A Brief Tribute to Joe Akerman Jr.

I received sad news recently that Joe Akerman Jr. passed away. I was given this news on Facebook by his son Mark.

Among his many accomplishments, Mr. Akerman wrote the book Florida Cowman. Florida Cowman was a book that I read as a sophomore in high school and used as a source for a term paper in history class. Florida Cowman is, in my opinion, one of the best on the subject of Florida’s great cattle raising history.

The cover of my whipmaking DVD is actually one of the many sketches that Joe made as illustrations for Florida Cowman. I was granted permission by Mark Akerman on behalf of his father to use the piece. For that I remain ever grateful to Mark and Joe.

Mr. Akerman’s obituary can be found here.

-Rhett

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by RBK on July 29, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by RBK on July 29, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/07/29/a-brief-tribute-to-joe-akerman-jr/

Update

I regret to say that I am not accepting whip orders for a while. My waiting list is still so long I cannot get a handle on it. However, I am still accepting DVD orders and orders for handles, poppers, and piggin’ strings.

In the meantime, please visit my friend Diamond Whip Co. if you need a whip quickly.

Thanks!

Rhett

3 Comments
by RBK on April 22, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by RBK on April 22, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/04/22/update-4/

Whipmaking Supplies: Sinker Cord for Sale!

In my whipmaking DVD, I recommend using 3/8″ sinker cord to load with BBs for weighting nylon whips. Sinker cord is available online at less than $0.15/ft, but the shipping rates are outrageous because they only ship via UPS. If you only want 6ft of sinker cord, you’re looking at paying around $17.00!! Unless you’re going to make lots of whips, you may not want to buy the amount needed to make it worth paying such high shipping fees.

Here’s the Good news: I now have 3/8″ sinker cord available for purchase with postage included in the price

Using the example above, If you order 6ft of sinker cord from me, you only pay $6.00, saving you around $11.00!

New prices!

The more sinker cord you buy, the cheaper it is per foot:

1-19 ft = $1.00/ft
20-49ft = $0.85/ft
50ft -69ft = $0.70/ft
70ft – 99ft = $0.55/ft
100ft and over = $0.45/ft

1st class Postage included to all U.S. addresses! Priority Mail for orders over $20.00!

To order, email Rhettswhips @ yahoo .com

-Rhett Kelley

2 Comments
by RBK on March 14, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in for sale, whipmaking

Posted by RBK on March 14, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/03/14/sinker-cord-for-sale/

Economy Tough? Learn to Make Whips!

The economy is tough for lots of people now. Many have been laid off or face having their job cut. What will happen when gasoline prices go back to over $4.00/ gallon? Now is not the time to look to government to fix things. It’s time to take action. Learn new skills. Create opportunities for yourself by finding ways to make additional income from various sources so that you don’t have to reply solely upon your employer -or a government check if that fails.

You probably already know where I am going with this, and you would be correct. Investing some money and time in learning to make whips can be one way you can earn some extra cash in these uncertain times. My whipmaking DVD can help you do that.

In the last 10 years, I’ve seen this happen many times with people who never had any intention of making whips for profit. I’ve lost count of all the people over the years who emailed me wanting help with whipmaking. Most tell me they have no intention of selling whips,  then later the same people would emailed me saying they were selling whips because they had so many people offering to buy them.

Having my Cow Whip Tutorial DVDs cuts down on the learning curve. Using it, you can start producing quality whips much more quickly than if you try to figure it out on your own. Many of my DVD customers are already doing it. One of my customers having great success is Vernon Wilson from Oklahoma.  He has sold many whips locally and now has one on eBay. The money he invested in the DVDs and supplies is already paying rewards. Once he gets a website going, I am certain he will see even more orders.

I don’t want to make you think it’s going to be easy. You just don’t buy the DVD and magically start selling whips. Before you can even use my DVDs you will need to learn how to plait. It takes time, patience, and hard work. But if you’re dedicated and persevere, you can do it. Once you get proficient at making whips, people you wouldn’t even suspect will want to by whips once they know you can make them. And of course, I am always happy to help out those who buy my DVDs and start turning out nice whips.

If you’re interested in learning to make your own Florida cow whips, send me an email at rhettswhips @ yahoo .com. The price for the 2 DVD set is $85.00 and that includes shipping to U.S. addresses.

Happy plaiting!

Rhett

Cowwhips.com

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by RBK on March 8, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Cow Whips, for sale, video, whipmaking

Posted by RBK on March 8, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/03/08/economy-tough/

5ft Cow Whip for Sale

I wanted to let you know about a whip for sale by Vernon Wilson, one of my DVD customers in Oklahoma who has been doing well selling his whips locally. This is his first eBay offering.

For custom orders, email him at Wilsonwhips @ yahoo .com.

-Rhett

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by RBK on February 23, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Cow Whips, for sale, nylon whips, whip makers

Posted by RBK on February 23, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/02/23/5ft-cow-whip-for-sale/

Nylonwhips.com Domain Registered

I want to let everyone know that if they look up the domain nylonwhips.com, they will find themselves landing on my main website Cowwhips.com. As of yesterday, I’m now the owner of the nylonwhips.com domain. This domain was previously owned by Ron Allen doing business as Loxahatchee Whip Company.

I registered the domain because it had expired and it doesn’t appear that Ron Allen is going to be returning to selling whips online for a while. The name  fits my website even better than Cowwhips.com because I now make more than just nylon cow whips.

I realize that perhaps some will see this as a case of opportunistic cyber-squatting, but I was able to get in touch with Ron recently and told him my plans. He had no problem with it and I told him that if he ever decided to get back into selling whips online, I would sell him back the domain. Had the domain fallen into the hands of someone else, there would be no guarantee Ron would get it back.

