Our new member in the WB team!

[Robby Amper]

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Folks, we have a new member in the team. His name is Dusty Damrel, and he's from Texas. I don't want to write too much - he'll introduce himself soon enough

He gave a new aspect to the stockwhip; a new idea. But look for yourself...











This whip is called "The Shackled Jackal". The connection between thong and keeper is a 360 degree swivel. A working whip - very fast. Too fast for the beginner, I guess, but a fascinating concept.

As soon as Dusty's registered here, you can ask him everything you like He's already in the bios. The whip will be these days available in the signature range. Depends on Holger... Next week I'm going to shoot the review.


Robby


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[Freddy]

looking very very nice :P

[Mario Desgronte]

It's really a very fascinating concept and design.

Mario

[mal]

I agree with that! Looking forward to the review!!

[Jim]

Very interesting!
Jim

[bjoern]

Wow, this is very fascinating.
The connection between thong and keeper - the 360 degree swivel - is such a great idea - It blows my mind every time that you whipmaking guys can bring so much different styles and concepts in such a "simple" form of a whip.
I am very interested in this. With this swivel there is a brandnew feeling possible - a great combination.
So go on, Dusty!

[jeanfifi]

beautifull work!

jp

[Robby Amper]

It's about the second time we had to cancel the shooting for that review video... It's raining. And then it's raining. One day it stops to rain, but the grass is wet. Not that good for a whip demo with a leather whip... And then - guess what - it rains. The weather forecast tells us that it will go on and rain. Not funny at all. But I'm still positive that we'll have at least one warm, sunny and dry day here. Then it will be kind of emergency call for the camera team

Robby

[Dusty Damrel]

Hey Robby,

I totally understand. We get weather like that in the gulf coast region of Texas. We just came out of a very wet winter that left the ground so wet we couldn't mow grass all spring. Now theres so much dust we need a rain. "Go figure".

-Dusty

[Robby Amper]

The weather starts to become a real problem. But I try to stay positive By the end of july we'll shoot around one week for Vol. IV, and some of that shooting will take place outside... Camera crane, lights, shaders - all no problem. But we don't have an umbrella which would cover the whole area.

Robby

[David Cross]

I anticipate very fast reversal routines being possible with this new type of keeper connection. Without the need to let the handle rotate in your palm, it becomes possible to do many things.

I'm also concerned that the swivel will take away some of the control that comes with having a traditional whip form. I'm not familiar yet with stockwhips, but I know that a bullwhip relies on its handle as a lever. With all that I've learned by using the few I've made, the swivel could potentially interfere with directional control.

I'm on the fence about this idea, but I am certainly in favour of exploring its possibilities. As many have said, I'm looking forward to the review.

[Dusty Damrel]

BlessedWrath,

You are very observant.
Every whip has a natural coil to it. The easiest way to find that coil is to try and coil it the wrong way. It doesn't work. This natural coil is also a very important characteristic that effects the performance of the whip. By installing a swivle between the handle and the thong you alter this characteristic. It is true this whip is more than a little tricky.

I don't think the origin of this design has been explained in this forum.
The first "Shackled Jackal" I made was for customer that had an unusual style of cracking. Does any body remember the scene in "Crocodile Dundee 2" when Mic Dundee went up on the mountain to make a "Phone Call"? He was twirling around a piece of wood on a string (I'm not sure what thats called) but it made a buzzing noise and it was for cummunicating. Well this customer swung a whip just like that. He made 3 or 4 rotations and then a forward crack. Then repeat, repeat ...Because he kept his wrist stationary it was causing the keeper (of a standard stock whip) to twist and the thong to wrap the top of the handle. I didn' say anything to him about what he was doing wrong. He didn't give me the chance as he pointed out the problem on his own. He said thats how he learned to crack a whip using a cheap made swivel handle bullwhip. He really did like my stock whips but they just weren't compatible with his technique.

So there was the challenge. The swivel was the solution.

I called him up about a week later and told him I had a whip he might be interested in. He cracked it one time and bought it.

I too am looking forward to seeing what Robby can do with this whip.

