There's a whole bundle of words out there that you won't understand if you're new to the whips. The pages on this site are written assuming you know what they mean. If you don't, here they are; together with our understanding of what they mean.

Balanced: The whip maker has taken care that the weight of the fall and thong in a bull whip equals the weight of the handle. Lack of balance affects handling. A decent bullwhip should more or less balance at the transition, which is usually close to the cover knot. A stiff new whip will usually balance slightly further forwards. As the whip ages, the balance point will shift backwards. With stock whips, it isn't so critical.

Belly: An inner layer of the whip, or the innards of the whip as a whole. Sometimes referring to the core.

Bolster: Usually: a smooth layer of leather fitting tightly over a braided belly, and compressed by the addition of the next layer. Adds mass to the belly, whilst providing a good foundation for the next layer, helping to make a smoother braid. Also helps to prevent dirt and grit from finding a way in to the layer below, where they can wear at the leather unseen just like dirt inside a rope. Bolsters can be made of other materials. Sometimes called a filler.

Braid/braiding/plait: American term for the process by which a layer is made, or a reference to the complexity of that layer (i.e. 8 strand braid). Sometimes used as a name for the thong as a whole.

Butt: The tip of the thick end of the whip, usually covered with a woven knot. 

Cane: Either the most common material from which Australian stock whip handles are made, or the solid foundation of a bullwhip's handle. Also (less commonly, these days) the name given to the entire handle of a bullwhip, regardless of the material used. Some older designs of (usually) American bull whip, made for target work, have a short hand part with the cane extending past the cover knot into what appears, at first sight, to be the top of the thong. English and Australian whips tend simply to have a longer handle section, with the cover knot at the end of the cane; and many American makers have adopted this pattern. 

The end of the cane is sometimes noticeable, in poor quality bull whips, as a point close to the handle where there is a distinct kink in the thong. This should be treated with suspicion, because it indicates either, that this area of the whip has not been sufficiently reinforced and will wear out quickly, or that the whip is old and wearing out. 

Core/Foundation: The material at the very centre of the whip. The quality of the core, and how it's connected to the stock/cane, is fundamental to the longevity and handling of the whip - especially in bull whips. If the core is bad, the whole whip is bad. First question to ask a whip vendor is not, 'how many strands are in the overlay', but 'what's the core and how is it made?'

We have a Mexican whip with a core made of strips of rubber and 'j-cloth' material. It started to fall apart within half an hour of use. Other poor quality cores can be made of paper, horse hair and other materials. Synthetic rope cores are often used and, if the whip is cheap enough (say around £25 for a 6 foot bullwhip) might be good value if you're not looking for something to progress your skills with; but such whips are often misrepresented as high quality whips when they are just the opposite. Long, rope cored, whips are notoriously hard to crack or aim.

Leather cored whips should be good, but are often let down by lack of reinforcement. Although you'll come across advice to the effect that cowhide whips are poor cousins to roo hide ones, most 'kangaroo hide' bull and stock whips are built on cowhide foundations; often with cowhide bolsters. Some are among the best in the world, some are not! The key issue is not what leather is used but, especially with bullwhips, how they're constructed.

Good quality American bullwhips traditionally feature a rolled core. This is where one or more tapered strips of greased leather or raw hide are twisted together and rolled under a plank, or similar, to give them a round cross-section and even taper. One would expect such whips to be slightly cheaper than whips with plaited cores but, often, they are not. For modern sport whip cracking, or reliable 'adult' use, these must be sufficiently reinforced if they are to give long service. Swivel handle bullwhips tend to be lightly reinforced, because they are designed for a specific style of use which does not require a very lively whip. They tend, therefore, to be poor choices for the sport or SM whip cracker.

I braid the foundation of every bullwhip I make, whether it's cow hide or roo, and reinforce the whip at every layer. This is more time consuming than rolling the core, but provides a livelier whip with a smoother action, that will tend to retain it's liveliness for longer.

Cover Knot: A cosmetic woven knot used to cover a join in the braid, or protect a potentially vulnerable point from wear. Most modern bullwhips have a cover knot close to where the thong joins the handle. 

Cracker/popper: Usually a bit of thread attached to the end of the fall, or braided into the end of the thong. Crackers are usually disposable - they fly off occasionally, wear out and sometimes break. Signal whips, and some performers' whips, have them braided in. 

