A Couple of New Whip & Color Schemes

I picked up some neon green paracord the other day and have made a couple of whips with it now.  I put this five foot bullwhip together the other day as a Christmas present for a friend.  It is made using both neon green and kelly green.

I'm really digging the colors on this next whip.  This is my "Fire Whip."  It is a four foot snakewhip made with black, imperial red, neon orange, and neon yellow paracord.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and may it truly be a time of giving thanks.  "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me" (Psalm 50:14-15).

Happy cracking,

~Ryan

www.happycracking.com

Pair of Bullwhips for Some Two-Handed Cracking!

I making several bullwhips for a martial arts/whip artistry class in Seattle, WA.  A few of the participants have ordered matching whips.  Here's the first set I've completed.

Anyhoo - I just thought I'd put up a quick post.  Happy cracking!

~Ryan

http://www.happycracking.com/

How to Crack a Whip: the Circus Crack or the Cattleman's Crack

I finally updated my "how to" videos.  Here's a demonstration of the Circus Crack otherwise known as the Cattleman's Crack.

1. Start with the whip down or preferably behind you and your arm down straight by your side (the 6 o'clock position). Note – I’m demonstrating with a 6 foot bullwhip and a short 3.5 foot snakewhip (The Pocket Rattler).
2. In a smooth motion bring the whip around in front of you, up and over your shoulder. Your arm should stop around the 12 o’clock position, yet allowing the whip to continue on behind you.
3. When the whip is pointing back behind you – at around the 9 o’clock position or even pointing down toward the ground (your arm is still around 12 o’clock) – bring your arm quickly forward to the 3 o’clock position. The whip is traveling on a horizontal plane beside you and when you change its direction here it is forming the critical loop that will travel down the whip ending in the sonic boom.
4. One thing that I have seen that seems to help with this crack with new whip crackers is to practice the motions WITHOUT trying to crack the whip. Many people simply try too hard, so just try to get the motion down and it will often crack without you intending for it to happen.

Have fun cracking!

~Ryan

http://www.happycracking.com/

The Bumble Bee

I finished this whip this week and thought it looked like a bumble bee...

I would imagine that it has a good sting to it.  I truly enjoy cracking these shorter whips.  They work well for fast cracking routines and are just easy to tote around with me.

This shot gave me some good close up resolution.  I'm not much of a photographer so I appreciate it when I get a shot like this that shows good detail.

Not much to blog about at the present time.  I'm hoping to shoot some better "how to crack" videos over the Christmas break.  The more I look at the ones that I have created the more I think they look lame.  We'll see how it goes.  If you're planning to order a whip I'd encourage you to do it fairly soon.  My plaiting claendar is filling up quickly and I'm already into January.  At the present time I may only have time for one, possibly two more oders for January and will be looking forward to February.  I'll be out of town for a week during that time and may not have the freedom to work on whips.

Well I hope you are enjoying your cracking.  Our weather here may be turning ugly soon - thankfully I have several nylon whips to play with that won't be affected by the weather ;)

~Ryan

http://www.happycracking.com/

Father's Day Whips

I just finished a pair of whips in time for a friend to give them to her husband for Father's Day.  He's seen me out cracking my whips and thinks it looks like fun.  Now I guess there'll be at least two whip-geeks in the neighborhood.

This whip is a 6 foot 12 Plait Bullwhip in all black.  I recently changed how I load the core of my whips - having moved from the beaded chain to using bb's.  I really like the little bit of extra weight and the smoothness of the the whip's flow.

The second whip is one of my 3 foot Pocket Rattlers (snakewhip) in black and colonial blue.  I gotta say that I really like this color of blue - unfortunately my pictures don't do it justice.

Well, that's all for now.  Take care and happy cracking!

~Ryan

http://www.happycracking.com/

Pair of Mini Bullwhips

One of the types of nylon whips I make are what I call "Snapdragons."  These are very tiny whips, and usually they are snakewhips.  The pair of whips below were a special order.  He asked for a pair of black and white Snapdragons with 6 inch handles and extending the length of the whips to 28 inches (from butt to end of fall). 

