Inside Adam Savage's Cave: Indiana Jones Bullwhip

Adam shows off the Raiders of the Lost Ark bullwhip he braided by hand. Learn why it was such a labor of love to make this whip from a single piece of kangaroo hide, and how this whip is a little different than the one Indiana Jones uses in the movies.

[@tested]

Want more videos from inside Adam Savage's cave? Check out our playlist: bit.ly/2FpjcBR

[@gregm.846]

Adam....years ago right after the first Indy movie I also turned this craft into the Holy Grail search. I was living in the Seattle area at the time and David Morgan had a shop in Ballard before he moved to Bothell. I spoke with him on the phone and he invited me down to his shop. I spent the next 2 days with him as he showed me how he hand cut (free form) those plaits without drawing them. We spent a lot of time just talking about the world while we worked on my whip. David was a metallurgist in his work life as was my father so we had that in common. He was a very gracious and soft spoken man and considering his importance to Hollywood he was humble as could be. He educated me on Lash Larue and told me a lot about the whips he made for numerous movies. BTW, he told me that the whip in the first Indy movie was actually 10' long, and since i wanted a duplicate that is how long my whip is. He charged me $200 for my whip and nothing for his time and friendship. I still have that whip after almost 40 years and will give it to my grandson but what is special is David's kindness and my memory of him.

[@PaynE_PaynE]

I just love how enthusiastic Adam is about this bullwhip. Allthough understandable!!

[@Pahiro]

Makes me so happy when Adam puts so much effort into something and comes up with such a beautiful final product.

[@Thea_MojaveOutliersWhipmakers]

Actually, he said it took him about 17 hours to make the whip, 6 of which were spent just DRAWING on the hide where he intended to cut the lace. That's still pretty damned fast. But! The man has VAST EXPERIENCE dealing with finicky engineering projects of every description under sharp time constraints, and probably has a Man Cave that would make a super villain green with envy, never mind access to a practically endless supply of tools, material and advice from being hooked in to the collaborative community he works in. Too, clearly he's an uber-nerd of epic proportions--a savant with social skills,eh? lol! So, while it is amazingly cool that he did this as fast and as well as he did, it's not at all unlikely or even that surprising. Nice build, Mr. Savage. :) I'd love to see your 7oz latigo whip...bet THAT was a fun build!

[@lady61018]

When my hair is braided I can crack it like a whip, but I've noticed that one's whip cracking technique requires a lot of adjustment between braid types. I can crack a regular three stranded braid, but I'm having trouble with a fishtail braid which more closely resembles an actual whip. I am reasonably amazed by Mr. Adam's whip braiding skills.

[@ihavekalashnikovyoudomath9275]

Calm down Shantae, calm down!

[@7NoPrObLeM7]

i love how Adam is so positive about everything, zero negativity.

[@grimreaper0]

9 MINUTES OF VIDEO, A CLAIM THAT IT SOUNDS LIKE A GUNSHOT, AND YOU NEVER CRACK IT?!

[@chaptermastertree8214]

HERESY

[@13loodydove46]

I always found it ironic that Indi is scared of snakes but his main tool is so similar to a snake.

[@Feuerherz55]

Watch the Last Crusade. You will find outmwhy ;)

[@fantasyprops3147]

Hat off to you, no pun intended, that must have been an insanely fiddly build. 6 hours of marking and then 2 hours cutting and no mistakes. yikes!!! well done Adam

[@weplaydthis]

Credit where credit is due. A lot of what Adam does is half-assed, but that whip is very well made and THAT is a real art. Well done.

[@Legoweapond]

What a tease you didn't whip it, I'd like to hear the sound of it

[@Soletmod]

seriously. yes please

[@PopRocksV]

He whips it on an episode of Mythbusters

[@AlasdairGR]

Irisa Anne That’s a different whip

[@joelshewmaker3567]

That sounds like what I'm doing right now. I'm making some Wing Chun wooden dummies out of reclaimed fir from a job site, since I work for a general contractor. I managed to get a 6x8 beam (since it is decades old lumber), along with 13 2x8s, 6 feet long. since they're old wood, they all need to be planed. I don't have an electric planer, but I do have a bench plane. Then, I get to laminate them, cut specific holes in them, round them into cylinders, cut the arms and legs, and then create a stand for them. But, when it's all done, I will have saved thousands of dollars. Those dummies cost anywhere between $600 and $1,200 each. and I don't expect to spend more than $200 making them.

[@greenXXV]

does anybody know if he ever cracked the whip on this channel? That i really want to see.

