Professional bullwhips, cow whips ,stock whips and quirts.
Australian stock whips for sale
From the land down under comes the Australian Stock Whip. This particular whip has a its own design from the long handle with the way it attaches to the thong. The stock whip has a 20-22-inch handle and can be either fully plaited, half plaited, or even bare wood. Traditionally the wood for the handle is tohiti cane, it’s a cane like bamboo except the tohiti cane is solid inside and nearly unbreakable. Its comes in different thicknesses but I get it about ½ inch thick. Some makers use pool cues, fiberglass rods, maybe even part of a golf club. Most of those will have a taper from the base of the handle to the tip and have a flat loop for the thong to attach to. Most of the stock whips I’ve done are half plaited; I do a 16 plait (8 strands) and plait the bottom half of the handle then add a turks head knott for both to hold as well as decoration. The top or the connecting loop will either be ½ wide nylon strap or a flat 12 plait (6strand) loop and then make a round plait around the top for about 4 inches. When use the nylon strap I cover it with the or one of the colors of the whip in a grapevine twist. This also helps to hold that keeper on the handle. The idea behind the long handle is for the leverage in cracking the whip. Also many whip enthusiasts and sport crackers like the stock whips for this handle length it gives them the control and accuracy for doing multiple cracks. Another plus to the long handle especially a full plaited handle is a skilled maker can plait many designs into it, including letters and some simple pictures. Some of the great makers out there have even done very complex pictures in a 22 inch handle. Most of those are made with thin multiple strands of kangaroo hide and will cost quite a bit.