Snapdragons are made differently than my other whips.  These whips have a loaded core followed by an eight-plait-overlay.  My other whips have a loaded core, an eight-plait-belly, and then a twelve-plait-overlay.  The lack of a plaited belly in the Snapdragons makes them quite slim in diameter.  These little guys definitely don't take up much space.

Also on these particular Snapdragons I made the falls a bit longer so that the customer could shorten the length if he so desired.  I took them out for a few test cracks and they performed quite well.

Typically, my other Snapdragons look like this:

Take care and happy cracking,

~Ryan

http://www.happycracking.com/

Will Nylon Whips Hold Up???

I received an email from someone asking about my whips and how they hold up with use.  This person recently purchased two inexpensive whips - one leather and one nylon.  He said...well let me post his email:

Hi again!

I'm looking for some information about whips in general and for some advice. Sitting in front of me I have two whips. Both are incredibly cheap, one is made of nylon and the other one is made of leather with what seems to be a cotton filler (it's poking through in places). The nylon whip seems to have no filler at all (it's limp and feels empty).  I'm sure your whips are high quality, so please don't take offense to my next question. How does the quality of your whips (and all nylon whips in general) stack up against something like a leather or kangaroo hide whip? How long will one of your nylon whips last? The two I have seem to be on their last leg and it's only been a few days.  The fall on the nylon one is starting to fall apart already. In the grand scheme of things I know that what you offer is priced very fairly, especially when I've seen leather and kangaroo hide whips go for as much as $200 or more, but before I spend $95 on a whip I need to know it'll last me a little longer than the past two have, at least through my beginner stage and then some. Once again I thank you for your time. God bless and take care.

Here is what I wrote him...

Nice to hear from you again. When I first started getting into whips in 2008 I also bought some less expensive whips. My first was from a local farmers co-op, an eight foot leather whip. It would crack a bit but I had no idea what a difference a quality whip would make. It too had a cheap core - hemp rope or something - that broke by the fall knot and now sticks out. I've since heard the saying from Australia that goes, "a whip is like a man - no guts, no good" or something like that. My second whip I tried purchasing one from ebay, a ten footer from ****. He had good ratings and the price for a leather whip seemed great. It too was junk. Very hard to crack and the core seemed to be some sort of plastic, like a plastic trash bag.

As far a comparing leather and nylon - this seems to largely be personal preference. I love my kangaroo whip, but find that I use my nylon whips even more. My six foot nylon is a bit lighter and I don't have to "worry" about it as much. I can use it in the morning dew, after a light rain, or in the snow. In short, a well made nylon whip should serve you as well as a well made leather one.

I don't know what your whip was made of but a nylon paracord whip can take a lot of use and even abuse and still work great for many years. There are some cheaper nylons that I don't think would hold up very well. Paracord is the type of stuff they designed to use with parachutes, so you know it has to be strong. This being said it is still not a good idea to crack on pavement or gravel or any similar surface. These surfaces will eventually tear up the whips as they hit and brush against them. It is best to practice on the grass, on carpet, or on a smooth floor like in a gymnasium. I have a little "Pocket Rattler" - a three foot snakewhp - that I take with me almost everywhere and I crack it a lot. I take it on walks with my wife (although she wishes I'd leave it at home), on hikes in the woods, to work, to the park with my kids - I either roll it up and stick it in my pocket or bring it in a bag. I've had this whip for, I think, a little over a year. It looks a bit worn close up but it works as well today as it did when I first made it. The only thing I have replaced or repaired on it are the crackers (which is the same for all whips).

In fact I just took some pics, here they are:
http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu242/gsolideogloria/Whip%20stuff/?action=view¤t=YearOldSnakewhip1.jpg
http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu242/gsolideogloria/Whip%20stuff/?action=view¤t=YearOldSnakewhip2.jpg
http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu242/gsolideogloria/Whip%20stuff/?action=view¤t=YearOldSnakewhip3.jpg

You'll notice the stiffness as well as the natural bend. Whips crack best when cracking with their natural curves.

