Bullwhip Myths

hollywood1340 · Post by **hollywood1340** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:22 pm

"We mentioned that we would dispel some "Myths" that are floating around regarding BULLWHIPS and their USE....MYTH:It is best to start with a 6 Ft. whip if you are a beginner because it will be easier to crack. FACT: A 6 Ft. is great for a child or very small adult-its short length actually makes it more difficult to crack because it has less length to make the hairpin turn which makes the TIP travel faster than The Speed Of Sound and hence: the CRACK. A 10 Ft. is MUCH
easier to Master the CRACK with as it provides more room for error and more of a radius for a typical adult arm to move in. Think of it this way: a car with a very short wheelbase takes less steering wheel movement to turn than does a car with a very long wheelbase. Try a 6 ..THEN try a 10..NOT ONLY
DOES IT PACK MORE HITTING POWER..It's a Pleasure To CRACK and
for beginners cuts down on "Backlashes" and the dangers of backlash- The 6 foot will hit most people in the face-the 10 Foot will go up and to their side on an underhand forward throw for instance.

MYTH: Use Neatsfoot Oil On your WHIP [Yet ANOTHER Aussie Whipmaker has now seen the light{the company initials are "EM"} and NOW does not reommend the use of neatsfoot oil with whips-he must have been educated by our WhipSite. Again, [and we were the FIRST of ANY Whipmakers to advise you of this- FACT: You can use Neatsfoot Oil on a brand-new piece of natural, vegetable-tanned russet leather but..that's all it's good for..NEVER use it on YOUR BULLWHIPS whether old OR NEW. We recommend using OUR SPECIALLY Formulated "TexSteer"(tm) LEATHER CREME/WAX it is for use on all TOP-GRAIN LEATHERS. For VERY OLD WHIPS in Need Of A GOOD CLEANING and RESTORATION--WE Recommend SENDING THEM TO US (eMail us, provide a phone # and we'll give you a firm quote after discussing options)

MYTH: WHIPS with thin, spliced-in Falls Crack More accurately and are better suited for target work. FACT: They Crack very nicely if their falls would hold up but.. the fact is..they don't ..We've broken off the ends of MANY spliced-in fall whips(NOT OURS ,OF COURSE)with ONE CRACK! THAT's WHY WE HAVE NO SPLICED-IN FALLS IN OUR WHIPS. Some say that the Integral TIP passes too much energy through the thong and can break the whip..NOT ON OURS! We've owned and USED some of our personal WHIPS [the SAME type of models we offer to our customers] for over 25 YEARS and They Still Crack Beautifully and THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH HARSH DESERT and TROPICAL CONDITIONS(Our "TexSteer"(tm) Leather Creme/Wax took care of that).

BIGGEST MYTH: Kangaroo Leather has more tensile strength than Cowhide. BIGGEST FACT: NO WAY! and ESPECIALLY NOT IN WHIPS!
Kangaroo used in shoes and Boots has shown to be very susceptible to cuts and it abrades quite easily, much more than Bullhide, or Cowhide --even some EXOTICS are STRONGER THAN Kangaroo. For whips, while it makes for beautiful and fine plaiting it doesn't allow for strength because IT ALWAYS has to be what WE call spliced. The average Kangaroo Hide is only 4 Square Feet in Size! True, a thin 1/32 x 1/8" strip of Kangaroo can be stronger than the same size strip of Cowhide [IF the Kango is new and perfect-since it comes from a Marsupial--a cross between a dog and a rabbit, but more dog-- it IS VERY susceptible to drying out and gets brittle fast], HOWEVER, Nobody in their right mind would level down Cow Hide to that thickness...with Kango-there is NO Choice as it comes pretty thin naturally, so a lot of strips HAVE to be used for any kind of strength...12-Plait Kango is fine and safe for reasonably hard use in whips, but ANYTHING more really has its drawbacks: 16 should be THE Max and, 20, 32 or 64 is Ridiculous and borders on "Arts & Decorative Crafts." Those high, multiple-plait VERY high-priced whips are STRICTLY for indoor use by a seasoned pro and still; you have to treat them with care. However, the makers don't want to tell people that. There are some very high quality Aussie and New Zealand Whips out there, but there are also a lot of poorly-made, high-priced ones...but even the great ones WILL NOT outlast a QUALITY COWHIDE WHIP for HARD USE OUTDOORS...In our collection, we have COWHIDE WHIPS that have been used HARD on TEXAS RANCHES for over 100 YEARS and they're still CRACKING LIKE DESERT NIGHT LIGHTNING! A former TIGER & LION TRAINER from GERMANY came to see us in Texas recently and HE COULD REALLY Crack a whip LOUDLY!! He did overhead cracks with our WHIPS that actually overtook the noise on the freeway next to his hotel and-HE was VERY impressed with the quality of OUR WHIPS. He too said that he ALWAYS USED COWHIDE WHIPS when training his LIONS and TIGERS in the GERMAN CIRCUS. In fact, a VERY Competent Whipmaker in NEW ZEALAND {initials "PJ"} on his own web site recommends his Stockmans Whip in COWHIDE as being "more resilient to rough use than Kangaroo.".... We've dealt in Hides from all over the world during the course of our business and the BEST AND STRONGEST LEATHER for WESTERN LEATHER PURPOSES and BULLWHIPS is COWHIDE and it COMES FROM THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE, CANADA or ARGENTINA and THEY are ALL EQUAL in quality having VERY GOOD to ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT tanneries in each country. TRUST US on this, WE were making and selling whips on a mass basis all over the world BEFORE ANYBODY. We're giving it to you straight. REAL ADVICE on REAL-WORLD use and care of WHIPS."
Comedy is truely an art! Newbies beware of those who shout a lot!

