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General >> Other Primitive Weapons >> Bull whips
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Message started by NooneOfConsequence on Jul 14th, 2019 at 11:30pm

Title: Bull whips
Post by NooneOfConsequence on Jul 14th, 2019 at 11:30pm
Any bull whip makers in this crowd?  I’ve been considering trying my hand at one. Any of you Aussies know of a good source for kangaroo leather?  I’ve seen a few whole hides on Etsy and EBay, but I don’t know what would be  a good price or if there are any things to look for quality-wise.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Kick on Jul 15th, 2019 at 4:01am
I've made some very simple whips, one with just lengths of cord covered in hockey tape and the other a paracord snakewhip that came out... ok. I would kill for an actual leather bullwhip, particularly a kangaroo one.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Frondeur on Jul 15th, 2019 at 7:58am
I bought a pair of cheap bullwhips several months ago, just to get the feeling, and immediately started to braid one, out of PP cordage. It turned out pretty OK, despite a lot of nistakes in the conception. I also made a quick one, just to  test some things.
Now I'm ready to braid another one, learning from previous experience... But no leather braiding for me. cords will do.

My  first experiences with whipmaking has definely changed my way of braiding realese cords on slings...

I'll send photos as soon as I can. ;)

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by NooneOfConsequence on Jul 15th, 2019 at 9:16am
I found a few small tanneries in Australia using google.com.au:
These two seem to have the best prices on veg tanned roo leather:

https://www.birdsall-leather.com.au/9LSDS/Drummed-stuffed-kangaroo-skin/pd.php

http://www.vacel.com.au/shop.html

Some of the other sites are charging 4x for what looks like a comparable hide, but it’s hard to know when so much can depend on the tanning process.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by joe_meadmaker on Jul 15th, 2019 at 10:22am
A whip is something I'd like to try at some point too.  Leather would be awesome, but for the first one I'll probably use paracord.

It's long, but if anyone hasn't seen this tutorial, you should check it out.  It goes in to great detail, and the whip looks fantastic too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXuBs_wYsnI

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Rat Man on Jul 17th, 2019 at 6:27pm
     There was a good tutorial here a long time ago about making a bull whip out of duct tape. I wish I could remember who posted it. Does anyone recall?

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by NooneOfConsequence on Jul 18th, 2019 at 9:30am
Duct tape? It probably looks good, but that sounds awful! Why put in all that effort for something that won’t last long?  The tape gets brittle after a few years if it doesn’t wear out first.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by JudoP on Jul 20th, 2019 at 8:44pm
I've just ordered a bunch of paracord and other stuff to make a bullwhip. It's something that I've always fancied trying actually, even as a kid I remember having a go with a heap of cladded wire I found, but it ended up pretty messy.

I'll probably be following a combination of youtube guidance and (slightly) my own instinct, but mostly the video linked above from NicksWhipShop.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by JudoP on Jul 29th, 2019 at 4:46pm
Finished the whip! It took a solid weekend and came out about 6ft + a 2ft fall + 8 inch cracker.

I'm pretty pleased with it overall, although I think the cord lengths given in the video were pretty low for me, I had to use 50% longer on the top layer to get it over the whole whip, and the lack of filling out from the inner layers means I have a nearly non-existent taper over the last 2ft of the whip, so if you are planning on following Nick's videos bear that in mind.

Went out to the park to try it this evening, it's surprisingly technical to crack, but when the timing is on it requires basically no effort for good loud bangs. Lasted about 10 mins before I got a noise complaint from a nearby house and decided to vacate  ;D

Pics will arrive when I'm in and have decent lighting as my phone camera sucks in half light.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by joe_meadmaker on Jul 29th, 2019 at 5:07pm
That's great!  Looking forward to seeing it.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Kick on Jul 30th, 2019 at 3:37am
Awesome! I would love to see pics too.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Morphy on Jul 30th, 2019 at 2:59pm
Nice!

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by JudoP on Jul 30th, 2019 at 3:59pm
Here it is.

Shot loaded core about halfway down, 6mm steel handle base, two bellies + overlay of braided paracord. Binding is a combination of hockey tape and artificial sinew, I would recommend this instead of electrical tape as it seems electrical tape degrades.

I may add a heel knot at some point, but probably gonna try make an improved version first. As you can see the cracker is already green from contact with the grassy floor  :P

All in all not bad for a first whip, used about 150ft of paracord, a lot less than the 400ft I bought...
whip_resized.jpg (615 KB | 53 )

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by joe_meadmaker on Jul 30th, 2019 at 10:01pm
Wow!  That looks great!  I definitely have to give that a try at some point.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Kick on Jul 31st, 2019 at 5:29am
Beautiful work!

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Frondeur on Aug 8th, 2019 at 12:26pm
Here's my first polypro bullwhip,
and my currently prefered sling, witch I call "the spoon". the release is braidred like a bullwhip, from 12 strands down to 4, and the protective leather at it's base actually acts like a handle.