I hope this helps. Take care and happy cracking,

Ryan

Here are the pics of the whips I sent him:

This one above shows the wear and tear up close.  As you may notice it is still in great shape - and this is after a year of regular cracking. 

This above picture shows the stiffness of the whip in one direction.  This is not an action shot but me holding the whip still.  It is not too stiff as can be seen in the photo below.

In this shot I have flipped the whip over to show the natural curve.  When cracking it is best to use the curve to your advantage.  Here is what Robert Dante in his book "Let's Get Cracking"

A good whip has a natural curve to it, a way it wants to hang.  The whip wants to roll along this curl.  The curl is caused by the bolster inside the whip, called the belly - as a consequence, the resulting curve also is called "the belly."  The belly is the inside part of the curve - the outside part of the curve is called "the spine."


Cracking with the belly lets you work with the whip.  A move is more flowing, more graceful...With this form, you can do more sensitive work, less percussive.  The whip wantes to unroll along its curve.  This is a relatively effortless crack, since it "wants" to roll along this line.

Well, I hope this was informative.  Take care and happy cracking.

~Ryan
http://www.happycracking.com/

How to Snag Stuff with a Whip

I found this crazy article on snagging a TV remote with a whip.  I thought it was a hoot.

There are few tools that can break the sound barrier while fetching the TV remote. But throw a whip right and its tip can travel 900 mph (producing a sonic boom), then curl back to snare the object of your desire. Anthony De Longis, who coached Harrison Ford for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, shows us how to lash out.


1. Skip the toys
Look for a 6- to 8-foot-long whip with a braided core. The best are made from kangaroo hide (or maybe paracord - sorry I couldn't resist - Ryan).


2. Take your stance
Imagine you’re straddling railroad tracks. The whip should travel parallel to the rails, and the target should be a bit closer than the length of your whip. Use caution: The tip can cut to bone.


3. Load and lock
Stretch the whip out in front of you, arm extended and pointed at the object. Now yank your hand up to 12 o’clock. The whip will fly over your hand and unravel behind you.


4. Throw down
When you feel a tug, lower your forearm — easy now, let the whip do the work. It’ll roll forward just to the side of your body. As it unfurls, squeeze the handle.


5. Crack and drag
The tip will extend just beyond the target; as it recoils, it’ll wrap itself around the object. Pull the remote toward you slowly. Next lesson: cracking open a beer.


Contributed by Catherine DiBenedetto

You can find the original version here: http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Snag_Stuff_With_a_Whip

Have fun and happy cracking,

Ryan

Playing with more interesting picture taking

Here are a few shots of the bullwhip mentioned in my last post.  I thought I'd try to do something a bit more interesting than have a whip merely lying on the floor or held in my hand.

(I posted this one on my website http://www.happycracking.com/)

The gun is my .45 Colt Ruger Vaquero.  It's a lot of fun to shoot and can really pack a whallop with the right ammo.  I'm gonna try to get some more creative shots in the future.  We'll see what happens.

Take care and happy cracking,

Ryan

Black & Gray Bullwhip and Snakewhip

Well I've been pretty distracted lately from making whips.  I just finished a couple of matching whips.  A black and gray snake and bull. 

I personally really like these little three foot snakewhips (Pocket Rattlers).  I take mine with me a lot of places I go.  I typically have it in the bag I take to work (one never knows when one will want to blow off and little steam and do a bit of cracking).  I know my wife thinks I'm crazy but I even usually take it with me when we go for walks.  It's fun to crack around with, although she prefers to be at a safe distance. 

I think what I like about these Pocket Rattlers is their small size and fast cracking ability.  I can simply roll it up and put it in just about any pocket.  And then they are just fun to crack - easy multiple cracks and quick flick-of-the-wrist "towel" cracks.

Bullwhip cracking

Here's a short video of me cracking one of my six foot paracord bullwhips.



Happy cracking,

Ryan