[CloaknDagr]

I know this is a very old thread but I found it so someone else might too. I'll just toss my two cents in here for the benefit of anyone that's still looking for an answer to this question.

I grew up in the west and in my younger days (I'm old now) things were a lot more rowdy and the cops a lot more interested in real criminals than they are now.

I have used a bullwhip all my life and I reckon I'm a pretty fair hand with one. I had a reputation as a younger man of being pretty good with one anyway.

I once saw my Dad knock a Hereford bull to his front knees with a 12 ft. whip. We were walking in the pasture and the bull decided to get frisky, he was pawing the ground and snorting and generally doing what bulls do when they want to play. The Old Man let him have it right between the eyes, it made about a 2 inch cut straight to the bone and down the bull went. He got his front legs back under him and decided he'd go play someplace else.

Now bear in mind, for handling stock we didn't use nylon "poppers" on the fall of the whip, we used a leather boot thong. Poppers make a lot of noise and might leave a welt but a thong cuts and hurts like hell. There's a LOT of energy at the end of that whip when it hits and though it's not a deep penetrating impact like from a gun or a knife it's nothing to scoff at either. This might seem a little harsh now days but you also have to bear in mind that these cattle were more like wild animals than like some tame feed lot stock. They were nothing to mess around with, and they generally had an opinion of where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do that was contrary to your desires. So having 10-12 feet of reach with something that persuaded them to see things your way was a very good thing.

I once cut a boar hog with mine, between the anus and the scrotum (very tender skin there) and the wound got infected. My Dad told me if I ever did that again I'd be both buying and butchering pig that same day.

A friend and I were in a bar, minding our own business as was prudent and a couple fellas decided they'd like to have a go at us. The was nothing unusual in those days and generally everyone eventually got winded, gave up and bought a round of drinks. We sort of settled their hash for them and they got sore about it so we left. As I was walking to the truck my buddy said "Well have a look at that!" and I turned to see one of our erstwhile antagonists exiting the bar with a knife in his hand. He was about 30-40 yards away and when he spotted us he got in a hurry. I reached inside the truck, cleared my whip and when he got to just the right spot I let him have it alongside the nose and under his eye. He let out a sound I've never heard a human being make before or since, sort of a high pitched "yiiiieeee" kind of noise. He dropped the knife and grabbed the god-awful painful bleeding slash on his face, we left. I ended up having to explain the situation to a deputy and the deputy decided that the gentleman had gotten more-or-less what he deserved so there were no charges filed. The deputy did comment that that fella' was going to remember his drunken stupidity every time he looked in the mirror from now on out. Oh, maybe I should mention that my buddy had gotten the old double barrel out of the rack in the truck and if that fella hadn't stopped from the whip strike it would have gone a lot worse for him than a scar on his pretty face.

Another time I had a guy pull some of those numchuck things, nunchaku I believe they're called. The fool went to his truck and whipped those things out and started twirling them around something fierce. I say he was a fool because he was more than 30 feet away when he started towards me so again, I cleared the whip and got ready to stand my ground. He stopped just out of striking distance and while he was considering his next move I told him he'd better throw those things at me or leave, any other choice was going to cost him at least one eye. He decided to keep both eyes and left.

I've heard of men using short whips with leaded butt's for fighting but I've never seen it done. The idea being to use the popper until the opponent gets in close then flip the whip and use it as a sap. Seems to me like a tire iron or a baseball bat would do just as well and you won't get arrested for carrying a blackjack with those.

With a nylon popper on the end a whip can be very intimidating just 'cause of the noise. I have many, many times had people think that whip crack was gunfire, it's that loud. Of course if you convince someone you've got a gun when you don't, and they do, well that's just plain not wise. You need to use some good sense no matter what the situation.

So I've had some experience with bullwhips and they're nothing to sneeze at. Are they something you would carry for defense? Nope. A whip would be useless against a determined attacker that was willing to sacrifice an eye or take a serious couple of cuts and keep closing. But they do make an awfully good persuasion against frisky livestock, bullies and drunks.

I hope this helps someone somewhere not to get hurt. If you're facing a whip don't take it lightly if the fella holding it looks like he knows his business. I wouldn't count on one for anything but stock handling though, that's what they're good for and anything else is just plain iffy. If that's all you got well do your best and good luck, God Bless.