Club Obi Wan

To keep this in perspective, let me first say that Kyle's (Knibs) post is a lot more serious than this one...an eye is much more priceless than any whip will ever be.

But now let me say that I am utterly devastated about my 6ft Joe Strain Stockwhip. It's only a couple of months old, and breaking in absolutely beautiful, becoming so fluid it's like holding water in your hands.

So today I was trying out a new crack - I think it's called the Singleton special or something like that...the one where you jump in the air and crack the whip underneath your feet. To my surprise, I got it on the very first try. I couldn't believe it, and I kept getting it for about ten minutes every time I tried it. Then I started to get tired, and it was like a light switch turning off....whamo....the fall got tangled in my legs, and my watch with a metal band put a nasty gash in the handle of my favorite whip. Hard to visualize, and even harder to explain, but given the momentum of my right arm and the whip, and the sudden stop when the fall got tangled on my feet, it jerked the handle back towards my left arm and the watch caught it just right.

I was sick...I absolutely love this whip and try to care for it like a baby....and now there's this nasty gash.

For some of you long time whip crackers, I'm sure this is nothing as this type of thing is bound to happen to your whips over time, but this is my first such occurrence to my otherwise beautiful whip.

It might be hard to see in the pics, and it doesn't look sooooo bad in the pics, but the gash appears a little deeper in person. So do I put anything on it to heal it or protect it, or do I just let it be?

Regards,
Kenton

EDIT: Sorry, mods, didn't realize original pics were too large...reposted in an appropriate size.

This is good reason why when it comes to whip cracking, you need to always take preventative steps. Safety glasses, hat...etc. That would include no jewelry. Especially a ring due to the fact that it could rub against the whip and cause things like this.

How bad is the cut? Does it look like it's going to go through the strand? Personally I know of nothing to do other then use a little (very little) pecards in the area as it could be dry. The only way it can be replaced is to have it replaited which means redoing the handle. Since the thong of a stock is different from the handle, if it really bothered you, you could purchase another handle and just have a new one attached to the thong.

At least this is on the handle plaiting, not the thong. It looks to me like you could apply some dressing to protect the damaged area since the surface of the leather has been cut through. I don't think it's going to come apart on you, but that is a nasty scar.

If you can't live with it the way it now is, send it in for repair. I know the feeling, this is a real bummer.

Weston

Kenton,
there are a few things you can do so all is not lost.

The first is to have Joe secure the gashed section with the same kind of twine used in securing the keeper of the stock (so black waxed thread) and either leave it as is (which granted isn't so pretty), or, have this covered by a knot of some kind. It would have to be a long knot or perhaps some other combination of more common knots...

To me this would be the cheapest way to resolve this problem while still keeping the whip as is, meaning the same stock and thong together.

The other option is to just have the stock re-plaited. While this is not a big deal, it will mean that things will be a bit different because you have gotten used to your whip aging as a single unit, not as two sepperate parts forming a whole. This isn't as bad as you might think; in a very short amount of time you would get used to the new stock and you would eventually forget how the old one felt. I say the new and old stock, but unless the stock itself is damaged, I'd recommend using the same foundation, which would reduce the risk of the newly plaited stock feeling "weird".

Just send the entire whip to Joe, and I'm sure he'll return it good as new to you. He may even suggest options I haven't thought of... but whatever you do, I would stop using it until it's been mended and I would NOT put anything on it until you've talked to Joe. If you put grease or something on it now, it may make repairs more difficult.

Stop sweating and just call Joe.

I'll second the bind it and knot over it. Grapevine would look nice and dress it up a bit.
Ron

Just when I though I heard of everything… Ouch! Kenton Those kinds of things can be heartbreaking, especially on such a beautiful whip.

The good news is, out of all the spots on a whip for something like that to happen that’s going to be one of the least flexed and stressed areas, so there much less chance of the strands breaking all the way, unless the cuts are much more substantial then they appear. Clearly it could have been worse if that had happened to the thong.

Just to second what has already been said, you have several repair options available that range from simple to more intricate. I’d just give Joe Strain a call or e-mail him the pictures and see what kind he would recommend doing with it.

Dan

I agree with rjallen70 and Canuck Digger and get Mr. Strain to just extend the keeper or something like that. Vary sad though.

I exchanged emails with Joe, and I'll tell you, it's hard to beat his customer service. He gave me a couple of options for repairing it, a couple of which you guys already mentioned, and in fact, he offered to do one of the options free of charge if I would send it out there.

But in the end we both agreed that at this point, no action is really required. There is almost zero stress being put on the part of the handle where I gouged it, and the laces are not cut entirely through, and they shouldn't become worse given the location of the gash.

So as long as I can get used to the sight of that unseemly gash in my beautiful stockwhip, the whip should be fine. And in fact, I used it quite a bit yesterday (at least a couple hundred cracks), and there was no sign of any further damage or stretching in that area of the gash.

Still devastating, but the whip will be fine....I just wish the story of the gash was a little more adventuresome, like getting caught up in a stampede, or scraping against a rock while swinging across a pit, or something like that....hmmm, maybe I should rewrite my original post.

Regards,
Kenton

Remember: it's not "used" or "worn". It's "battle damaged".

Kenton, sounds like a plan. If the look of it is bothers you, I suspect A little brown shoe polish and a very light application of leather dressing would make the scar much less noticeable.