[@thethe6232]

Great whip. It looks a little chunky. The Raiders Bullwhips were a lot thinner. Most people think that David Morgan made the original hero versions whips, for the first movie. But in fact the whips x 3 of different lengths, actually belonged to a stunt man, that was a hot shot at the bullwhip and schooled Ford on the pre production film set. No body can say who made them for sure, but they definitely were made, before David Morgan was brought in. David Morgan was hired during production of Raiders to recreate the 3 original whips, so they could use them for stunts like swinging over chasms and such. David Morgan continued making the whips and improving on the original 3 for the next 3 movies that followed. Morgan made them a little thicker than the original 3 movie prototype's, but not quite a fat as this one. This one is over done. Adams OCD may have some part to play in that LOL.

[@jamesmellors2096]

Logged in just to thumb this up. Couldn't agree more. The look on his face when he's doing the intro... I'd pay to have that job and just listen to Adam talk.

[@zachlevy]

was hoping you'd test it :(

[@blairmillar1241]

Same

[@Alcatrax0]

Zachary Levy same :/

[@JcGrubbsFilms]

That's the other channel, "Test It". This is Tested

[@rosedaniels2239]

watch mythbusters

[@paulicke3483]

I also back in the 90s spoke to the late David Morgan on the phone when I purchased his bullwhip,the bullwhip is in mint and whip cracking today 👍

[@Knightninja6]

I have a 12 ft whip and a 8 ft whip, the 8 ft is fun for quick work but the 12 ft take some real muscle to crack but is oh so worth it.

[@collinstphillip]

Adam, sir. What a beautiful reliving of your whip making experience, thank you. That being said, you don’t think any of us, mega-fan or casual viewer, sat through your entire story, truly enjoyable as it was, just for the tale, do you? ONE CRACK! You couldn’t swing that thing, that freak, just once? Frankly, sir, you owe us. All due respect. Pay up. One 45 second long clip. 10 second into, set, swing, bumble it once, slim your eyes and set your jaw and CRACK. Do it. Thanks. Big fan. BIG

[@tr9000]

It's a beautiful whip. With art you need 2 things, money and dedication. Supplies can be expensive, but so can a finished product. Sometimes you can go halfway and find something started, and you can finish it yourself and put your personality into it. Sometimes dedication can more than make up for the lack of money if you know where to look and have a little ingenuity. Or if you are rich you can forget dedication, pay for someone else's work entirely.

[@jedichase]

Awesome video, I've wanted to see Adam's self-made whip for a while now. I've been cracking whips now for 4 years, and have done some performing with them. Down here in Florida most whips are made of nylon and range in the 12ft. length. They are more limited in the tricks you can do, but like Adam said they are loud.

[@indy2867]

Couple points: 1) The braid or plait starts out over under and then goes to a herringbone pattern which is the number of strands divided by 4. So a twelve plait is over three under three. An 8 plait would be over two under 2. 2) You can drop strands to form the taper, and dropping from 12, to 8 strands, and then to 8 plait, then to 6 gets you a stronger whip because the strands are thicker in the tip. 3) No, you don’t need hearing protection to crack a whip. His whip is beautiful, and I would never cast any shade on his general skill set and dedication, but whip plaiting is an art form. For a first effort this whip is amazing, but you can see the taper is too aggressive. It gets a little too thin, too soon. It looks like he made his first belly a bit short, and that carried into the end product.

[@BTeamHooligan]

There were some in the movie that were up to 12 I believe. They may have been some of the stunt whips for swinging. He makes a big deal about it being 11 feet, but I have a 10 Australian roo hide and I actually prefer it to shorter whips. The shorter whips are faster to crack. But the long ones are extremely loud. You just have to have good technique for longer whips. They're less forgiving, and more likely to bite you if your not careful.

[@hetmasteen]

My favorite new thing to watch on KZbin these days. Keep 'em coming, boys!

[@garrettwilson2626]

Correction: main length for the whips they used were 10 ft. But of course they had the same whip in different lengths for different scenes. I believe the main length of the whip from crystal skull was 8 ft.

[@AaronDew]

This does sound like something incredibly relaxing to make. Unfortunately I'm fresh out of roo hide.

[@cleverusername9369]

"Serial collector of skills" I love that phrase

[@Vexidus]

This guy is insanely intelligent, and it's more apparent with every video of him I watch. Wow.

[@DavidMorganLLC]

We really enjoyed this video. We had lost the information if we ever had it that Adam drew the sets out on the skin.

[@lukejoy8108]

YEAH! We want someone to talk about Adam's projects for him!

