Snakewhips, or blacksnakes as they are sometimes called, are whips without handles. The entire body of a snakewhip is flexible. This allows the whip to be coiled like a rope. Snakewhips were developed in the cattle country of Wyoming and Montana as an alternative to bullwhips. Snakewhips are more easily stored than bullwhips. Barring that, the two share almost everything else in common. Snakewhips are typically heavily loaded with lead shot to help them to crack more easily, since they lack the leverage of a handle. A type of whip similar to the snakewhip is the signal whip. These whips were originally developed for use in dogsled races, under strict length confines to protect the dogs. Most signal whips are nearly identical to short snakewhips, except for the lack of a fall. Signalwhips usually have a thick, hard-wearing cracker plaited directly into the point of the whip, eliminating the fall, or single piece of leather which serves as a transition between the body of the whip and the cracker or string at the end. This renders a sleeker whip, but makes the replacement of a worn-out end more tiresome.

Click the photo to view the whip's source.

Snakewhip

Photo courtesy of Michael Murphy

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