The snakewhip is a single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather, which was originally used as a stockman’s tool for working with livestock.
Snakewhips are agricultural tools, traditionally used to control livestock in open country. A snakewhip is so called as it has no handle and can be wrapped into a small loop that resembles a snake. The length, flexibility, and tapered design allows it to be thrown in such a way that, toward the end of the throw, part of the whip exceeds the speed of sound—thereby creating a small sonic boom.
A snakewhip consists of a thong, a fall, and a cracker. The main portion of the snakewhip's length is made up of a braided body or thong. Made of many strips of leather, the number of braids or plaits is an important factor in the construction of the whip. Unlike in the stock whip and bullwhip the snakewhip has no handle you hold one end of the thong.
A fall is a single piece of leather between 10 and 30 inches in length needs to be replaced as it wears, to do this you will require a fid tool. It was traditionally made to be replaceable and to take the wear and tear of dragging on the ground when on horse back as it is much easier to replace a solid piece of leather than to re-plait the whip. Tied to the end of the flexible fall, is an even more flexible piece of string or nylon cord or wire called the cracker. The cracker functions to disperse the sound so it can be heard more easily, these do wear out under the stress and will need to be replaced. Cracking a whip causes wear to the cracker, and well used whips frequently require new crackers. Please note the colour of your whip may vary from the photograph.
For more information visit our website www.whiplashbullwhips.co.uk
We offer a substantial discount for extras purchased with your whip, use the drop down options below to choose which extras you require.
Belt Holder - Ideal for keeping your whip handy attached to your belt.
Fall - The fall is the section of the whip that is used to strike or cut the target and they can wear out. It is advisable to use a Fid when replacing the fall.
Fid - The tool you will need to replace the fall.
Crackers - The cracker is the section of the whip that creates the sonic boom and does wear out with use. These are made of nylon and will fit any whip.
Leather Dressing - To avoid your whip drying out you need to apply a small amount of leather dressing on a regular basis.
Postage Charge
£5.50 - UK, Scottish Highlands, Northern Ireland
£7.50 – Republic of Ireland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium
£15.00 – Europe
£25.00 – USA, Canada
£47.50 – Rest of the World
We will have a new delivery of 8ft Snakewhips in February. If you would like to pre order one please place your order in the normal way and we will send the snakewhip out to you as soon as they arrive.
