended, my friend.

We can NOT emphasize safety enough in this hobby when it comes to the use and practice with the whip, and, of course, handling of firearms.

Even the veterans need to remind themselves of the basics.

As Shakespere once wrote, 'Familiarity breeds contempt!'

I'm just posting the reminder.

Regards! Michaelson

No I understand completely. One day, I will be wise and rarely do foolish things, but my darn problem is that I only learn a lesson by creating a "Charlie Foxtrot" for myself. My Mom always told me there was an easier way, but I refused to believe her. For example, taking the warning at the top of this very page seriously would have been a good idea. Now if I can only find this easy way she spoke of. . .
Cheers,
Chaos
BTW Michaelson, I am a huge fan of the Bard myself. It's nice to see him introduced around here once in a while.

That's one of the few lines I could remember from the Bard.

That, 'Alas poor Yoric......I knew him well....'

and 'out, out, @#$% spot!'

On the last one, I never DID figure out how that dog got in the play in the first place.

Regards! Michaelson

That is so funny you posted this...i swear i did almost the exact same thing just the other day. I was out in my back yard tryin to figure out how in the world to make my whip go "snap" and the sorry thing came around the back of my head, wrapped completly around my face and finaly went "crack" leaving a nice bruise from the corner of my mouth all the way to my right ear lobe. I got popped plenty of times in the back, butt, legs and arms but that one was definately the most memorable...not to mention it was the only one that i got that i couldnt cover up...hence the reason i havnt shaved in almost 2 weeks.

winrichwhips wrote:To give you guys an idea of what a whip can do, here's a pic of me cutting a beer can in half...

-Adam
www.myspace.com/adamwinrich

Adam:

Yikes Adam! I hope that was not a full beer! Btw, what's that contraption in front of you, a trebuchet?

Also, any special cracker material usefull for cutting the cans?

cheers,
Gene
http://www.signalwhip.org

It is indeed a trebuchet to these eyes. We built a very similar one in a friend's back yard, (ours has a cinderblock/quickcrete/steel rebar counterweight system rather than the weight basket that would have historically contained stone harvested from the surroundings so the army performing the siege wouldn't have to bring the extra weight WITH them.)

And I think Adam's picture points out a very telling aspect of whip cracking. The whip is channeling an incredible amount of energy. They're essentially both flexible funnels and flexible levers. The amount of energy you put into them is GREATLY amplified out at the popper-end, so even the most minor flick can generate incredible amounts of speed and force.

Whips are INCREDIBLY powerful and potentially deadly tools, and you can do as much damage with one as you can with a knife or a baseball bat if you know/don't know what your doing, (depending on intent there.) Ken wasn't kidding when he said his Strain comes back at him like a train, (having a couple self-inflicted injury stories from a Strain whip, I agree.)

We're not talking about those dime-store goat-skin cheap rope and goatskin whips here, or those crappy floggers you see at flea markets and Ren Faires, (from the skeevy booth people at both!) These things are dangerous.

Am I saying, "Oh, for God's sake, don't touch them!" or "Be afraid...be VERY afraid!" of bullwhips? Lord no! In fact, being afraid of it when you're trying to crack it is the first sure-fire step to actually hurting yourself, (and then you've got the Catch 22 that if you're "gunshy," you're probably going to throw the whip in a way that causes it to hit you..which makes you MORE gunshy, so you hit yourself harder...which makes you...well...you get the idea.)

What I'm saying is to respect your whip. Be aware of what it can do to you and others. I can buy into the Neil Peart Philosophy of "Danger+Survival=Fun" But the Survival part is the clincher there! Don't take stupid risks. Calculated ones, yes...but be aware and take precautions.

-Dan

thefish wrote:It is indeed a trebuchet to these eyes. We built a very similar one in a friend's back yard...
-Dan

What a great idea! My neighbors are sure p*ssed-off at the whips; they're freaked-out at the knife throwing; the chanting around the fire pit terrified them--now, a trebuchet should have'em running for the hills! Heh!

best,
Gene
http://www.signalwhip.org

Hey! We do that too! Whips, knives, Atl-Atls' semi-auto rifles, fire rings, drumming circles, sword fighting, and my friends neighbors are scared! (which, considering his neighbors, he encourages GREATLY!)

Our trebuchet cost a little over $100, was built with stuff from Lowes, and we did in an afternoon, (with about 7 of us.) It throws a 1 pound object, (small pumpkins and melons,) upwards of 250+feet, (we've been tweaking the counterweight, sling system, and throwing arm length, etc to extend it.)

I'll get the plans from a buddy, and all the internet sites we pulled info from and zap 'em to you, Gene!

Meanwhile, back on target...Yeah...Whips...very dangerous...you go first ;-

Happy Crackin'!

-Dan

Yes, it is a trebuchet, built by the Chippewa Falls 8th grade class for the Wisconsin Renaissance Faire. They fire cantaloupe with it. I think there's a crack in one of the legs and the people who operate the thing are waiting for the trebuchet to break down, but it hasn't yet.

I also do knife throwing, though I must say it's been a while since I did any chanting around a fire pit

-Adam

thefish wrote:Hey! We do that too! Whips, knives, Atl-Atls'...

-Dan

Hi Dan,

Can't say I've ever thrown an Atl-Atl. Must be interesting. I use to run with some of Denver area 'mad scientists', some of them did those pumpkin tosses you see on the news. Like that you made your siege engine from parts from Lowes--I hate Home Depot! Heh. Made a nice tripod (from plans found on the net) with stuff from Lowes to support my cauldron (a #10 potjie).

cheers,
Gene

winrichwhips wrote:I also do knife throwing, though I must say it's been a while since I did any chanting around a fire pit

-Adam

Hi Adam:

I've met a few people who focus on knife throwing, yet it's a real surprise how good they can be with whips. Actually, I usually skip the chanting myself, it's the didge that I love.

best,
Gene

Atlatls, oh yeah i've heard of those things before

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... ID=8876433