Camouflage cow whip

[Roy Partin]

I just completed this camo 8 footer for a young boy. I'm afraid if he drops it off his horse it will be lost. Almost tempted to paint the handle flouresant orange.

[Jared Routon]

The whip looks awesome Roy. I agree if he dropped it he would be hard pressed to find it. Still, it looks beautiful.

[Bobbi Holyoak]

Very nice!

[Roy Partin]

I changed up things a bit when building this one. I've always stacked BBs in sinker cord for my core and then tightly wrapped 2/3 of the core in e tape. The tape was to help build taper and add a little stiffness. I've never liked how the BBs in the sinker cord packed. I doubt it really matters but it never felt perfect. This time I packed the BBs in 550 paracord. Although a lot slower, the BBs felt much tighter. The e tape worked fine but I think it may somewhat influence the overall fluidity of the whip. So , in place of tape I pulled my core through a length of sinker cord and used some artificial sinew to bind it. This helped with taper. I then used the sinew on my belly. I know cow whips aren't usually bound but I wanted to try it and see how it performs. I will test the whip in the morning and let y'all know if it is any good

[Bobbi Holyoak]

Great pictures.

[Rhett Kelley]

No fair! I never had camo cord to make my cow whips from back in the day!! I had to try and mix and match colors to make it camo. LOL.

All kidding aside, it looks great.

I have a love/hate relationship with sinker cord. I find I have to use a touch of flame up and down it to shrink it around my BBs. I only use sinker cord it on bullwhips these days as it's easier to slide over the end of the handle where I grind it down and attach the shot strand... I have some really wide coreless cord I use for everything else that fits the BBs like it's supposed to..

[Roy Partin]

Thanks fellas and mam. Rhett, that was my plan to mix and match what I had but I saw this at hardware store and couldn't pass it up. Another problem with the sinker cord is the last batch that I just ordered was not the same quality that I'm accustomed to. The weave is very loose and it frayed beyond belief on the first core I made with it. I ended up tossing that core in trash. I could actually push the BBs through the side of the cord with very little effort. That is actually the main reason I switched to paracord on this whip. I now have 245 feet of this sinker cord left that I have to find a use for.

[Sir Roger Tuson]

I'm a newbie at whip making but I find that the 550 cord + 4mm BBs works a treat.

[Jonathan Lewis]

That looks great Roy.thanks also for all the build pictures. If your serious about it getting lost, you could change out the fall for a neon orange one?

[Roy Partin]

Jonathan, I thought about a different color fall but the little boy wouldn't have anything but camo. As far as the paracord vs sinker cord, I also like the drop better at the end of the BBs on the narrower paracord when plaiting the belly.

[Rhett Kelley]

I told Roy on the phone a few days ago about a plaiter I know who says "...'real cowboys' only use black, brown, or tan whips. They won't be caught with anything else on their saddle." Pure horse crap!

The fact is, lost whips have created many repeat sales for me over the years, color plays a big part. The blacks, tans, greens, and browns are hard to find if dropped. The 2nd time around, the "real cowboys" end up getting some flashy colors so it won't be so easy to lose again.

But, at the end of the day, the guy with the money is boss. If he wants it camo, so be it. It will look cool and he may get lucky and never lose it. (Or, he may be back in a few years wanting one neon yellow and neon green!)

[Roy Partin]

I just put the whip through a good test session and I love it. Very fluid and extremely accurate. Rhett you are right, those brighter whips add a little insurance for cowboys.

[Guest]

Nice. I've wanted to try camo pattern cord for a while now, but had no idea how it would look. I've seen some pics of whips made from patterned cords, and they have usually looked somewhat messy. Camo seems very different to that. Probably because the pattern has less contrast and straight shapes, camo patterns are designed to break shapes and not stand out after all. Looks really good. Thanks for the build pics, they're always interesting to see.

I tried a thicker cord for core on my first whips, but quickly found it wasn't worth it. Stuffing BB shot into a 550 sheath is not really that hard.


- Pokkis

[Terry Shaw]

Ah building the BB core! I tried a sinker cord on my second whip most recently. It was very shoddy manufacture and it started 'fuzzing up' on the INSIDE! about halfway down. Got to the point I couldn't get BBs past that point. I gave up and went back to the 3/8' cord I had on hand. After speaking with Bobbi though I may well try 750 paracord next time around.

~T.

[Guest]

Terry, that is just what happened with my first whips. Had to start over more than once because the damn core strand didn't allow BBs to pass through. By my experience after that, 550 paracord is good for BB loaded cores too. Polyester paracord is even better because it's more slippery and less "fuzzy".


- Pokkis

[Alex Lewis]

[quote="Antti "Pokkis" Mäkinen"]Nice. I've wanted to try camo pattern cord for a while now, but had no idea how it would look. I've seen some pics of whips made from patterned cords, and they have usually looked somewhat messy. Camo seems very different to that. Probably because the pattern has less contrast and straight shapes, camo patterns are designed to break shapes and not stand out after all. Looks really good.[/quote]
Ditto. I'm usually not a fan of mixed color chord, but this is one fine looking whip.