Crop: The finished stock with hand part, overlay and keeper as appropriate; but without a thong added. Hence: 'riding crop', 'hunting crop'. Only used when talking about two piece whips.

Drop-Lash: A whip thong that is directly connected to the handle or stock, as in traditional English driving whips and bullwhips.

Fall: Bit of un-braided leather or nylon at the end of the thong, designed to take all the wear and tear. Will break occasionally and is usually owner - replaceable. If it isn't, you probably have a whip designed for the tourist trade rather than for technical whip cracking. The only whips used in whip cracking that don't have falls, are signal whips - don't buy a 'bull whip' if it doesn't have a fall!

Gaucho Knot: A complex and decorative Turk's head knot, typical of decorative braiding on South American quirts and other cowboy gear (hence the name). Various knots come under this heading.

Handle: Not as obvious as you might think. This is the rigid bit that you usually don't hold onto on a bull whip! Hold the knot, instead. Nowadays, the term is usually also used to describe the crop of a stock whip.

Hand Part: This is the Turk's head or, if the maker doesn't intend for the Turk's Head to be gripped, that part of the stock immediately above it. Sometimes shaped to give a comfortable grip (especially in two piece whips such as stock whips)

Hanging Loop: A small loop at the butt of the whip, to assist with storage or to enable short whips to be clipped to a belt or harness.

Heel knot/pommel/Turk's Head: The woven knot at the butt of the whip. Many whips are designed so that this should fit in the palm of the hand. Can vary considerably, in complexity, beauty, shape and size. Turk's head knots are also often used elsewhere on the whip for cosmetic and protective purposes. 

Lash: Correctly in English whip making: the flexible part of the whip. Also just the fall, especially in America.

Lace: Hide cut ready for plaiting, or a reference to individual strands used in a whip.

Keeper: The loop at the top of a thong, or the bottom of a crop, that 'keeps' the thong and handle of a two piece whip together. Can be tight, as in stock whips, or loose, as in hunting whips and some American whips. In broader leather working, a keeper is a loop designed to keep a strap-end from hanging loose.

Naturally Falling: Not shot loaded. Although shot loading - correctly done - assists with cracking a short whip, many modern whip makers prefer not to use it for longer whips.

Overlay: A layer plaited over one beneath. Also the outermost layer of the whip.

Shot loaded: Lead added into the core, usually in a conical bag called a shot sack. The aim is to make the whip easier to crack by increasing it's mass, and it is most useful in short snake and signal whips. The way in which shot loading is carried out has a significant impact on the handling of the finished whip.  Longer bull and stock whips don't usually need shot loading.

Single Tail: Specifically, a signal whip. Generally, any non-equestrian whip that isn't a cat or flogger.

Stock: Traditionally in English whip making, the foundation for the rigid part of a whip, without keeper or overlay added. In Australian whip making, the finished crop of a stock whip.

Strand: A single strip of cut leather, or used to convey the complexity of a plaited layer (i.e. '8 strand overlay')

Target Stand: As the name implies: a stand for holding or supporting targets.

Thong: Usually the braided part of the flexible bit of the whip. Some long European equestrian whips have a thong made from a single strand of leather.

Whip: For our purposes, any whip that cracks, or equestrian whip. Depending on how you define cats and floggers, a tapered flexible cat could be a whip by dint of method of manufacture and technique in use. A traditional cat is made in the same way as a flogger. A flogger is not a whip. It flogs; it does not whip.

Whipstock: The stock of a whip.

Wrist Loop: Of service on equestrian whips and short whips that may require the owner to have both hands free, such as signal whips used by mushers. In that case, wrist loops that protrude from the end of the whip are to be avoided - these make it harder to recover the whip once the owner has let go and increase the chance of the whip snagging. Wrist loops are largely redundant on whips made for whip crackers, other than for hanging the whip in storage. They promote poor technique and - especially those which protrude from the end of the whip - tend to get in the way. They are positively dangerous on long whips used from horseback.

Zorro Board: Target stand for snuffing out candles without knocking them flying. Cape and mask not included.

Page last updated 5th July 2007

---

Copyright 2002-2007.

All rights are reserved under international law. Nothing, published via electronic media or hard copy, may be deemed to exist in the public domain. This is a commercial site and copyright infringements will be pursued appropriately. Copyright is owned by the site's creators and contributors. Anyone wishing to reproduce any part of this site in any way, must seek the copyright owner's written permission via English Whips.