For the record..

[pagey]

I still get emails asking me about producing bullwhips, so let me please set the record straight.
I NO LONGER MAKE WHIPS OF ANY SORT
The last order I took for a customer was a long time ago and I have no intention of starting up again.
To be honest I am in denial of having been involved with whips at all.
I gave up any interest in making whips after watching the whipping scenes in Jango Unchained.
On watching the disturbing scenes in 12 Years a Slave I destroyed my personal whips.
Please do not email me enquiring about whips.
Thank You.

[madkidjedi]

Dear Mr. Pagey;

Please allow me to express my admiration for this bold personal choice that you have made regarding whips and whip-craft. I understand your reasons, and as I said, admire them and your conviction. This could not have been an easy decision to make. Though I (and I assume many others like myself who peruse these forums must have) winced at reading that you chose to dispose of your personal collection, it is with the utmost of respect for your decision to do so that I begin this public response here. You are obviously a man of great resolve and honor, and your very personal choice to dissolve any related linkages to those abhorrent acts from that terrible time in America's history, as shown in those films you mentioned, could not have been an easy one. Or perhaps it was. Either way, it was your choice to make, and I for one respect you for the courage to do it.

As a bullwhip-aficionado and hobbyist, and one who owns multiple whips (including one I believe to be one of your constructs), I can understand the inner conflict that the bullwhip can bring to the surface. I, too, have questioned my own admiration for the bullwhip, what with it's muddled past. For the whip's place in history is one to be reviled as much as it is to be admired. For while it was used to punish many an enslaved person in the hands of many plantation overseers, it simultaneously helped the westward expansion of our country, as ranchers used them to drive their herds across the plains. For many, the subject of the gun is under as much personal scrutiny where one's integrity is concerned. For while it is used as a tool in the enforcement of the law, it becomes a devious and deadly device in the hands of the criminal, who chooses to utilize it in the commission of their ill deeds.

To wit, my point. And before I belabor it, let me reiterate that I hold you in no contempt whatsoever for your personal choice to distance yourself from the tainted tool you once admired and constructed so well. But the bullwhip, like the gun, is simply that: a tool. The whip by itself is not an instrument of evil, but only becomes one in the hands of the evil user who wields it. The whip, the gun, the staff, the sword, whatever the matter of item brandished is by itself not malicious... but becomes so in its use due to inherent nature of the person who brandishes it.

I, too, was moved by the scenes in "Django" (I've not yet seen "12 Years..."). But my emotions ran two ways. I was repulsed by the acts of their use, but at the same time squinted to attempt to see the craftsmanship of the whip on-screen. For since I have become an aficionado of the bullwhip, I have come to respect it's power, it's form and function, and remain humbled by it's blemished history. But I will never give up my appreciation for this elegant tool. One which requires a complete understanding and respect of it's power, form, function and the rest. One that requires patience and practice to master it's promise. A promise that can be useful or lethal. "Divine" or dastardly. It is not the whip that decides that.

In closing, I submit this final thought: the Hero that brought us all to these forums; Indiana Jones. Here is a man who utilized this ancient and revered tool to foil the evil-doers, and right wrongs, and never, never in malice. In defense, certainly; but in malice, never. His own whip was used against him by the Thuggee, and yet, he never chose to use it in the same manner, not in any of his onscreen adventures. And yet, he casually gunned down Arabs and Nazis alike. A moral conundrum..? Perhaps. But I think it's very well-established that these adversaries were all on the opposite side of what's perceived as "good". I'm not here to debate the soul of Henry Jones Jr., but to re-iterate that it is the man that defines the tool, not the other way around. The tool is not the source of the evil... but a conduit through which it might pass, should it exist within the heart of he who uses it.

Again, I have nothing but respect for your decision. It is bold, and shows the depth of your character. But should you one day choose to again begin braiding, out of the respect for the craft, or for that elegant tool that you might again choose to create, no one will judge you. No one will question your motivation. No one will fault you or your character. For we here gathered already know that someone with your incredible skill for this craft has nothing but respect for the bullwhip.

With my respect;

-- Dean R. Amsler --
Rochester, NY

[trdaggers]

Who Cares. Plenty of other guys making great whips.

Gailen

[madkidjedi]

I, for one, care when a repected member of this community and and gifted craftsperson gives up on what they were once passionate for. That's who.

[trdaggers]

I'm sorry for my oversight. I mean besides you.

Gailen