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Whip Safety

Whips are dangerous, but only if you are careless. You will make mistakes; and you will hit yourself from time to time. As every whip cracker knows, 'ouch' is the sound of learning! But follow these simple guidelines, and you should prevent a minor mis-hap from becoming a major injury.

1. Wear eye protection, even when doing things you are familiar with, even with short whips. 

2. Wear earplugs, especially if you are working indoors. In the last five or six years, my hearing has definitely deteriorated, and put it entirely down to whip cracking indoors without ear protection.

3. Wear sensible clothing. Flat soled shoes or trainers, long sleeves and leather trousers (or a long leather skirt) offer the best protection. Loose fitting jeans are fine, but tight fitting clothing offers little protection as the energy of the impact goes straight through. Many people wear a broad brimmed hat to help protect their ears (and you thought they just wanted to be Indiana Jones). For new maneuvers with long whips, some people even wear crash helmets.

4. Protect those around you as carefully as you protect yourself. Remember that if you are practicing target work with an assistant, they are much closer to the crack than you. You might think ear protection unnecessary, but they could well disagree! Rigger gloves or similar are good if they are holding targets. Or a length of wide plastic drain pipe from the DIY shop can be worn on the arm; and also provides protection when you are practicing arm wraps. In any case, don't work with an assistant until you are competent!

5. Avoid working where there is loose debris on the ground. Gravel and loose earth can be picked up and cause injury; and will damage your whip.

6. Give yourself space to the sides and above. 

7. Stay aware of what's going on around you. Dogs can be attracted to the sound, as can children, and they always seem to approach from behind! Ideally, have someone 'spotting' for you to prevent other people from being hit if they get too close.

8. Don't crack the whip straight at another person. If you make a mistake, even with a short whip, you can break bones. I know people who have done it! Also, if the fall snaps, you're effectively firing a leather bullet at your mate - at around the speed of sound.

9. If you are practicing with other people, establish a 'danger area' in which safety glasses must be worn at all times.

10. If you want to enter the danger area, warn the people already in there that you are coming - it's your fault if you get hit!

11. Get good at the basics before moving on.

12. Store your whip away from the kids!

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