After you read this, please see my follow-up article as well!
I really wish I wasn’t having to write this article. But, as a whipmaker who has been selling whips online since 2001, I think there comes a time when someone has to “call a time-out” and address something that is allegedly going on within our small community.
Dishonesty in Our Midst
It has come to my attention that there’s a whipmaker selling nylon whips that is being less than honest in his product descriptions. This was discovered by someone who’s first experience with nylon was with a whip I made. The customer liked the whip and started ordering other styles from other vendors.
The customer ordered a 7ft nylon bullwhip from someone that advertised it as having 2 plaited bellies. Noticing something was amiss, the customer did what most would not, and opened it up and found that the whip had no plaited bellies at all! In fact, it contained what probably amounted to several rolls of wrapped black electrical tape!
For the record, I do not know who the offender is and I told the customer I didn’t want to know, at least for now.
I also know that the offender is apparently NOT a newbie; he’s part of the “varisity team.” I think this makes the allegations even more disappointing. I expect this sort of thing from the fly-by-nights and hucksters on eBay, but not from among the better known nylon plaiting establishment. Varsity whipmakers should have enough personal integrity to be honest in their descriptions and sell what they claim to sell. I honestly don’t have a problem with someone making whips with tape bellies, but they should describe and sell it as a wrapped tape belly -and price it accordingly! Don’t say it has “2 plaited bellies,” when in reality, it contains a dozen rolls of wrapped electrical tape!
(What I do know for certain, based on the information I received, was that it IS NOT Steve Huntress at Noreast Whips and that the whipmaker is based in the United States) [edited 10/15/2013 @ 3:24pm]
Those of us who have been around for a decade or more selling synthetic whips will recall a time when nylon was somewhat frowned upon in the whip cracking community. Many of us have worked very hard to produce the best product we can in order to get synthetic whips to the place they are today. And that’s the point, we did our best and we were honest in our dealings: that’s why we’re still around and nylon whips so widely used today!
If there are people within the whipmaking community deceiving their buyers and turning out garbage, it’s inevitably going to hurt those of us who have worked very hard to get where we are.. In fact, the customer who brought this to my attention said that if the tape-bellied bullwhip had been their first experience with nylon, she would have not bought any more synthetic whips! Think about that for a second my fellow synthetic whipmakers!
To the person who is guilty of this charge:
12 of these wrapped ≠ 2 plaited bellies
I don’t know who you are, but I realize you could be someone I know; maybe even someone I number among my friends in the whipmaking community. I sincerely hope you will make amends, or at the very least, make your descriptions match what you are really selling. You’re only going to end up hurting your own reputation as people figure out what you’re doing. You have everything to lose and nothing to gain from these deceitful practices.
You’re very lucky this customer is not willing to see you publicly thrashed. I believe you truly deserve to be called into account for this practice. I guarantee that if you continue to do this, it won’t be long before someone else finds out and exposes you. Do yourself a favor and do things right.
“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.” -Leviticus 19: 11(ESV)
“You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the Lord your God,…” Leviticus 19: 35-36 (ESV)
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,” -Colossians 3: 23 (ESV)
“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” -Proverbs 22: 1 (ESV)
Synthetic and Supersonic 
October 15th, 2013 at 2:32 pm
I’ve used electrical tape as a bolster, but never heard of it being used in place of a belly. That’s crazy! Thank you for putting this note out, that’s seriously dishonest.
October 17th, 2013 at 3:44 pm
[…] Friend & fellow whipmaker Rhett Kelley recently blogged about the dishonest practices of a current nylon whipmaker. It seems that a certain whip’s construction from this ‘whipmaker’ wasn’t what was advertised, according to a customer of theirs. In a nutshell, the goods didn’t match the sales pitch. This person’s identity is unknown to me, as well as the customer, which is probably for the best. I’m glad Rhett took the time to write the post & call out the dishonesty. You can read Rhett’s post here, https://rhettswhips.com/2013/10/15/a-plea-for-integrity/. […]
October 17th, 2013 at 4:33 pm
[…] as I figured, Tuesday’s post A Plea for Integrity made some […]
October 17th, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Rhett, Thank you for standing up and telling it like it is.
One of your cow whips that belongs to a friend of mine in Florida, was my introduction to nylon whips, and then when I had an attack of CRS (Can’t Remember S***) and I blanked out on your name I found one of Steve Huntress’ whips on e-bay and got hooked on his products. So much so that as a hobbyist I have been using Steve’s on-line instruction to learn how to make my own whips.
I have to question: With the growing popularity of whip cracking as a sport, is there perhaps people like you, Steve, and the other top quality whip makers might not be able to network and set a , for lack of a better term, “Code of Standards” for whip making?
Respectfully,
Mark Shlosberg