Club Obi Wan

I know some guys have had our various whip makers do cable-cored "stunt" whips for more extreme use. I recall some saying the cable made them stiff and not very functional for cracking. SO........

I was hunting around for some braided cord for an unrelated project and stumbled upon the specs for nylon parachute cord. I didn't realize the test (maximum weight it will hold) is in excess of 500lbs.! Has anyone considered using parachute cord for a core??

Well since you want the core of a whip to not only be dense but also round, as well as act as a sort of well for leather conditionner, not to mention define the shape of the whip itself, parachute cord does not work as well as a well-made leather core. One has to understand that when we say there was a cable in the core for the swinging whips, what we mean is that there is a safety cable over which a whip-like object is plaited. This is NEVER used as a cracking whip because there is a length of cable running out of it on both ends, one end is attached to a safety harness under the stunman's costume, and the other end is attached to a strong point on the set, out of the camera's angle, sometimes it is the actual support strut of the studio roof. The cracking whips are the real thing and those are different whips from the ones used to swing with. So it is vital to understand that whips were NEVER meant to fill both the task of cracking as a whip should, AND to support the weight of an adult man!

I suppose you COULD use a very strong cord or rope of some type in the center of the whip, but this would NOT add anything to the weight and taper nor the density of the whip and would probably make the whip behave strangely too.

SO

ONCE MORE, it's JUST a MOVIE guys. Yes you can build a whip that will hold your weigth, but chances are it will not behave as well as a well-made leather bullwhip, because bullwhips are NOT a safety tether. Never were. Not to mention that the part of a whip that is most likely to be wrapped around a tree, pole, or whatever you intend to swing from, is most likely going to be the fall, and that is just leather. It's a tapered length of leather, not dakron or some other synthetic super-strong cable. It's just leather. If you DO manage to wrap the actual thong around the swinging post you have chosen, then the friction is likely to damage the overlay and thus weaken the tip of the whip.

Either way, if you want to swing from something, just use a cable and a grappling hook... At least that is meant to do this job...

Canuk Digger - spot on sir. The truth is like you say, you have a whip for cracking and a whip for stunts. Whilst in an emergency situation you may get away with using a whip in a capacity for which it wasnt designed, it would certainly not be good for the whip, and you would be chancing your arm.

Ken

This is why any "real" Indy needs to have a good length of rope and some lasso skillz

I admit that most of my interest in bullwhips comes from wanting to replicate the swinging part, which is why I want to master cracking and move on to cutting/wrapping as a way to develop the skill in a useful way. Otherwise I'd have to tie a whip-like cord to my backyard playset and swing back and forth (which, BTW, I did with my childhood 4 foot "whip". I had to tie it to the playset and it snapped in half after a few dozen swings)

I saw a video once of a guy who made a whip with a "steel rope" as the core, and it extended out and also served as the FALL, and he whipped a cardboard box with it and sliced it all up. Not sure how practical that is (or if it would even crack) but it sure did look cool!

this video ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8io17zRbf8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO0hBinvgrk

this whip have steel cable core (4mm) inside - at handle to cracker . whip crack but I have better whips for rutines -this whip is bit to heavy but for cuting is great

kooniu wrote:this video ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8io17zRbf8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO0hBinvgrk

this whip have steel cable core (4mm) inside - at handle to cracker . whip crack but I have better whips for rutines -this whip is bit to heavy but for cuting is great

That is indeed what I had seen! That's cool as #### to me. I know the general consensus is that bullwhips make poor weapons, but man...could you imagine getting hit with a STEEL fall??

My Best,

Jonathan

Jonathan Jones wrote:.....man...could you imagine getting hit with a STEEL fall??

My Best,

Jonathan

usualy patatos

I was once told of a whip artist whou would include in his crackers a few strands of copper wire (the kind you get if you undo an elctrical cable) and would use these crackers to slice apples in half! It's a bit cheating and very dangerous to do if you ask me.

I have normal cracker on the top and I'm careful

Oh of course! No one in their right mind would do something like that!

Jonathan Jones wrote: but man...could you imagine getting hit with a STEEL fall??

You could always buy one and find out....Because you would. It would only be a matter of time.

And I've seen footage of people cutting balloons with piano wire in their poppers.

Poor woman holding the balloons...She got blood all over her sequined dress. And you know THOSE things ALWAYS need to be dry cleaned. I don't think they ever found the tip of her finger either, so if this "Target Girl" thing goes South, she's hosed! Her typing speed just went down by about 10 words per minute.

Seriously folks. You want to slice up cardboard and vegetables. Save your money, and buy a Ginsu...

Whip cracking is more about entertainment and the ability to control the whip and not so much destroy things (or swing on them.) It's also an art form for leather braiding etc. Once you get into piano poppers etc., that's just dangerous (same with copper.)
And sure, you can cut up vegetables without a problem now anyway with a regular nylon popper. I cut up carrots and celery all the time. Great to use actually.