[@Avoider_net]

Because making stuff with his own hands is what he loves, it's his thing. That's what makes him tick.

[@TheJenniferOlive]

My sister bought this hat for our dad for christmas and it is AMAZING!!!

[@THEMANIACALPOTATO]

Nice! Not to be nosy, but how much did it cost?

[@rchristian109]

Sonic boom! Sound of a whip is the tip of the whip breaking the sound barrier.

[@coleharmon3821]

i love this video and your whip, i'm looking foward to making my own just like yours, i've made bullwhips with paracord, but leather seams so much nicer, any tips for a begginer?

[@MysticalDork]

well, I'm planning on making myself a bullwhip out of para-cord at some point, you might ant to look into that. Para-cord is ridiculously strong, those $20 whips are usually made out of cheap crappy leather (or even Pleather *shudders*) and they fall apart pretty easily. The cool thing about the para-cord whips is that you can get para-cord in like a thousand different colors and make your own designs. Plus, it's so cheap that 250 feet (enough for an 8ft bullwhip) is only like $30 all together.

[@ghosthead84]

Yay a project he finished! Nice work.

[@fightmymonkey]

My favourite of there video's so far.

[@jademorris7234]

I have three Morgans, I strongly suggests using Picards on your whips to condition them and keep them from drying out and getting brittle. Picards will also keep dust and other debris from getting into the plating.

[@kaseyhenricks1471]

+Jade Morris is there a specific variety of pecards that you recommend for using on whips?

[@jademorris7234]

The Picards that I use have a red label, I think there is only one "type" of Picards, but I might be wrong, if I am , my apologies. ..

[@therkels1]

Maybe i have been watching Ghost adventures for too long, but i can't help noticing a small orb in the far left of the screen by the bandsaw at 2:10. Probably dust or something, but it looks kinda eerie:D

[@qeijkak]

Come on Adam, show us the sonic crack!

[@RJiiFin]

Exactly! A video about a whip and no whipping it? :/

[@KiteofAzureflame123]

RJiiFin I thought he said something about the pop from that thing is kinda equal to a gun shot D: Might break some shit D:

[@RJiiFin]

Then go outside and crack it! I wanna hear it. :D

[@kylenibling8664]

RJiiFin You don't whip a whip, dumbass. You crack it.

[@KiteofAzureflame123]

Kyle Nibling If you whip a whip, you get cool whip. o uo

[@JMwhips]

Just FYI, I'm a whip maker, and an 11 ft. long whip isn't unheard of. 12 ft. is usually as long as you see in normal use, but I've seen normal whips 25 ft. long. I've seen a rope whip, made only to break the world record, over 200 ft. long. 11 ft. is long, but it's not really unheard of. 8 ft. is a pretty common length, 10 ft. also, 12 ft. not so much but you still see it regularly.

[@danielarnold2680]

PLEASE ADAM can you do a detailed video on how to make an indiana jones bullwhip that would be AWESOME :)

[@TheNateWalking]

After watching a few of these videos it has occurred to me that if Adam Savage ever decided to become a super villain the world would be doomed.

[@beefcakeandgravy]

Thanks for saving me the time to watch it. Much appreciated!

[@treepuncher17]

That sounds a lot more interesting than it probably is.

[@habojspade]

I just started making my own whips and this is insane.

[@bellajensen4645]

I know I might not get an actual answer about this clip or specificly about the power of the bullwhip, but here goes anyway. How much force can one get out of it if intended to cause maximum damage and what kind of injuries would it cause? Has there been testing done on that subject because I cant find any kind of reference in the matter. And secondly, in a mythical standpoint, was the bullwhip or any kind of whip a weapon that could be relied on or was it just for auditorial display? Thank you

[@CT--us4mc]

I just bought an akubra from David Morgan. I had no clue they had that connection with the Indy films! I ended up buying the Indy inspired australian styled fedora by Akubra from them as well which I think is hilarious 😂😂😂

[@miketyance]

Nice whip a little thick but really nice. Adam makes tapering the strands sound difficult though its really not that hard of a job to do

[@JoggingWithForks]

I think you misunderstood. It would still require marking and cutting a spiraling pattern, it is however easier to mark and cut 6 pieces of a uniform width. These 6 pieces would then be split diagonally, resulting in the desired 12 tapered strands. The net result would be no different from marking and cutting 12 tapering strands. It would however reduce the chance of error by simplifying the task.

[@heathcliff4914]

Kangaroo leather is probably really strong because if you ever seen them fight they balance on their tails and kick out to gut you open. The red kangaroo from Australia has a lightning fast double kick that can tear you open from sternum to top of legs. One kick of lightning speed and a force of 850 PSI. At 185 pounds and 6 foot tall they can pack a punch.

