Whip Basics. The Forum

That's a great encouragement to all new aspiring craftsmen, Craig, well done!!

Thank you, Rachel.

That's one of the reasons that I abandoned the " etape" method before I even made my first whip.
I have seen what the climate here does to etape and it's not pretty. And it was doing the job it was designed to do.... splicing and or protecting bare wire from shorting out.

How ever I did notice in one of Nicks videos from Feb. of this year that he has also abandoned the etape binding method and it now using a-sinew on all his whips now.

But that is still a good example of a small partial victory and the encouragement to continue on with that knowledge and experience that it taught us.

Good job Craig!

That's very useful, Craig! Every aspiring whip-maker should see this before starting out....

That's a great video Craig and just goes to show how far you have come too.
We all are learning everyday at most things we do & failure is always a option because without failure we will never fully learn.

I know that I have learned more than I thought from my first whip but also realise that I have so much to learn.
I know that one day I want to move onto working with leather but I also know that's not going to happen till I am more than proficient with the paracord.

Very, very good point being made here. Your first whip is never going to be a masterpiece, but everything that's wrong with it will also be a detail to improve later on. The trick is to see which parts need to be improved.

Never get rid of your first whip.


- Pokkis

Thank you, everyone.

Thanks for sharing this Craig.
It's the growing pains of whip making and if you know about someone elses then you can see what to avoid and also find other ones.

Ive just been having a play with my first whip after looking at this thread again and today is the first day that I picked it up and looking at it realised that although I was quite happy with it when I made it that if number 2 ends up with some of the errors and mistakes I will be giving myself a good talking to.

I think I can also see where some of the problems have started to occur and I think I can also identify why they happened.
Looking at it I can also see that I need to rethink my strand drops and other things.

Its amazing how a little time and knowledge changes things and makes the targets we set ourselves raise for the better.
All part of learning a skill that we can all be proud of no matter where we are on the learning curve.

If it hadn't been for looking at this thread and your video Craig I don't think that penny would have dropped, well not today anyway, thanks Craig.

This is one of the reasons why it's so important to keep your old whips. Learn from them. Devise new strategies and new techniques. Build on what you know.

To paraphrase a popular quote: "Those who fail to learn from old whipmaking mistakes are doomed to repeat them."

Great video Craig. But im sorry, I own the worst whip like thing ever. You hve to settle for second.

David : Or, "Those who fail to learn from old whipmaking mistakes are whipped before they start."

My first whip looks a lot like that one, but I can still do some complex patterns with it! How long it will last and its ascetic, well lets not talk about that. Very good reflection of how I feel about whip making!

My first whip looks a lot like that one, but I can still do some complex patterns with it! How long it will last and its ascetic, well lets not talk about that. Very good reflection of how I feel about whip making!