Natural curve

[willthebold]

I've made a few whips now, and it seems like the tighter I plait, the more curve there is to the finished whip, but on others' whips I've seen, they're plaiting is tight and it seems to make the whip straighter. I don't know if this is related or not, but on my most recent whip, the fall tends to tangle with the thong when I roll out a slow cattleman's crack. On an earlier whip where it was a little looser, it cracks very effortlessly. Is this something that changes as it breaks in?

-Will

[Marhala]

According to my experience... a looser whip tends to tangle a bit more than a stiffer one. It is more flexible and is able to move in more complex ways, which may cause it to tangle. There was a point while breaking in my Strain, that it was very easy to crack, although stiff. Which I think is due to being able to travel in a straighter path at such speed. Then it got very difficult for a time, because the whip was so loose. Then I changed my form a little, and that was it. It cracks nicely.

It does make sense to me that a newer whip will cause tangles, but as I wrote above, not in my experience. Also, remember that usually, a whip's thong is very stiff when new, but the fall tends to be very supple right from the start. The fall moves like crazy and crashes into the thong, which has limited mobility. Hope that helps a bit.

Aldo.

[willthebold]

Yeah, that helps some. I guess I'll just wait and see how it breaks in. It might be that once the thong loosens up a little, it might roll out a little more consistently.

-Will

[louiefoxx]

You might have too light of a point of too heavy of a fall on the whip. If it's either of those the end of the whip flappin' in the breeze could be causing it to tangle.

I've learned that there's more to a straight whip than just braiding super tight...but braiding correctly for the whip. Also consider what's inside and how layers and parts of layers transition to each other that help make a straight whip.

xoxo

Louie
http://bullwhips.org

[willthebold]

I might try a lighter fall, and see how that works out.

-Will