Hunter57 · Post by **Hunter57** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:37 pm

Oh, no. Not Texas Bullwhips again?

hollywood1340 · Post by **hollywood1340** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:10 am

It's amazing what you can find with www.archive.org

And to think, at one point, I was going to buy one!

Sergei · Post by **Sergei** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:26 am

whew.... I thought the opening posting was serious - shaking my head, not again. So relieved... good Thursday humor.

hollywood1340 · Post by **hollywood1340** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:33 am

But how can you go wrong with killer bUlLs, and lions and tigers in the germam circus? The lions are probaly on steroids or something. And that is why they had the INDIANA JONES WHIP ON STEROIDS!! It looks like their site has been down since 2004, and I've found ANYTHING else on the web about them or their Scorpion or King of Th3 Whips whips. Because lASH LARUE USED A SWIVEL HANDLE AND SO DO manY PRO'S IN HOLLYWOOD!!! WE GAURENTEEE YOUR WHIP TO be inDistructable by ANY MEANS!

"Welcome to our WebSite! WE have been in The CUSTOM BULLWHIP & WESTERN LEATHER Business for OVER 25 YEARS and..have been CRACKING WHIPS, HUNTING SMALL GAME WITH THEM, USING THEM IN RANCH WORK, TARGET WORK and for ALL-AROUND WHIP SPORTS and ADVENTURES in the Woods, Deserts and Jungles FOR OVER 25 YEARS! NOBODY has OUR EXPERIENCE..NOBODY! WE are also Former POLICE and MILITARY and TWO of us are BLACK BELT MARTIAL ARTISTS with extensive REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE with WHIPS and related Instruments...>> We SELL OUR BULLWHIPS in 6 Ft., 8 Ft. and 10 Ft. Lengths( Longer Models Are Available By SPECIAL ORDER) OUR
PREMIER Model is The "KING OF THE WHIPS"(tm) which comes in any of the aforementioned lengths AND WE OFFER FAST DELIVERY..in fact--as FAST as YOU WANT IT--Even Overnight! We Have Over 100 WHIPS available IN-STOCK at any given time! As you view our WebSite, you'll learn more about US, OUR PRODUCTS and..WE'RE going to dispel some of the "Myths" that are going around in the Whip Industry today. As we mentioned--We've been in this Business as MAKERS and WHIP HANDLERS for over 25 YEARS."

Although on the wiki entry for bullwhip I read about someone who HUNTS CARIBOU with a bullwhip. Must be an ALAKSA BULLWHIP tested on KILLER ALASKA CARIBOU!!!

louiefoxx · Post by **louiefoxx** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:43 am

I think the guy who hunts caribu is Simon Tookoome, a Native American whose whip is Seal skin (or something like that).

I have a video of him on my site:
http://bullwhips.org/how-make-bull-whip/?p=565

he has a very interesting background, I think his bio is on wikipedia. If you watch the video it's amazing how he holds a group of highschool looking kids attention. From a performers standpoint if you watch the end of the video and see how he "works" the audience it's a valuable lesson.

xoxo
louie foxx

DAVEY · Post by **DAVEY** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:27 pm

WOW ..... What a finish .....a backwords flick ... thats an impresive performance he has , with his whip that looks long and loose .....thanx for sharing louie ............davey

hollywood1340 · Post by **hollywood1340** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:17 pm

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/s ... 21&k=13488

Cracker · Post by **Cracker** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 7:55 pm

Very interesting, not to mention amazing. And here I am trying to learn to cut targets with a 6 ft whip

hollywood1340 · Post by **hollywood1340** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 8:26 pm

I'd like to see Gery Deer give that one a crack!

bernie47 · Post by **bernie47** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 5:03 am

Almost did an Adam.

lingarn · Post by **lingarn** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:41 am

hollywood1340 wrote:" it comes from a Marsupial--a cross between a dog and a rabbit, but more dog--

Wow. This was an interesting read.

Post by **BullWhipBorton** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:59 am

bernie47 wrote:Almost did an Adam.

Trust me, I had my finger on the delete button while reading this, until I realized hollywood1340 wasn’t serious.
It should be noted that a good whip maker can still make an amazing whip out of cow hide, but this guy tends to go a little overboard in my opinion.

Simon Tookoome is pretty slick with that long whip. Thanks for posting that link to the video and article ,I enjoyed them. I’d also like to get a good look at that whip he is using to see how its made.

Dan

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