Canadian Airgun Forum

I came across the world of whip cracking recently, and thought it was pretty cool, I wanted to try it.

I was concerned about the legality, but then I learnt there were tons of whip makers and whip crackers in Canada, and that whips are as legal as baseball bats.

I have two whips being made for me by a couple whip makers in the GTA, one is a performance hybrid whip, and another is a bullwhip.

This is a picture of the performance hybrid whip that is almost done (maker just needs to get a black cracker, as I wanted a black cracker).



I have a 6" paracord bullwhip being made by another maker, which will take another two weeks or so.

For the mean time for practice reasons, I bought a $177 whip from Amazon. It seems to work, how long it will last is another question.



After watching a tutorial on how to do the "Cattleman's Crack" I took it out and tested it. The first few times, it didn't crack, but that was because I was doing something wrong (letting it touch all the way to the ground on the back flip, where your supposed to flick it back forward just before it hits the ground). Once I started doing it right, it cracked every time after that. So at least the cheap amazon whip is functional and yes, I am capable of cracking a whip.

This should be a fun hobby/skill to develop.

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"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

thats pretty cool-- indy. i think we used to make them out of rope and a leather fringe or something on the end to get the sound of the loud snap --when we were kids-- from watching zorro. i don,t live to far from you. maybe when you get to be a good whipper snapper--i,ll take up smoking again- and we,ll see if you can snap the cigarette out of my mouth.

Reminds me of a song (any Gilbert and Sullivan fans?)
Goodness me — Why, what was that?
Silent be, It was the cat!

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))))----//----------==
Iacio, ergo sum

Indiana Jones is surely a very popular character/inspiration for a great many whip crackers.

There's a great many cosplays, and tutorials on how to do some off the things seen in the films.

Adam Winrich, a multiple time Guinness World Record winning whip cracker and world champion, says he started whip cracking as a kid after seeing Indiana jones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3gw98ISL-w

Paracord seems to be the way most people are going now, because it is 1) cheaper than leather and 2) requires no maintenance and can be used in mud, rain, snow, whatever unlike leather that needs to be pampered and constantly taken care of to refrain from getting cracked, molded, mildewed, etc.

For me paracord was the way to go for the professionally and custom made whips I ordered for those reasons.

Also, I did make a typo in the OP, the amazon whip was really $117, not $177. The paracord bullwhip that is in the works, was only $160 - that goes to show the difference in price between leather and paracord. A real professionally handmade leather whip would cost a lot more, and also be quite a pain, so it's becoming less popular these days.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

That's pretty cool. My bro has a 20' bull (hide) whip, that REALLY cracks.
Until you get used to it, it's quite dangerous to play with.
Technique is EVERYTHING!

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Best Wishes
Daryl

i was looking at some stuff on budk website and they had a nice looking one on there--$49.99. why the heck are prices of stuff in the states almost half price than that of canada.

I think it's important to keep in mind, BudK is targeted towards a younger audience or "mall ninjas" as they call them who often can't afford decent or especially "quality" products.

Having said that, I have noticed that the prices are obviously higher here due to the exchange rate mostly, but not entirely, but as I said comparing prices of BudK products to those of decent and especially quality products is going to exacerbate that greatly.

I do have the "Honshu Gladiator Sword" that can be found on BudK, but I also have the Windlass D-Guard Bowie that was $150USD and with shipping and exchange was $278CAD, and lastly the Hanwei Revolutionary War Hanger that was $425 Canadian. The Hanwei, is the best quality sword I have., the Honshu Gladiator (that can be found on BudK) is the cheapest, but also best value for money.

The biggest difference between the Hanwei sword, the Windlass D-Guard Bowie, and then the Honshu Gladiator is that the Hanwei and Windlass have real true high-carbon steel blades, while the Honshu Gladiator has a lower quality, softer stainless steel blade.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

Oh yes, generally speaking the longer a whip is the louder it will crack, I think that's basic physics.

So far I have luckily not hit myself, but I found a good tutorial maker who also mentions what to not do.

As for technique, you are right again. If you need to muscle a whip to get it to crack, you either suck at that specific crack, or the whip is not very well made, or both. The whip should do most of the work, as I have been told.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

i used to collect almost anything and everything and years ago sold mostly all of my collection. i was looking at the honshu blades too-but now i find --i,m a sucker for (shhh) don,t repeat it too loud-- gil hibben knives. thats why i was looking at budk stuff. now that you got my interest piqued in whips. (i,m not going to buy any-- was just piqued.) while i was looking around- i saw this place in toronto (etobicoke.) -- whipmaker.ca. but you probly already found it.

He's making the 6" paracord bullwhip.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

As to technique. many of the arm movements are similar to the older, original style spey casting with a 2-handed fly rod.

_________________
Best Wishes
Daryl

I went out an practiced a bit more.

yesterday, I hit myself a lot of times, luckily nothing too bad. Worst part was hitting my hand multiple times, and getting a small cut on one of my knuckles.

Today's practice was better, I paid a lot more attention to time, and waiting to feel the "hang" before flipping back forward, and I got much more consistent cracks.

I did find that it sounded the loudest when I aim towards the house, I assume it was the echo off of the house that increased the volume.

Dijon (whipmaker.ca) told me that he makes leather whips for actual cattle drivers as well, and that they get used in mud, snow, rain, cattle step on them, etc, and they just get rinsed off in literal cattle troughs, and they still last many years - even though that is totally not proper leather care at all.

So I just drowned it in a tub of warm soapy water (hand soap) and then whipped it down with a cloth, and now have it all clean and drying by a window. It's just cheap cow hide leather and I really only need it for a couple more days anyways, so it's not worth the investment in getting proper leather cleaners and leather dressing considering what I know from Dijon.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

Neetsfoot Oil for leather will help keep it from drying out.
You do not want the leather to dry hard as then it will be brittle and crack or break.
Neetsfoot oil, same as we used to use on our ball gloves.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

I'll 2nd the Neetsfoot Oil, I've used that on my motorcycle gear for decades.....

I was able to find that for $14 on amazon, for 16oz.

The maker of the performance hybrid whip said my whip should be in the mail on Monday (tomorrow) so, it may be $14, I don't think it'd be $14 worth spending, as it's not a high quality whip at all - cheap Pakistani junk really, already showing signs of wear around the end, and will have out lived it's usefulness in a couple days.

However, if I ever get a proper good leather whip in the future, one worth taking proper care of, I will keep the neetsfoot oil in mind.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).