Club Obi Wan

Indiana Williams wrote:looks like the whip has some pits in that area. Have you been cracking it on rough surfaces?
Best Regards,
Joe

Canuck Digger wrote:Kenton,
Time to get another...
Cheers,

Franco

Canuck Digger wrote:After all, it's not the whip's fault, it was made that way.

Hi Kenton, Can you post a photo of the whole whip? I’d like to see it if possible.

Unfortunately wetting the whip and letting it dry in the sun will only dry out the leather, weaken it and possibly cause the individual strands to shrink, widening the gaps even more.

Do you notice if the the whip flexing sharply at the point where the plaiting is separating? While I can’t say for sure what’s going on with that bullwhip with out actually seeing it in person, based on my experience and from the photos and what you have described, I strongly suspect what’s happening is that the transition from the handle to the thong is being overstressed from the sharp flexing that occurs in that area of the whip and that this is causing the plaiting to separate and pull apart. It’s more then just poor plaiting, although that is a part of it. I wouldn’t blame yourself what’s going on, its more how the whip was made then what your doing with it, unless you’re really beating the #### out of it, which after seeing your previous videos I don’t think you are.

While I don’t know where your sister bought the whip, I strongly suspect that this bullwhip was made more for the tourist trade, then as a professionally made bullwhip built to stand up to the constant rigors of use. Like in the U.S. and Mexico, many Australian bullwhips that are sold through the mass-market outlets, are made basically as souvenir whips by anonymous whip makers. While they look nice enough on the outside, and even crack fairly for the most part to those who don’t know better, in order to cut down on cost, the “whip makers” making them cut corners on the construction. They use lower quality kangaroo hides for the overlay, (thin, stretchy, riddled with blemishes). The laces will often be cut unevenly with some noticeably wider then others and they are left un skived to save time. They are mass produced so they pretty much just knock one out after another.

The worst part is these types of whips just don’t have it where it counts, in the belly construction. There is an old Australian saying, “A whip is like a man, no guts no good” and I think that’s what’s really going on here. I have a feeling the handle foundation and transition zone between the handle and the thong on that whip wasn’t built up properly. This is one of the most stressed areas on a bullwhip and the sharp flexing that naturally occurs there is just wearing the transition down.

Now this is not always intentional as in many cases these “whip makers” just don’t know how to make a bullwhip, they are trained to make stock whips, which are a very different animal and when they apply those techniques to making a bullwhip, they run in to trouble.

Unfortunately ( at least as far as I know) there is little can be done. You can continue to use the whip but the problem will continue to get worse over time, then again Some people really like that loose thong right off the handle. Re-plaiting the whip would probably not be practical or effective, as even if you where to have the overlay re plaited as tightly as possible, you’d still run into the same problem eventually with out rebuilding the guts of the whip, the belly, in which case your better off just buying a new whip all together. Sorry I don’t have better news for you, in the mean time just keep it well dressed and looked after wheather you use it or not, and on the bright side though you won’t run into this with Joe Strains whips.

Dan