Roadrunner

[Mark Elliott]

Here's a 7 ft bullwhip, 2 bellies around a TT core, 16-plait overlay in black paracord with accents of turquoise and purple, a 10-inch handle built around a 3/8-inch steel rod and a 20-inch weighted double-loop fall. The transition area is covered with a 10-inch long gaucho braid using a method called back-braiding that I learned from Bruce Grant's Encyclopedia, Plate 41 "Back Braid of Six Thongs." I doubled it to 12 strands to make a 24-plait gaucho plait. The heel knot is a 7x6 3-pass THK tied over a lead and leather foundation. The transition knot is a 7x6, 2-pass THK. I called it Roadrunner because to my eye it looks a little racy and the accent colors remind me of the colored spots behind the eyes of one of my favorite birds, the Northern Roadrunner, although the purple on the bird is more of a reddish color.

Hope you like it.

[Ron May]

Mark, that is a very beautiful whip.
The whole whip, every aspect, just belongs together.
The transition sure looks strong and beefy. It reminds me of one of Tyler's Exowhips, but totally different.
Great job.

Ron

[Mark Elliott]

Thank you, Ron. Tyler was certainly the inspiration behind the back-braided part.

[Wolfgang Timm]

*beep* *beep*
Now where is the the „Wile E Coyote“-whip?
I didn’t know that the cartoon was modeled after an actual bird.
Back on topic - this design is absolutely fantastic, looks great. Another good „less is often more example“ - just the right amount of color in the black.

[Robert Gage]

That's terrific, Mark! As Ron says, it looks wonderfully 'beefy'! I love the purple accents alongside the blue - just enough to give extra life to the colour scheme. And I increasingly find 7 foot to be an ideal length for many cracking routines....

[Rachel McCollough]

That whip is beautiful!

[Julia De Jong]

The plaiting is so smooth. I can almost feel it, just looking at the picture.

[Mark Elliott]

Thank you all. I really appreciate the kind words.

Wolfgang, there is indeed a bird in the southwestern US called a Greater Roadrunner (I mistyped it in the original post as a Northern Roadrunner). This is a rather atypical photo of one in a tree, They can fly, but spend most of their time on the ground. They catch prey by chasing it on the ground. They eat insects, spiders, lizards, snakes, small mammals and birds, and almost any type of egg they come across.

[Robert Gage]

Mark, the bird in that photo is clearly descended from a dinosaur! :P

[Mark Elliott]

Robert, yes sir, I agree 100%.

[Wolfgang Timm]

Cool that‘s interesting Mark! So this bird is really a „runner“... After googling I found that your color scheme for the whip resembles very much the cartoon character whereas the second color of the actual bird is much much more red.

[Mark Elliott]

Wolfgang, they do indeed chase dowh their prey. I think too speed is around 30kph. They use their tail much in the same way a cheetah does, as a rudder and counterbalance to help them change direction quickly as they run. The colors vary from. Light pink the a very dark red and sky bue to purplish. That's actually the bare skin of the bird. It has no feathers behind its eye.

[Ben Varsek]

Mark, that's a beautiful whip - excellent work!
I realy like the size of the english eye. Making it that long makes the whole whip more "streamline" once the fall is attached.

[Mark Elliott]

Thank you, Ben.