1) What started your passion for whips and whip making?

    I originally became interested in whips after seeing "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" when I was 9 years old.  I wanted to get a whip, so my dad, who was a scoutmaster, made me a whip from nylon rope.  I wanted to get a better whip, but in the days before the internet it wasn't easy to get information on where to get one or how to make one.  The best I could do was use the Boy Scout leather working merit badge book to teach myself how to do a basic 4 strand round braid.  I took some leather my dad had made into chaps, cut it into lace, and made a pretty crude whip with a rope core and a wood handle.

2) What is it about whip making you love?

    With whip making, I enjoy the experimenting.  There is the possibility of experimenting with design and materials to make a better whip that can make cracking easier.  When I do a good job on a whip, it's a very satisfying feeling of accomplishment.

3) What do you believe are your high points on your crafted whips? 

    As for the high points of the whips I make, I think it helps that I've spent a lot of time cracking whips and collecting whips.  When I'm trying to make something specific, I have many examples of whips to study, and when I'm finished I have a pretty good idea if the whip performs the way I intended.  When the whip doesn't perform well, I usually have a good idea of what to change, and will get it right the second time.

As for high points in my whip making career, one would be making whips with Chris Barr, who won the Australian Whip Making Championships several times.  He gave me a lot of advice, and I eventually won the novice whip making competition in Glen Innes, New South Wales, in 2009.  That's not the open competition, mind you, but some great names in whip making have also won that same competition I was in, including Tony Nugent and Peter Thorndike.  I also made a snake whip in David Morgan's shop in 2012 and had David himself crack it.

4) What's your favorite whip you made?

   It would be hard to pick the favorite whip that I made.  While it might sound hokey, I can tell when I've had the right mindset when making a whip and it feels like the whip has a soul.  Not every whip does, but some do.  I've heard about this in other crafts, particularly native crafts.  So I'd say my favorite whips are the ones that feel as though they have a soul, and I've put a part of myself into the whip.

5) What is your favorite type of whip to make? 

    My favorite whip to make is one where I've thought about the design for quite a while, and then the enthusiasm for the design makes it seem like the whip makes itself.  Right now I'm trying to make some short dacron stockwhips, roughly in the style of the Simon Martin whippa whips that I use a lot.  I'd like to be able to play with the design to see if I can make a better cracking whip.  My least favorite whip to make would be one that I've made a lot and I know exactly how it is supposed to go together.  Then whip making can become boring.

6) What is your "go to" whip when you have a chance to crack? 

    Right now my go-to whips are my 4 ft Simon Martin whippa lace whips.  I'm using them to learn some moves created by Todd Rex, and I'm also using them to train to set a new record for the most whip cracks with two whips in one minute.

7) Who was the maker of the first high quality whip you ever owned that wasn't  made?

    I can't really remember the first quality whip that I bought.  Originally I never thought about buying whips from other makers.  I know in 2003 I traded Jim Hurlbutt for one of his redhide stock whips with a 16-plait kangaroo handle, but that whip didn't crack very well.  I only started collecting whips when I first met Paul Nolan.  I think I first met Paul in 2005 at the Wild West Arts Club convention and I was really impressed that Paul had whips from several well known whip makers including Mike Murphy and David Morgan.  After that I ordered a 10 ft bullwhip from David Morgan and asked him on the phone if he would make the whole whip himself.  I know the first pair of good kangaroo whips I bought was a pair of bullwhips by Russell Schultz.

8) Who were the whip makers you looked up to when you started to make whips and what about them or their work did you admire?

    I looked up to David Morgan because he made the Indiana Jones whips.  I also looked up to Chris Barr because the pictures of the whips on his website were the best I had ever seen.

9) What would you recommend a first time whip enthusiast to ask a whip maker when they don't know what the best whip them would be?

    What should a first time whip buyer ask a whip maker?  Generally I think they'd ask what whip should I get.  I recommend performance hybrid whips a lot as most of the fancier whip cracking can eventually be learned with them.  Bullwhips are kind of limiting when it comes to learning whip cracking, but popular movies have made them popular.

10) Is there anything you would just like to add or share? 

    I remember one time I called David Morgan and I was asking him questions about his bullwhips.  I really wanted to make one, and I started asking him specific details about the whip, such as how much lead to put in the butt of the handle.  I don't always have the best people skills, and he got kind of frustrated with me.  Eventually he told me to figure out what kind of whip I wanted to crack and then make that whip.  He created the 450 series bullwhip through his own study of other whips, experimentation, and trial and error.  Back then I just wanted to copy what he had done.  But I think it's better to study what has been done and then to continue the development to make something new.

Also, I got to meet Joe Strain in 2012.  I hadn't talked with Joe that much, but I was really impressed with how much attention he gave to the strength and durability of his materials, and the efficiency of his methods.  I generally would figure out what I wanted to make, and then make it without worrying about wasted time and materials.  Joe would continue the development of his design by figuring out how to maintain the quality while making the whip as fast and efficiently as possible.  Of course, Joe spent a number of years making whips full-time, supporting his family.  I made whips full-time for only a couple years before I turned to performing, and I would have never been able to support a family on what I made just making whips.

Company Name:  Winrich whips

Website: www.Winrich.com

Email: info@winrichwhip.com