Club Obi Wan

I looking at getting my first whip and Caicedo Whips appear to be nice and have the price im looking for. As I've never used a whip, im looking for one that is not to costly but is a real whip and not a coustume item. If I enjoy using it then Ill upgrade but for now one that functions decently and looks good with my Indy gear will do fine.
Has anyone used one? Will they be good for this purpose? Here's the link to his site... http://www.purewhips.com/

Do a search my man!
But they are great!
Buy one today.

Floyd, like Ron said, there have been a lot of posts about Gus's whips. I've never seen anything negative. For the price, you probably can't do any better than one of his whips. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

yeah there are tons of posts about Gus's whips. Having had mine for a couple months I love it. Its actually the whip I take with me when I go on trips and stuff as well.

I just wish it would stop raining here long enough to get some real good time in.

In addition to being a nice guy, Gus makes a very decent whip at a very reasonable price.

In the past, he had an incredibly quick delivery time. But, I suspect that he is presently swamped with Indy-IV inspired orders- as are most reliable/reputable makers.

For a person who is looking for something that's 8+ plait (which looks a little more screen accurate than a 4 plait) and inside that price range, I think Gus's whips are great.

A few weeks ago I finally saw one in person and got to handle it a little, and I have to say it looks pretty good. My only complaint is that it didn't handle as well as a Winrich IOAB I've tried (same price range) or a well made 'roo whip (much higher price range) - it was a little light overall.

So in my opinion, there's two things to consider. If you want a more screen accurate looking whip (meaning 8 or 12 plait) and really just want to be able to crack it - nothing too fancy, then Gus's work is perfect. But if you're not concerned with the plait count, and you're looking for a whip to begin learning on that's balanced and will handle more like a professional bullwhip, I'd say go for a Winrich IOAB.

Here's a comparison picture I found on another forum between the knot and handle section of a Gus whip and a Winrich IOAB, from someone who now owns both:



Lauren Wickline
www.midwestwhips.com

Anyone order from Gus recently? I'm curious about the turnaround time for orders.

As of June 13 his website says wait time is 6 weeks.

Rick

PS - Overall, I like my whip from Gus. I don't know what a "wet noodle" whip would feel like, but mine cracks well and handles easily. It is an 8' 8 plait, in the natural RAIDERS color, which I thankfully got before he (like everyone else) raised his prices. I prefer the more numerous plaits of Gus' whip over the Winrich IOAB 4 plaits, but have never used a Winrich, so don't know how they compare performance-wise.

My one quibble with the the Caceido whip is that the white hide fall seems sort of thin, and the end has already snapped off several times. I ordered replacement falls from Joe Strain, and they are considerably more robust than the original equipment.

SIDE NOTE: The snapping off of the fall and loss of my poppers forced me to learn how to make my own, and I'm glad I did. They're easy to make, it's fun to do, and I can twist them as heavily or lightly as I want. I found the Strain replacement poppers I bought a bit wimpy.

hocfutue wrote:Anyone order from Gus recently? I'm curious about the turnaround time for orders.

I just e-mailed Gus about an 8' 12p whip and he confirmed the 6 week wait.

Thnaks for the input LemonLauren... I see you know your stuff. I actually prefer my indy gear to be useful and tough gear rather than SA prop type stuff so I think I'll check out the Winrich whips. The man is very good with a whip too...

floyd1977 wrote:Thnaks for the input LemonLauren... I see you know your stuff. I actually prefer my indy gear to be useful and tough gear rather than SA prop type stuff so I think I'll check out the Winrich whips. The man is very good with a whip too...

Floyd,

Check out this thread on a Winrich whip. This is the one that made me place my order.

viewtopic.php?t=30899

Just to be clear, light doesn't automatically equal bad - and on the same token, heavy doesn't automatically equal good. I've cracked some brilliantly balanced whips that performed wonderfully, but if you weighed them on a scale they would have been very "light." And I've cracked some really beefy heavy whips that tried to pull my arm out of socket with the crack, which was no fun.

From what he's told me about the guts of his whips, Gus does make them to last (all leather inside!), and they're not at all just some flimsy about-to-fall-apart-if-you-look-at-them-funny whips. What I was trying to talk about was the overall balance felt like it was lacking weight in some areas that would make it handle more like a $500 style whip. The IOABs do come much closer to that balance of weight, but you have to sacrifice the checkerboard handle/chevron thong pattern. Keep in mind though that no matter what budget whip you get, there are going to be some sacrifices! The whole weight/balance issue is a tricky thing to try to describe without confusion in English. Maybe we should invent some new words, lol.

Lauren Wickline
www.midwestwhips.com

I own four Gus Caicedo whips and I love them. I understand what Lauren is saying about the light feel. I have two 4ft whips that are light, but also very fast. Today I received from Gus two matching 5.5ft whips that have a much heavier feel, and they are super responsive.

I can say in general every person in the whip community has been great. Gus went well out of his way to provide me a set of whips that were what I was looking for. He is also a tremendous bargain. I would love to get to try an IOAB and get a WinrichWhip deerhide whip (if Adam is still making them) too. However my next purchase will be a KoTCS whip from Gus.

Here is a link to my small but hopefully growing whip collection. I have several pics of my Caicedo whips.
http://picasaweb.google.com/M.Erik.Turner/Whips