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The Alpha Whip 2ft Junior Snake Whip in a Custom Adaptive Version

Vendor: Alpha Whips

Construction

This whip is very traditionally made: At the bottom is a lead-weighted pommel to balance the whip followed by a spring core. Being a Snake Whip there is no dedicated grip section with a second knot before the body like on a Bullwhip. At the end of the body a single paracord becomes the so call “fall” to which the cracker is attached by a loop. The cracker can be made out of Dacron or Dyneema. Dacron is a bit more stiffer and sharper and thus more stingy. It also takes longer to break in for cracking the whip. The upside is that the falls at the end do not tangle easily when cracking. My cracker is made out of Dyneema because it is softer and the chances of breaking the skin are next to nothing.

Lengthwise you can choose between 2ft and 5ft. The length is measure from the end of the pommel to where the fall begins. Choosing the right length is not an easy task. The most important thing to consider is your play space: The more confined the short the whip should be. Next is your play style, how you throw your whip. As a beginner I would recommend 3ft because it is a good compromise between handling, being able to crack it and throwing the whip far away from you. Despite controlling my whip fairly well, I still manage to unintentionally hit myself… If you want Hollywood style show throwing and cracking, you will need longer whips.

Nota bene: My whip is a custom Adaptive Snake Whip in 2ft length and 12 plaits. So where on a standard Snake Whip the fall is, I have a loop for attaching various attachments like a Dragon Quirt or a braided nylon fall onto which my cracker is attached. The plus side of an Adaptive whip is versatility. In theory you do not need carry several whips to a scene but can exchange the impact implement. In practice I rarely do it because it takes a bit of time. The downside is that doe to the nylon fall I basically ended up with a 3ft whip.

On a normal Snake Whip the Fall would begin here. At my Adaptive Whip there is the Loop for attaching different Implements

What makes whip from Alpha Whip special is the material it is made out of: Is completely made out of paracord.  In case of the Junior Whip it is made out of 550lb Nylon paracord which is perfect considering the length of the whip and thus force the material is subjected to. If you have experience which leather whips, you will have to adjust a bit. Out of the box, the body is less stiff and thus the whip is easier to throw right away. But unlike leather, the material will not break in over time. The braid will loosen just a little bit but not too much. So once you have learned to control your whip your throwing style does not need to adjust much to the changing whip properties. Another advantage is that the whip does not need maintenance beyond exchanging the cracker.

Speaking of the braid, it is very neat, tight and even which is an indicator for the quality and long term durability of the whip. The Junior Series has as 12 plait braid which means 12 cords are used to make the whip. Higher braid count means tighter braid and more detailed patterns. Since all whips are custom made, you can choose from a wide range of patterns and colors. My Snake Whip is a two-color Double Diamond in black and neon green both on the handle and the pommel.

Lead-Weighted Pommel with Hanging Loop

The pommel can have a different color than the handle and you can choose if you want a small loop for hanging the whip. I would highly recommend this for shorter whips because since the nylon does not break in as much as leather does, you cannot curl the whip like Indiana Jones does. Better store them hanging.

Finally a word on pricing: When I talk about flogger or whips at my impact play workshops or with interested people after they have seen me throw whips at Quälgeist for example, a common topic is where to get inexpensive whips for beginners. Being made out of paracord, Alpha Whips are already on the lower end of the price spectrum for good handmade whips. It takes hours to braid a whip like this. It takes a large stock of material you have to finance in order to offer this wide range of colors. And most importantly it takes years to learn how to make great whips. For that reason whips quality whips that will last you years of heavy play cannot come at a discount price. So like with anal toys where I always recommend saving for more expensive but safer to play with platinum silicone toys, better safe for another half year and get a proper whip instead of something cheap.

But don’t safe or wait too long for the whip you want. For most whip makers making whips is a hobby. If they had to make a living from it, whips would be even more expensive. So on a regular basis famous whip makers stop making their toys because they cannot justify the – personal – costs anymore.

Progression of the Braid from 12 plait to the Fall

Playing with the Junior Snake Whip

Each whip has a natural orientation in which it wants to go. In order to find this orientation hold the whip on the pommel and see into which direction it leans. You should always throw the whip on this plane because it will naturally lean towards it. Throwing it perpendicularly will make it harder to control because the whip will be pulled sideways while the momentum is propelling it forward.

The Fluff of a Dyneema Cracker

In order to learn how to control the whip, a proven technique is taking a large piece of cardboard and draw the outlines of a human torso onto it. Put this on the wall and throw your whip at it aiming at specific areas. Caution: Make sure there is nothing fragile about a meter left and right of the target and behind you. My poor plants speak from experience…

There are two ways to throw this whip: The easier one is “lashing”. You hold the pommel in your dominant hand and hold the fall in the other. Now extend your dominant arm until it is slightly bend and pull the other arm backwards. How far you pull backwards and thus put load the whip with tension will determine the impact intensity. If you want to add even more intensity, press your thump against the grip. This will add a surprising amount of kinetic energy. With lashing you can fairly easy and quickly develop a good aim. Since you always have to “charge” your whip again, lashing it not made for rapid strokes.

The other one is called “rolling” because you roll the whip forward. It is the style seen in movies and most porn. For this style, you wind the whip up by putting it behind your back and propel it forward using your shoulder, upper and lower arm. In this style the whip hits the bottom diagonally from above. Since you use all the muscles in your arm and your shoulder to propel the whip forward (and for advanced players even in your torso when you add a turning it towards the bottom), you can gather considerably more kinetic energy and thus increase the pain. Also you can develop a pendulum movement for rapid strokes. But the whip is much more harder to control and proper aim takes a lot of experience. Especially since you need to adjust to the height of every bottom.

The Loop on top of the Fall for Attaching the Cracker

Regardless of the throwing technique, when pulling the whip back for the next stroke, be careful not to hit yourself! On numerous occasions I gave myself a more or less thorough arm and back whipping in a scene…

If you are into extreme, long whipping, especially if you want to break the skin, I highly recommend exchanging the crackers between partners. Otherwise pathogens get transferred from one player to another. Such whipping bottoms usually have their own crackers they give the top before the scene.

Finally, a word on cracking. Cracking is when you throw the whip and there is a cracking sound. This sound is emitted when the cracker breaks the sound barrier. Unlike leather whips, even the short Snake Whip can be made cracking with a bit of practice. I found it easier to crack the whip with lashing than rolling because the kinetic energy is focused in one burst instead of building over time. Since the whip apexes in the middle of the air instead on a bottom, be extra careful of your surroundings. It makes the whip a bit more difficult to control.