PS: obviously, the handle of the whip is not finished...
b20190808_145218.jpg (321 KB | 49 )
b20190808_145336.jpg (321 KB | 34 )

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by joe_meadmaker on Aug 8th, 2019 at 3:10pm
Beautiful whip!  I really like the pattern you made.
The sling looks great too!  I imagine you get a nice loud crack when you throw with that one.  :D

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by JudoP on Aug 17th, 2019 at 3:21pm
Nice work Frondeur, that's an interesting sling design too.

I've now completed two more whips. One an improved version of the first, but significantly thicker and more beefy, and the second a shorter, but playful little snakewhip.

Having improved my whip cracking skills these whips just get louder and louder... Especially the beefy bullwhip which  can put out bangs that literally set your ears ringing, even in the hands of a relative beginner. At first I thought they were on par with my loudest cracking slings but now it's clear they are far, far louder. I'm even afraid to crack them so much because people might report them into the police as gunshots or maybe kids playing with fireworks.

Nice party trick though and I'm enjoying making them, though the turks head heel knot is a tricky little beggar.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Kick on Aug 17th, 2019 at 4:09pm
Don't speak that knots name! The one I've attempted was a nightmare. It came out ok but it was HOURS of tiny adjusting.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by JudoP on Aug 17th, 2019 at 4:15pm
Here they are-
Left: 6ft khaki & brown bullwhip (difficult to tell the colours apart though, just gives it a nice looking sheen)
Right: 3.75ft brown and green snakewhip.

Both shot loaded, two bellies + 16 plat overlay and 6x7 turks head heel knots.

whips_resized.jpg (735 KB | 63 )

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Morphy on Aug 17th, 2019 at 7:35pm
Man you guys are talented. Nothing brings in the chicks like a man who can make bullwhips....probably.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Kick on Aug 18th, 2019 at 3:40am
Yeah I'm not going to bother posting my efforts... I need some more practice first.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by JudoP on Aug 18th, 2019 at 8:40am

Morphy wrote on Aug 17th, 2019 at 7:35pm:
Man you guys are talented. Nothing brings in the chicks like a man who can make bullwhips....probably.


I wish!  ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by JudoP on Aug 18th, 2019 at 8:42am

Kick wrote on Aug 17th, 2019 at 4:09pm:
Don't speak that knots name! The one I've attempted was a nightmare. It came out ok but it was HOURS of tiny adjusting.


If it helps, I followed this tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPBxcIwT4fA&t=886s

It's still pretty difficult though before you complete a full pass, then it's easy.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by joe_meadmaker on Aug 18th, 2019 at 2:29pm
Great looking whips JudoP!  I've got this on my list as an activity to try this winter.  It will be something to do when it's cold, but no snow for snowball slinging.  :)

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by NooneOfConsequence on Aug 30th, 2019 at 2:53pm
Judo those whips are gorgeous!
Here’s a preview of my first attempt at a whip... I guess it’s going to be a stock whip since the plaiting doesn’t cover the handle.  It’s going to be around 6-feet long past the handle; 4-strand core with a 12-strand outer plait. Fairly conventional overall.  It’s loosely based on tutorials but definitely with my own twists too. For example, I started off with a piece of an aluminum handle from a Swiffer mop and I put a monkey’s fist on the butt end instead of a Turk’s head.
To mount the monkeys fist, I put a steel pin through the handle and twisted a loop of paracord on the inside until the monkey fist was tight against the bottom. A few circles of scrap leather work as a buffer so the aluminum tube won’t cut into the monkeys fist. The aluminum has notches so the leather and ball won't spin backwards, and I’ll probably glue it down too for good measure.  Later, I plan to do a leather wrap over the handle to hide those leather discs and any glue residue.  Other than the handle though, it’s a fairly standard paracord whip.
70F8E452-044B-489D-A02B-B50D60567851.jpeg (113 KB | 37 )

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by walter on Aug 30th, 2019 at 6:51pm
Nice whips!  :thumb:

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Morphy on Aug 30th, 2019 at 11:15pm
True MEN sweep with Swiffer whips.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by NooneOfConsequence on Sep 11th, 2019 at 1:18am

Morphy wrote on Aug 30th, 2019 at 11:15pm:
True MEN sweep with Swiffer whips.


True men can finish building a whip in under a month!
I’m progressing at about two inches per day so far.
547F3CB6-8D08-45CF-9D41-E9A7D09DF0F6.jpeg (107 KB | 49 )

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by NooneOfConsequence on Sep 19th, 2019 at 9:54am
Finally!  I learned a lot from making this whip... mostly about what not to do (like starting from a Swiffer handle ;D )
Next time I’ll follow some instructions, but I’m happy with how it came out overall.
67F0DB85-1613-4B70-BE51-249DE849CE2C.jpeg (111 KB | 44 )

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Kick on Sep 19th, 2019 at 10:46am
That looks great! I need to have another go at making a proper whip with much better paracord than I currently have.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by Morphy on Sep 19th, 2019 at 1:14pm
Nice job! Maybe Swiffer handles aren't the best but you made a beautiful weapon from what you had laying around. Very post-apocalyptic and very cool.

Title: Re: Bull whips
Post by NooneOfConsequence on Sep 19th, 2019 at 11:24pm
Thanks guys! I watched a few YouTube videos and then gave it a swing... that sucker is loud!

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