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EM brand Whip
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2003 10:28 am
by brady
Alright so I am in the process of buying my first whip.. I decided to go with Bernie from what I saw on this forum and the kindness of his replies to my e-mails. I'm trying to decide whether the 8 plait or 12 plait 8 ft indy style whip would be better for me. Can someone explain to me the bigger differences I would see for getting the 8 plait instead of the 12. Remember this will be the first whip I have ever attempted to crack. I hope to have this whip for a long time and plan to take very good care of it. For a $100 more would the 12 plait be a better option? Thanks!
Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2003 11:22 am
by Sergei
In my opinion, go for the 12 plait. In the hands of an experienced whipmaker, they can produce quite noteworthy whips down to the 4 plait level. I know, I own a 4 plait stock whip that surprisingly exceeded my expectations.
But the theory in higher plait count is, that the whip will be more responsive, smoother, less break in time, etc. The "transfer of kinetic energy" will be more efficient between the 8 and 12, generally speaking with the above caveat noted. The example is take a slinky and notice how you can stretch it, bend it, and observe how the kinetic energy gets passed up and down the lenght of a slinky. Also if you bend the slinky, it won't break, unlike a single strand of wire. Even though the same single strand of wire is used in the slinky, but when you have a single strand of wire the bending and stretching is minimal. In other words, the "transfer of kinetic energy" is far more crude in a single wire that has no coils, compared to the slinky.
However higher plait count reponsiveness is true to a certain point. Plait counts beyond 16 or 20 then don't become very practical because the strands become so thin that there is a high probability that the strands will break after some use.
Long answer, but hopefully you get my drift. For a kangaroo hide bullwhip, the convention is 12 plait. It's the best of both worlds. The strands are still wide enough to provide long term use. A lifetime if you take proper care.
Just my .02....
-Sergei