My stoneman nylon bullwhip review
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:48 pm
I picked up an 8ft black nylon bullwhip from forum member stoneman (Stephane of White North Whips) over the Christmas break.
I've never owned a nylon whip before so I will try and use my Joe Strain Raiders whip as a light comparison while keeping in mind that the two materials are very different.
Stephane had a whip immediately available so I grabbed that one, and I'm not sure if some of my feedback would be addressed in a more customized whip, but I will speak to what I have in hand. Please excuse some of the pics, I haven't had a chance for good daytime shots.
CONSTRUCTION
The whip is 8ft in length and made from black nylon paracord. It's handle is roughly 9 inches in length.
The thong is a slightly heavier build than that of my Joe Strain Raiders whip.
This whip is TIGHT. Again, not ever owning or seeing a nylon whip in person, I didn't know what to expect. I was genuinely surprised at the tightness of the braiding. It's really nicely done from Knot to the end of the thong.
The end of the thong isn't as tightly braided as my Strain, but I don't see that as being possible with a nylon whip.
The handle has a nice braid to it with a wider type braid than my Strain. The ring knot is also really nicely done and looks pretty close to what I have on the Strain.
The Turks knot is nicely done, although I find it to be too small and it's squared off at the bottom rather than having a rounded finish. I'd like to see a knot closer to what is present on my Strain and other leather Indy style bullwhips. The only other nitpick I have is that the whip is black but the bottom of the Turks knot uses a light tan piece of leather. I'd like to see that in a black if possible, it would be a nice finishing touch, as would the inclusion of a loop (though like I said, he may be able to do a loop, though not having done one for this whip).
Braiding is tight on the end of the thong into the Fall. Very sturdy and well done.
Overall, this is one sturdy nylon whip. I'm very impressed overall and the only major tweaks needed are in the Turks Knot.
PERFORMANCE
I haven't had as much time outside with the whip as I would have liked (our winter has been whackadoo up here).
I put the whip through all the basic cracks I know, and attempted a few combos. I'm really looking forward to more time with it but overall I'm VERY happy with it's overall performance.
It is a heavier thonged whip, and with the longer handle and thicker thong leading out of the handle, the whip feels different from my 8ft Strain. There is more leverage and some cracks need a slight tweak in movement from what I'm used to with my Strain. That being said, my Strain is worked in and this one is not broken in yet.
The whip cracks nice and loud and without much effort once I adjusted to the new feel of it.
And because of it's construction it feels like a tank, incredibly solid during cracks, and that's a good thing IMO as it speaks to it's quality construction. It feels built to last a long time.
The basic individual cracks flow really well, but because the whip is still being broken in, transitioning from one to another can be a little clumsy (and the squared off Turks knot bottom and smaller size doesn't feel as nice in my hand as my Strain). That being said I could pull off some nice underhand flicks into Coachman Cracks with little effort, as well as some overhead figure 8s.
I haven't tried the Fast Figure 8 with it yet, hopefully I will be able to this weekend. And I haven't tried the volley yet, and that was one that was giving me fits with my Strain at the end of the summer. I'm willing to bet that with the added thong leverage this whip has that I might be able to unlock the secret of the volley...
SUMMARY
I'm very happy with this whip. From top to bottom it is very well made, feels incredibly solid and built to last and cracks loud, clean and without much effort. My transaction with Stephane was fantastic. He's friendly and answers questions honestly.
I'd like to see the Turks knot brought to the next level and a loop added (if those items aren't already addressed in his other whips). That would really put the finishing touches, aesthetically and performance-wise, on an already excellent whip! I'm looking forward to more time with it, especially during the summer months when I can use both this and my Strain in some solid whip work time.
Please drop Stephane (user name stoneman ) a message/email if you have any questions about his whips. It was a pleasure dealing with him and I look forward to continued use of his excellent product!
Ryan
I've never owned a nylon whip before so I will try and use my Joe Strain Raiders whip as a light comparison while keeping in mind that the two materials are very different.
Stephane had a whip immediately available so I grabbed that one, and I'm not sure if some of my feedback would be addressed in a more customized whip, but I will speak to what I have in hand. Please excuse some of the pics, I haven't had a chance for good daytime shots.
CONSTRUCTION
The whip is 8ft in length and made from black nylon paracord. It's handle is roughly 9 inches in length.
The thong is a slightly heavier build than that of my Joe Strain Raiders whip.
This whip is TIGHT. Again, not ever owning or seeing a nylon whip in person, I didn't know what to expect. I was genuinely surprised at the tightness of the braiding. It's really nicely done from Knot to the end of the thong.
The end of the thong isn't as tightly braided as my Strain, but I don't see that as being possible with a nylon whip.
The handle has a nice braid to it with a wider type braid than my Strain. The ring knot is also really nicely done and looks pretty close to what I have on the Strain.
The Turks knot is nicely done, although I find it to be too small and it's squared off at the bottom rather than having a rounded finish. I'd like to see a knot closer to what is present on my Strain and other leather Indy style bullwhips. The only other nitpick I have is that the whip is black but the bottom of the Turks knot uses a light tan piece of leather. I'd like to see that in a black if possible, it would be a nice finishing touch, as would the inclusion of a loop (though like I said, he may be able to do a loop, though not having done one for this whip).
Braiding is tight on the end of the thong into the Fall. Very sturdy and well done.
Overall, this is one sturdy nylon whip. I'm very impressed overall and the only major tweaks needed are in the Turks Knot.
PERFORMANCE
I haven't had as much time outside with the whip as I would have liked (our winter has been whackadoo up here).
I put the whip through all the basic cracks I know, and attempted a few combos. I'm really looking forward to more time with it but overall I'm VERY happy with it's overall performance.
It is a heavier thonged whip, and with the longer handle and thicker thong leading out of the handle, the whip feels different from my 8ft Strain. There is more leverage and some cracks need a slight tweak in movement from what I'm used to with my Strain. That being said, my Strain is worked in and this one is not broken in yet.
The whip cracks nice and loud and without much effort once I adjusted to the new feel of it.
And because of it's construction it feels like a tank, incredibly solid during cracks, and that's a good thing IMO as it speaks to it's quality construction. It feels built to last a long time.
The basic individual cracks flow really well, but because the whip is still being broken in, transitioning from one to another can be a little clumsy (and the squared off Turks knot bottom and smaller size doesn't feel as nice in my hand as my Strain). That being said I could pull off some nice underhand flicks into Coachman Cracks with little effort, as well as some overhead figure 8s.
I haven't tried the Fast Figure 8 with it yet, hopefully I will be able to this weekend. And I haven't tried the volley yet, and that was one that was giving me fits with my Strain at the end of the summer. I'm willing to bet that with the added thong leverage this whip has that I might be able to unlock the secret of the volley...
SUMMARY
I'm very happy with this whip. From top to bottom it is very well made, feels incredibly solid and built to last and cracks loud, clean and without much effort. My transaction with Stephane was fantastic. He's friendly and answers questions honestly.
I'd like to see the Turks knot brought to the next level and a loop added (if those items aren't already addressed in his other whips). That would really put the finishing touches, aesthetically and performance-wise, on an already excellent whip! I'm looking forward to more time with it, especially during the summer months when I can use both this and my Strain in some solid whip work time.
Please drop Stephane (user name stoneman ) a message/email if you have any questions about his whips. It was a pleasure dealing with him and I look forward to continued use of his excellent product!
Ryan