[@JasonBarnhart]

Perhaps I can interest you in a laser cutter. Does the work of one person in minutes instead of hours! No soul but the precision cutting is mind bending!

[@PaulWolfenden1]

I think hes significantly more busy now than he was when he first built the whip.

[@bubbyeverhart]

That whip looks amazinig

[@loganbaumgartner2710]

a friend of mine is paying me to make a paracord bullwhip 20 feet long. It'll be a big challenge.

[@qwertyasdf66]

It needs to have that taper for it to actually function.

[@Algorhythm027]

in nylon whips they are tapered by 'dropping' strands as you plait, so he may start at 18- or 24-plait and be down to 6- or 8-plait by the end

[@matthenderson3133]

If I were doing a 20 footer I'd go for an 18 plait handle then swell to a 24 plait thong, and a 6-point fall hitch

[@YakYo]

"Wife is out of town.....Maybe I'll finally make a bullwhip out of that kangaroo hide."

[@tindra98765]

YOU THE BEST Adam...regards Sweden

[@samikuosmanen729]

Awesome handmade whip!

[@tomscreations3309]

You guys should make a video on how to make a whip with kangaroo hide

[@archirug]

In the video, he says that, " no whipcracker in their right mind would ever make a whip this long. But when you get this to crack, you need hearing protection."

[@alessioyautja612]

I tried making a snake whip a little while ago. Found a guide for making one out of paracord but couldnt keep track of all the strands. Its a tricky task, fair dos to Adam to that whip. EDIT: I'd actually love to see Adam do a one day build on a whip, would be cool to watch ^^

[@dporiua]

watch the Busters of the lost myths episode on MythBusters, he makes one on camera

[@alessioyautja612]

Thanks for the info, I'll have a look at that ^^

[@alessioyautja612]

Just watched it and a couple of other videos. He does make the whip but I looked for a video to explain the process in depth and found a guy called NicksWhipShop who does some fantastic tutorials with paracord, nice and easy to learn ^^

[@alessioyautja612]

BostonTricker Thank you for the tip, I'll try to bear it in mind when I tackle the next one. I usually suspend the head (the opposite end of the tip, not sure if thats the right term) from a static hook then leave my strands to dangle freely, but it does tend to get messy as the strands get longer and longer :P

[@miketyance]

mark me if I'm wrong a guy named Mike Murphy made two 22ft kangaroo hide bullwhips for Adam Winrich he uses in his show so it ain't crazy to have longer whips

[@greyareaRK1]

Wish he'd documented the making of that whip. Speaking of which, what is the name of the maker of that hat?

[@MysticalDork]

You'd be surprised how long paracord will last, having individual strands instead of a solid chunk of leather (even 'roo leather) can have some advantages: The main one is that you can use it in wet, humid or rainy conditions that would ruin a leather whip.

[@griffindance]

Adam planned his leather in a way I never do. I have an aussie strand cutter and I plan how long I need the strands to be and just go for it. No drawingout the strands or even marking the leather at all. The guy who taught me didnt even use a strand cutter. Just a really sharp knife he'd made himself out of a piece of junk. A whip made of paracord is just going to be a weird rope that'll die pretty soon.

[@Spacemonkeymojo]

Adam Savage is a Renaissance man.

[@knight2032]

I would like to know if his hat is the rabbit fur or the beaver fur option offered by Adventurebilt. I want to get one myself,

[@jedichase]

We need a video of adam cracking his whip.

[@leatherman4181]

It is a beautiful whip. I used to have one and used it but it got wet once and fell apart but I still want one again

[@dboyzero]

my internet is slow today, and because of that i discovered the 4:44 adam face.

[@johnnybravo5282]

Adam, you do wonderful work on the border of obsessive. But you didn't find out how long the whip should be? talk about a major oversight. of course we've all been there

[@lookayoyo]

Well, it isn't going to produce more energy than you put into it, but the fact that it gets smaller at the end makes it go much faster to about the speed of a bullet. It can easily cause major lacerations.

[@mikebald]

Interesting, he talks about how challenging cutting out the leather was, but instead if he cut the same width through the entire circle he could THEN cut the taper and he'd end up with 2 pieces per cut. Am I missing something?

[@Laochri]

A whip master cuts the strands the whole width the whole length of strands used. He then tapers them every foot by making them thinner and while plating them he drops strands. Adam is not a whip master, just someone who has made one. I have made 4 out of paracord and and one from European Cow hide.

