Club Obi Wan

These are a couple of images of a DM whip I bought last summer. I haven't used the whip as often as I'd like and it is still breaking in. The plaiting on the rest of the whip seems fine, except for this area. Is this normal? I compared it to 2 other EM whips that I've had for a few years and they don't have this "problem." Any suggestions or thoughts would help??? Thanks...

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa11 ... =Whip2.jpg

http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa11 ... =Whip1.jpg

Mr. Kent

Your Morgan looks just like mine as far as the plaiting near the fall. When I give mine a little twist the strands do come apart quite easily. I it in to Joe Strain for his opinion and he told me that that is typical Morgan construction over the last few years and would not recommend any type of fix. I don't use the Morgan that often so am not that concerned but I could see how dirt and such would get under the strands and wreak havoc if you used it often.

-Nebraska

My EM-Brand whip was loose at the fall like that. I untied the hitch, snugged up the plaiting and re-tied the hitch. It was a pretty easy fix.

Weston

It’s normal, in that this sometimes happens to whips. Basically the plaiting at the point has started to become loose. It’s not necessarily that that the whip maker didn’t do a good job when he made it, it’s just something that happens. Usually it occurs from long-term use, as that last inch of plaiting is subjected to a great deal of sharp back and forth bending and flexing action. Over time this can cause the strands to wear, stretch and loosen coming out of place like that, especially if the whip wasn’t plaited as tightly as possible from the beginning and unfortunately not every whipmaker can plait as tight as Joe Strain does.

Aggressive whip cracking, using too much force or power cracking however is also a major reason why this happens, especially when seen on newer whips. It is also common on whips that are used alot on wet grass. As the leather gets wet; it stretches more and more just below the fall hitch while the whip is being cracked wet. After repeated use, over time the strands stretch out of shape and loosen up. In many cases the popper will also catch right under the fall hitch as while your learning how to crack the whip, that impact and extra stress doesn’t help matter. I’m not saying that this is what caused it to happen on your bullwhip, but those are some of the common reasons it happens.

While the condition is not something to panic over especially at this point, it's also not something you want to ignore. It's important for the point to stay tight, as usually when a stand breaks there it’s because the strands have loosened up like that. Usually it happens when the condition is much worse then what your seeing on your whip. When the plaiting isn’t tight and set properly though, the strands are not sharing the stress load equally. There may be one strand in there that is narrower, or a bit shorter then the others, basically a weak link that won’t take the stain durning use. Because of how heavy and wide David’s strands are at the point, they do hold up better then most in these cases, but if you keep using it like that, over time it will get eventfully worse and one of the strands will fail and break.

With that said, I have the same issue with one of my Morgans. It’s not to the point that I feel it needs to replaited yet, but I keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t start getting worse. If it does, It’s better to address the problem early on then wait till it gets so bad and you snap a strand. Repointing a whip is a fairly simple repair though. Any competent whip maker can do it for you with out any trouble. The repair basically just involves undoing the hitch knots, and unplaiting the whip a few inches down, then re plating the stands tight again, reattaching the fall and retying those hitch knot. To someone who has never done it, or seen it done it probably sounds a bit of an intimidating but with the right know how I think just about anyone can do it and I really believe that this is one of those maintenance skills that any serious whip enthusiasts should know how to do.

Dan