If linking to me, it may still be better just to use Cowwhips.com or Rhettswhips.com, because until Ron tells me otherwise, I am treating my ownership of nylonwhips.com as temporary.

Have a great day!

Rhett Kelley

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by RBK on February 7, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in admin, nylon whips, whip makers

Posted by RBK on February 7, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/02/07/nylonwhips-com-domain-registered/

The Frisbee Show Bullwhip

I recently had the pleasure of making a unique 8ft bullwhip for Greg Frisbee, a San Francisco based entertainer who does juggling and all sort of other things in his family-friendly shows.  Greg has been one of my customers for a long time, but this is by far the wildest looking whip he has gotten from me. I am very happy at how it turned out.

Check out Greg’s website at Frisbeeshow.com.

 

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by RBK on January 25, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in bullwhips, nylon whips

Posted by RBK on January 25, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/01/25/the-frisbee-show-bullwhip/

Whip Repair Video

The video below shows the steps I go through in repairing cow whips that people send to me. I don’t know who made the whip originally, but it was sent to me from someone in Georgia and as I was looking through my blog archives and realized this whip was probably made by whoever made the one featured in this article that was sent to me from Oklahoma. Whipmakers normally have their own signature styles and ways of doing things. In this instance, the handles look similar and the bellies were both made by taping cords together and instead of being plaited. This all leads me to believe these whips were made by the same person and I just happened to be the guy selected to fix them up. The one in the video was in much worse shape than its sibling.

The video starts out very blurry, but gets better after a couple of minutes and I am sorry for that. I had the camera on the wrong setting and didn’t know it until it was too late to go back.

If you have a cow whip that looks like this and need it repaired. I typically do these for around $35-45 depending on the damage. I don’t care who originally made it, if I can fix it and make it better, I’d be happy to do it.

Thanks!
Rhett Kelley
Cowwhips.com

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by RBK on January 11, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Cow Whips, nylon whips, video, whip makers, Whip Repair, Whips

Posted by RBK on January 11, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/01/11/whip-repair-video/

Whip Making DVD Available at Ubraidit.com!!

I should have done this long before now, but I am happy to announce that Ubraidit.com is carrying my whip making DVDs!

Ubraidit has been a leading promoter of the art of braiding as well as the do-it-yourself spirit that it takes to make whips and other braided goods for many years now. In light of that, I figured it only made sense to contact them about carrying my whipmaking DVD. After reviewing the production, Ubraidit decided to stock the videos.

What makes it Ubraidit such a good source of my nylon whipmaking DVD is that you can obtain nearly all the supplies you need right from their website instead of having to shop around all over the web. Also, Ubraidit is known for its friendly customer service.

So now you have two sources for the video: direct from myself, or from Ubraidit.com. Either route you choose will make me happy!

Until next time,

Rhett

Cowwhips.com

1 Comment
by RBK on January 11, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Cow Whips, for sale, nylon whips, Projects, video, whipmaking

Posted by RBK on January 11, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/01/11/whip-making-dvd-available-at-ubraidit-com/

Whipmaking DVD Results: Noah’s Whips

I want to show some of pictures of the whips made by Noah A., one of my long time whip customers who recently got a copy of my whip making DVD.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

I thought I would give you a little feed back on your DVD.  I found the detail where to drop certain strands and plaiting in a odd number of strands very useful.  As I had been just waiting for the strands to start to bunch up before dropping two strands at the same time, always ending up with a  lump and gaps in my thong. It was quite frustrating, so your video was a huge help in that regard.

Here’s the Florida  Cow Whip that Noah made:

Now, some people think that because my DVD doesn’t specifically deal with bullwhips, then it is not useful for making bullwhips. That’s not a correct assumption. Most of the techniques I teach in regards to plaiting and dropping strands are exactly what I do with my bullwhips. Using Ron Edwards’ book and some other online tutorials, it’s not too hard to go from cow whips to bullwhips. So far, I have had a number of people to make bullwhips using my DVD combined with a the other resources. (And yes, there is a bullwhip making video in the works, but I do not have a targeted release date yet!)

Here’s Noah’s bullwhip:

Noah tells me he figured out how to make the bullwhip using the DVD and by studying the 6ft bullwhip I sold him last year. It looks to me like he’s done a really nice job.

There was time as a whipmaker that I saw other upstart whipmakers as a threat to my business and I would’ve never thought of giving out as much information as I do on my DVDs. After a decade online, I’ve come to a place where I know I cannot possibly make all the whip orders that come my way and I need other whipmakers to help me out. It actually makes me happy to see people being able to make nice whips using my DVDs.

For many of my DVD customers, they have already been able to sell some whips and pay for the investments they made in the DVD and whip making supplies! These folks didn’t just buy a “how-to video,” they invested in a rewarding hobby that will more than pay for itself in a short period of time.

If you’re interested in making whips for yourself or for profit, I encourage you to get a copy of my Florida Cow Whip Tutorial DVD today!

Email me at Rhettswhips@yahoo.com for more information.

To order, send $85.00 via Paypal to Rhettswhips @ yahoo.com or you can send a check or money order to me at:

Rhett Kelley
P O Box 261
Stillmore, GA. 30464

Thanks!

Rhett
Cowwhips.com

2 Comments
by RBK on January 8, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in bullwhips, Cow Whips, for sale, nylon whips, video, whip makers, whipmaking, Whips

Posted by RBK on January 8, 2011

http://rhettswhips.com/2011/01/08/whipmaking-dvd-results-noahs-whips/

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