[@wintj987]

I am not belideling Adam but to make the laces you only have to get a lace cutter like David Morgan uses and cut around till you get all of the lace cut from it

[@CoenRem]

Great video! I think that is the mirror from Blade Runner in the background.

[@gabobo123]

i thought the whip was inside an epoxy casting and i was like holy ballz

[@tpm4life]

I would love to see a cave vid about his battle bot.

[@wezzlyn]

As a hat fanatic, I can attest that Adventurebilt hats are pretty much cream of the crop. They're also around 700 dollars. Ouch.

[@radicalgoodspeed16]

have to ask because it just popped in my mind but if you braid leather armour panels and then harden it could it take a sword blow better?

[@GimliSohn]

Yes, many Viking armours were made out of leather and then hardend and they could actually take a sword blow. But a very sharp sword will still cut through ;)

[@Carbon762]

Leather is actually very cuttable with any realistically sharp sword edge, and would not protect you from a sword tip no matter how dull the edges are. Cuir bouilli, or boiled leather might do you a bit better but nobody knows exactly how it was made so nobody can exactly prove how effective it was. However with modern methods leather can be specially treated to be about as resilient as fiberglass.

[@GimliSohn]

I tried it out by myself... hardend helmet and a hmm pretty sharp bowie knife and it didnt cut through. You are right leather is cuttable (easy) but not when it is hardend. It's like fibreglas. And a leather armor is pretty thick, made out of 2-5 layers of skin.

[@MajorHavoc214]

Oil hardened leather is pretty good, but it will not hold up to a bronze blade as well as a steel blade. In fact, a bronze blade is down right scary when it comes to leather armor.

[@ZphyraRyuu]

Gimli Sohn Most swords used at that time, unless some sort of fine edge wasn't very sharp were they? Broadswords and stuff was rather dull.

[@Tung_a_bung]

hey adam I made a fl bullwhip out of parracord and I love it sounds get but I was looking at your whip how long is your kracker?

[@thepinkchicken247]

joey dodge looked 5-6 inches

[@concretefeet]

and i thought i had a masochistic addiction to tedium. well played adam.

[@richardhatt631]

Adam did make a whip on Mythbusters and used it.

[@intermedianguitarsguild4482]

Im jealous of adams many skillsets

[@phototristan]

Does he also have Alden Indy boots?

[@bondfool]

How dare he insult the quality of "Last Crusade." That's the best one!

[@AlasdairGR]

Wait, there’s more than one Raiders film? When did that happen?

[@joehumpston7937]

I'm making a replica out of 550 paracord!

[@phoenixcompany7807]

Joe Humpston i recommend watching znaproductions or nickswhipshop, nicks has some great patterns and is very thourough in explaining the process

[@joehumpston7937]

Phoenix Company I know that's I learned to do it!

[@jasonjohnson6938]

Joe Humpston me too :D

[@frankybcasino]

zoob!!! i remember getting them at dennys waaay back in the day!

[@brucewilson4200]

He is surprisingly spry for his age. He's also hinted at a role in Expendables 3.

[@rikniknoknik]

That must have been a roo hide that Ive never seen!

[@dominicsaavedra5113]

I made my own whip in a day once. my finger joints hurt for a week after that.

[@glennelson8017]

Awesome,I had insulated copper wire on a stick

[@d_wong12]

Love his passion

[@ninman58]

Your hat isn't a perfect replica. It has a teardrop crease not a centre crease like the original. Plus you can buy the genuine hats from Herbert Jones, the people who made them for the first three films.

[@KingEhrys98]

+ninman58 He said it was an original for the fourth film because he got it from the people who made them.

[@ninman58]

Still doesn't alter the fact that it has a tear drop crease not a centre dent like the original hat.

[@KingEhrys98]

ninman58 Never said it did...

[@ninman58]

In the 4th film the hat also has a centre dent.

[@ninman58]

+ninman58 *Herbert Johnson - sorry.

[@CoNgO2oo1]

zoob ! haven't heard of that in a long time

[@Poizon2K8]

Yeah, I was pretty tired when i replied to your comment lol.. I somehow thought that you meant full length rectangles cut out of a huge hide haha.. tiredness causes stupidity :P but yeah, I get what you meant now.

[@Enthir]

"You would have to have massive overhead and nobody around you for ten feet on either side, right?"; It's called the outdoors last time I checked.

[@millsisfine]

Also, longest wasn't 8 feet. Ford carried a 10 foot on his belt.

[@gregm.846]

True

[@oblivion3134]

This is a fucking awesome video.