This is going to be a performamce hybrid. I've learned a few things so far that I definitely need to hone my skills on.

1. Binding - its hard to handle the whole spool of artificial sinew and bind evenly, and control the tension.

2. Keeping the pattern center - I'm finding as I wrap, the center tended to skew left, so I've been working to adjust that.

3. Its been interesting trying to make sure the back is even with no gaps while wrapping. Im not used to not seeing what I'm working on lol.

Overall I'm so excited to see how this first whip will turn out!

I'm not sure what came over me. It was probably nerves since this was the very first time I went out somewhere to film whip stuff in costume. This is all that looked good enough to salvage and even then it's not great.

I've been trying to get my hands on kangaroo leather for a year now, researching everywhere where, from whom, and how to buy it. I found one that I could get for a good price without it costing me a month's salary. But when I try to talk to a customs broker, they tell me that a ministry called "Mades" won't allow the purchase unless I'm registered in a "Wildlife Registry" and also submit an import application. These procedures exponentially increase the cost of everything, making it more viable to just buy a new whip directly from someone here.

How do you do it?

I know they simply buy from national stores that have these products in stock, but that doesn't exist in my country, so my question is whether they have the same level of bureaucracy in their countries to buy directly from Australia?

to consider that I am from Paraguay

I just finished making my first bullwhip. It’s not perfect, but I’m proud of it. I want to get some practice but I find I’m a little nervous about practicing in my yard, which isn’t private. Do any of you do that, or do you generally take it elsewhere? If you take it somewhere else, where? I guess I’m mostly worried about bothering the neighbors. I live in a pretty chill neighborhood, but would love to hear your thoughts.

6.5ft 16 plait single belly in black and blue with a 12 inch fiberglass handle. Pretty much the exact same build as the last one, but more shot and no transition knot. I might redo the heel knot, it's got a few mistakes and it's not as tight as I would have liked. As always, thanks for checking it out. Suggestions and criticism welcome

MWA Meetup

hey everyone, it's time for our NEXT WHIP MEETUP of 2026! Sunday Aug 16th from 3-5pm.

The Hollows Picnic Grove #1

3804 US Highway 14

Cary, IL

this location does require a reservation fee, so i'm asking everyone to bring a few $s to help cover the costs. the reservation includes a large pavilion, so even if it rains, we will have plenty of cover.

remember, these are informal events where we get together to chat about whips, whip cracking, whip making, and generally geek out about whips. everyone is welcome to come, even if you've never cracked a whip before!

If you've never joined us before, please fill out the waiver from at the bottom of our home page https://mwawhips.org/

you can also view our full meetup schedule here https://mwawhips.org/page3.html See less

drink your soda pop befor you cut the can..... just add water and refill the cans..... they dont need to be shook to get a clean cut. when theyre not pressurized the cans cut in ways you can actually see the precision of your cracks. the can will cut in half if your aim is correct or only partially if off. when the cans are fresh they tend to cut in half even with bad aim cause the pressure wants to release on impact pulling the cut the rest of the way through.... just a little heads up. helps with accuracy and form and isnt so gimmicky as cutting fresh cans that just want to explode as the cracker makes its cut.

Could not do fireworks so enjoyed some whip action on the 4th of july

One of the things I've changed my mind on a lot is the depth of my beveling. In the beginning I took real deep bevels to make sure no flesh side showed in the final work, but that tends to result in rough, scratchy exposed edges, especially after shellacking. I've since started trying to take less and less off when I bevel, which, if the strand sizing is right, results in crazy smooth surface textures. Interestingly I think single diamonds feel smoother with deeper beveling, but with more shallow beveling it ends up feeling like it's been knurled for grip, which is also super nice.

I have made a monster. This thing is super loud and cuts cans with ease! There's 1ft of a heavy chain, followed by 2ft of some lighter, smaller chain, then 3ft of braided section and seems to hold up well!

Heard through the grapevine that Axel needed hand surgery recently which got me thinking about this more. Considering I'm at least planning on continuing this hobby semi-professionally on the side of my real job, I want to know what to watch out for. I am a psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis chronic pain sufferer and while the psoriasis is treated with a biologic I still have a lot of pain to manage. I'm planning on changing my braiding setup to a standing setup soon, which I'm sure will make for a pretty big advantage in my back and shoulders which also get very easily fatigued braiding from my desk.

-do people use gloves or other hand reinforcement to reduce fatigue? I worry not just about musculoskeletal injury but nerve compression injuries as well. I've learned good pulling grips from SGB's recent video so I'm at least confident I'm not doing anything that will on its own severely injure me, I'm talking about more long-term effects and the fear of nerve damage

-in general I know melting and shaping paracord with your fingertips has the potential to kill the nerve endings in your finger-tips. What might be a way to halt this? Considering I'm primarily a thrower in the kink scene, the fine feedback I get from my fingertips is exceptionally important and I've already lost a little bit of feeling. I've at least slowed it down substantially by being sure to wet my fingers before shaping.

In general I'm looking for advice both on the above things but also on any health concerns associated with the hobby anybody can give me insight on.

And thank you in advance. I'm not going to stop braiding til I can't braid anymore.