How long should my fall be (odd sounding question)

[backstagejack]

I recently acquired a 10 foot classic bullwhip KOTCS styled whip, supposedly made right after examining the actual jacka used in the film.

It's a beautiful thing, my first real 12 plait kanga hide.....and I recently had fun telling people at work that I spent my night "greasing my whip"

There are one or two things that concern me. One, it seems that towards the end of the whip where its thinner, the whip seems to have......bends? Not sure how to describe it. Almost as it if had been kinked in a certain position for some time. It's not real noticeable to anyone except me.

Also, the Fall seems REALLY long, almost a full foot........I've even had other whip enthusiasts comment on it while wearing it with my Pirate costume.

Any of this things I should be concerned about? I haven't cracked it yet, as I live in an area with no grass and lots of sand/dirt. I used to own a 10 foot purewhip 8 plait and don't recall the fall being that long......I guess I'm worried about the fall hanging up on me or the whip.... when I draw the whip, as it seems to do that.........

[thefish]

I use falls that are almost 3 foot long, so fall length is not an issue. In fact, it would be too short for me, but if the maker made it that length, there is probably a good reason.

There is a particular theory shared by a bunch of whip performers that I know that physics of each individual whip will dictate fall length, and that if you "blow off" bits of your fall, that there will eventually come a point when the whip will tune itself to the optimum length that your fall should be, (related to this, Robert Dante showed me a method for rolling the whip out and seeing EXACTLY what length to cut the fall to so that it is optimum length. I've never actually used it, so I won't try to describe it here.)

As to the kinks, if they're from being coiled up for too long, then they should work out as you break in the whip. If they're just in the construction of the whip itself, don't let it concern you. Crack the whip. I've handled whips that had a few odd looking kinks in them when it was coiled up, but when I threw it, it rolled out straight as a pin.

All the best, and happy cracking.

[WhipDude]

Are you sure it's about a foot? That is super short. In fact, a lot of people recommend changing them when they get down to 12-18 inches. Most of my falls are around 30 inches.

And those bends? It might be where the maker dropped strands. You'll have to get photos for us. Make sure you aren't coiling the whip super tight either.

[Canuck Digger]

For a ten footer, it is definitely too short at one foot, even at two feet I would find it short-manageable but short.

I use falls between 30-33" myself.

The shortest fall I've ever put on a whip was 26" and that was on a five foot whip, so at ten feet... It would bee too short for me.

Who made it and can we see pics please?
Cheers,


Franco

[riku1914]

For a ten footer, it is definitely too short at one foot, even at two feet I would find it short-manageable but short.

I use falls between 30-33" myself.

The shortest fall I've ever put on a whip was 26" and that was on a five foot whip, so at ten feet... It would bee too short for me.

Who made it and can we see pics please?
Cheers,


Franco

I agree, so far I've made all my falls 30-33" long, the one on my first whip I made is about 26" right now, the whip is 8', and it

still cracks fine.

I would imagine that on a whip 10' whip, you would want something between 30 and 33", and on a 12', between 33" and 36".

This is nothing I've experienced personally, as I've only ever handled 8' and 6' whips, but it is what makes sense to me, in my

mind.

Either way, 12" is WAY too short for a fall on any bullwhip. I say bullwhip because I know that some nylon whips have that

twisted section that is usually no longer than a foot and is more flexible than the thong, acting as a fall type of thing.

[Canuck Digger]

I'm not suggesting that the longer the whip, the longer the fall should NECESSARILY be. Yes, you can get away with a shorter fall on a 5 or 6 foot whip, but by the same token I don't think a really long whip needs a fall longer than 30-33" - there is still a conservation of energy that must be watched because the longer the fall, the more energy is required to keep the thing accelerating to the sound barrier point. The thing about 30" (give or take) is that it is a nice length to have a really effective continuation of the whip's taper, but beyond that, I feel one might need more power to get the whip to crack easily. Taper and the size of a fall are all very important - I had a whip with what could be described as a "standard" fall for an American style bullwhip, but it tapered to barely bigger than the cracker, and because I kept it well greased, it never broke while I had it and man that thing cracked on its own- I was only there so the whip wouldn't look foolish swinging in mid-air on its own!

But as with everything in whipmaking, lots of personal styles here too...

Franco


Franco

[riku1914]

I'm not suggesting that the longer the whip, the longer the fall should NECESSARILY be. Yes, you can get away with a shorter fall on a 5 or 6 foot whip, but by the same token I don't think a really long whip needs a fall longer than 30-33" - there is still a conservation of energy that must be watched because the longer the fall, the more energy is required to keep the thing accelerating to the sound barrier point. The thing about 30" (give or take) is that it is a nice length to have a really effective continuation of the whip's taper, but beyond that, I feel one might need more power to get the whip to crack easily. Taper and the size of a fall are all very important - I had a whip with what could be described as a "standard" fall for an American style bullwhip, but it tapered to barely bigger than the cracker, and because I kept it well greased, it never broke while I had it and man that thing cracked on its own- I was only there so the whip wouldn't look foolish swinging in mid-air on its own!

But as with everything in whipmaking, lots of personal styles here too...

Franco


Franco

It's my understanding that some time ago the most popular fall length was around 18", any idea why it was increase by appr.

12"? BTW i have a couple questions up on my build log. If you would be so kind as to check them out for me...

[Canuck Digger]

no idea

[backstagejack]

Thanks for all the great responses.

Let me measure the fall, and see.

If it's expected to be that long or longer, then I'm okay with it.....I just don't recall my last whip having a fall near as long as this one, but I'm new to whips in general.

I have it very loosely coiled on top of an old comforter, where its been since I used pecards on it a week or so ago. Still haven't cracked it yet, as these 100 degree days are just not fun to do anything in and I don't live in an area with grass.

Soon, though, soon......

[riku1914]

Thanks for all the great responses.

Let me measure the fall, and see.

If it's expected to be that long or longer, then I'm okay with it.....I just don't recall my last whip having a fall near as long as this one, but I'm new to whips in general.

I have it very loosely coiled on top of an old comforter, where its been since I used pecards on it a week or so ago. Still haven't cracked it yet, as these 100 degree days are just not fun to do anything in and I don't live in an area with grass.

Soon, though, soon......

I live in texas also. DANG IT we should have broken the record. To go all that time and loose it one day before tying it

I haven't cracked any whips in the better part of a whip, one since it's just TOO HOT and two what little grass we have looks,

sounds and feels like HAY

[MartinL]

About the bends, I saw a video by Bernie securing his whip to a hook. I would never have done that with my whips if I hadn't seen that video. I think it must leave the whip a little twisted - maybee untill it has been cracked a few times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV26uP0jjhY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[riku1914]

About the bends, I saw a video by Bernie securing his whip to a hook. I would never have done that with my whips if I hadn't seen that video. I think it must leave the whip a little twisted - maybee untill it has been cracked a few times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV26uP0jjhY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't think I'd ever do that, if Bernie says it doesn't hurt it then it doesn't hurt it, but I don't find it difficult to replace the fall

without the entire whip being secured.