Older cow whip

[Paul Slater]

That's a nice job. It looks like its had quite some use over the years and it looks like its ready for quite a few more years now.

I was wandering how long a nylon whip would last in relation to a leather whip and it looks like that helps answer that question.

[Rachel McCollough]

Thanks, Paul! Yes they will certainly last half a lifetime if not on concrete!

[Taylor Jennings]

Fantastic work Rachel. I need to do some repair work soon. Or send a couple your way.

[Roy Partin]

Paul they will last as long as your alive if not for neglect. Rachel is right, concrete will wear one out. The roughest things on them though are lawn mowers and puppy teeth. Those are fun to repair

[Rachel McCollough]

Thanks Taylor, though I guarantee you will do a much nicer job at it than me, you are good with knots and that'll translate very well!
Roy the fallout from the puppy teeth and lawnmower blades sounds.... Fun..... Well, interesting-

[Rachel McCollough]

Another Older cow whip
My husband brought home an older cow whip to fix for a neighbor. I thought it was interesting, (okay, I think all of them are interesting... None of them are alike!) that y'all might like to see.
It has a leather fall on it as well (which is fairly common here, got a busted rein on your bridle it makes a decent fall..)

[Ron May]

Good old whip. I do think that it could benefit with a deeper cup than it has currently.
Do you have any idea of how old it is?



Ron

[Robert Gage]

Rachel, I'm sure that whip could tell some stories! Thanks for sharing! (I think Ron's right about it needing a deeper cup....)

[Rachel McCollough]

No sir I'm not sure how old, other than 20+ years. Yes, I prefer the deeper cup as well, though I believe this is meant to hang outside the cup. It would benefit from a leather washer to keep it from rubbing on the handle, which seems to be the more "proper" way these ought to be set up. It needs the tip repaired about 2ft up and I will put on that leather washer I think.
There seems to be two categories of cow whips you see the most- those in the cup(deeper) and those not, which hang outside.
It's really neat to see how each maker set up their plaiting.

[Roy Partin]

Rachel that's a cool old working whip. It's seen a few miles on the trail. Thanks for the pics. Ron, the majority of cow whips and especially the older ones had a short and small cup. That enabled them to hinge like a stock whip. If you handed a deep cup whip to an old timer he would probably turn his nose up at it. Every one I ever owned was built like that, though they can eventually wear in to. That's where the leather washer that Rachel mentioned comes into play.

[Ron May]

Thanks Roy. That explains a lot.
Kinda like a cow/stock hybrid whip.
I wonder if one style is easier to crack than the other.

Ron

[Roy Partin]

Ron, from my experience the shorter and lighter whips do indeed crack easier if they hinge more in a short cup

[Rachel McCollough]

Thanks, Roy, it makes a lot of sense the smaller, lighter whips would crack easier with the hinge effect. This is something I don't have near enough experience with to comment for sure, and I've never used a stock whip so I sure don't know how they feel at all.
The only cow whips I've dealt with that were not made by me were like this one above and were over ten feet, so no experience with the smaller ones other than what I've made.

It's really helpful to hear! Thank you, Roy!

Ron, good questions!

[Grant Weaver]

Hmmm a leather washer. That makes so much sense!

[Fritz Ehlers]

Wow, that whip's seen some better days I'm sure.
Thanks for sharing Rachel.
Despite the rise of new materials it's good to see that the tradition of repair and reuse hasn't died.

[Rachel McCollough]

Since I sort of posted a "before" picture of this whip here's after I fixed it:

[Ron May]

Good job Rachel, it's ready for another couple of decades use.

Ron

[Rachel McCollough]

It'll sure crack, Ron!

[Efren de Gala]

I love seeing all these cool old whips you restore!

[Devin Bauer]

Love to see the old Cow whips since they seem to be the oldest examples of well used Nylon whips. Thanks for sharing, and nice work giving these old beasts a new lease on life. Good touch on the leather washer as well, if I get my cowwhip project done during Spring break I had planned on lining the cup with a leather washer to reduce the movement of the thong and abrasion from the wood. Only thing I don't like about old cowwhips really, is the rather depressing taste in handles. Then again I am spoiled seeing Roy and Rhett's handles and my own personal works follow a similar taste.

As you probably noticed, and as Rhett has told me before, the wax never really leaves a whip even after 20,30,40 years of use. Shoot even well used falls can still be waxed on the inside.