-Dusty

[David Cross]

Since you brought it up, I've been curious about a particular subject for some time now.

"Every whip has a natural coil to it. The easiest way to find that coil is to try and coil it the wrong way. It doesn't work. This natural coil is also a very important characteristic that effects the performance of the whip."

How is it that a whip develops this natural curve? How important is it to the function of a whip, and what sort of damage can be done by bending it the wrong way?

A friend of mine is adamant in his belief that it doesn't matter at all which way the whip curves, and that only cracking it "with the curve" will wear it unevenly. He actually wants to curve it in all four directions. I'll point out that he has no experience with whips yet.

To be honest, I'm not sure I understand it either. I only know that the pros tell me not to. Naturally, I'm curious.

[Robby Amper]

You can do whatever you want. You'll always - always! - crack against the curve. There's no other way. Why? Pretty simple. When you bring the whip up with the nat. curve, you'll bring it down against it. When you bring it up against that nat. curve, the whip will come down with it.

This question came up in lots of forums and the hook line was always the same: "What do you prefer? Against the curve or with it?"

I told them the same thing I wrote above. Up with - down against. Or up against - down with it. There's only one whip to break this rule. And this is the swivel stockwhip from Dusty. It took me around an hour to gain complete control of that whip, and it behaves "strange" in the beginning. That's not a bad thing - don't get me wrong. It's not for the beginner or unexperienced whiphandler. But on that whip the "curve question" is pointless. Which is fascinating, in fact.

I'm honored that you're curious for the video review, and I promised to do it as soon as possible. But as long as the ground is wet, I won't do anything that could damage that whip. I keep my fingers crossed, crack a nylon whip in my daily training and hope for the best All I need are three days of sun...

Robby

[Dusty Damrel]

Thats a good answer Robby,

Now I'm going to throw in another point of veiw. Below is an address you can check out if I did it right. If I didn't just google Anthony De Longis, Indy 4's whip trainer. He's using a technique that is up with the coil and down with the coil by allowing the knob of the handle to roll or twist in his palm. He says it increases accuracy.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p ... 690152C28D

As for the reason a whip has a natural coil, I've found that anything that coils has a natural coil. String, rope, cable even an extension cord has a natural coil. I'm no scientist but I beleive it's due to the way the smaller strands within these materials are all twisted in the same direction. This causes the larger strands they make up to lock tightly together and have a natural coil. I've also notice that almost all of these materials have a right handed twist to them. I remember from my calf roping days that left handed ropers used a rope with a left handed twist. The reason was that a right handed rope swung or coiled in the oppisite direction over time would develop a kink causing the loop to figure eight and function incorrectly. I guess this falls under physics.

Heres something else to think about. Some of the more basic red hide Australian style stock whips such as the four or six plaits that don't have braided bellys tend to be some what limp and shapless when coiled. The belly of these whips are made from a single leather strand that tapers and is rolled for shape but usually not twisted in either direction. Now the more elaborate stock and bull whips with one or two braided bellys almost always start with twisted core and tend to have a nice coil to them.

If there is anything to this than wouldn't it make sense that you could build a left or right handed whip simply by twisting the core in one direction or the other?

-Dusty

[Rhett Kelley]

BlessedWrath,

Does any body remember the scene in "Crocodile Dundee 2" when Mic Dundee went up on the mountain to make a "Phone Call"? He was twirling around a piece of wood on a string (I'm not sure what thats called) but it made a buzzing noise and it was for cummunicating.

Yep. I remember it that.

It's called a "bullroarer." I obtained one via Simon Martin last year.

Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/3x43c7j

[Dusty Damrel]

Thanks Rhett,

I couldn't think of the name for it. BTW can the bullroar be used to send different messages by speeding up or slowing down? Or is it just used for a generic signal? I've never done any research on the subject.

-Dusty

[Rhett Kelley]

Dusty,

I don't know much about it really. I've given it a swing a few times, but I haven't explored how many sounds it can make. It has a low sound that would freak you out in a forest at night!

[Dusty Damrel]

Thanks Rhett,

I should order one for halloween. "LOL"

-Dusty