Question about whips |
Question about whips |
Nov 5 2003, 10:44 PM
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#1
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Target Group: Members Posts: 42 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,985 |
I had an idea for a "combat whip", made of thin but strong and flexible cable instead of leather, that could be retracted into a hand-sized grip like a monofilament whip. On discussing it with a friend, he felt that a whip's action depends on the weight and other properties of the leather, and wouldn't work with thin cable, even with a weight on the end. Never having used a whip, I really wouldn't know. Ideas?
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Nov 5 2003, 10:48 PM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 268 Joined: 30-March 03 From: Denver, CO Member No.: 4,355 |
Maybe it doesn't damage, but you might still be able to use it to ensnare the victim (p.276,SR3).
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Nov 5 2003, 10:58 PM
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#3
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,222 Joined: 11-October 02 From: Netherlands and Belgium Member No.: 3,437 |
Actually, it would work. Look at the weapons that use the Whip Category (In Canon Companion). They include Flails and Nunchaku.
Sphynx |
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Nov 5 2003, 11:51 PM
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#4
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
And a set of nunchaku made out of rattan can be seriously effing light. They get their damaging potential entirely from their ability to move really really quickly.
There are also heavier, mass-based nunchaku, but I'm less of a fan of them. ~J |
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Nov 5 2003, 11:52 PM
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#5
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Chrome to the Core Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,152 Joined: 14-October 03 From: ::1 Member No.: 5,715 |
You can crack a whip without a weight at the end, the weight just helps out. A lot.
And if you do manage to crack said whip without said weight, it'll still hurt. A lot. |
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Nov 6 2003, 02:59 AM
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#6
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
In the end, it pretty much comes down to the same questions that apply to bullets. You need mass, speed and how the material will actually interact with what its coming into contact with. If you have the strength to wield it, a heavier whip going at the same speed is more deadly, as is a faster whip with the same weight. So yes, a weighted cable will work fine, just make sure the cable is something you wouldn't want to hit your skin with any amount of force. The only real limiting factor is the total force has to make enough centrifugal force to overcome gravity and the stiffness of the cord.
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Nov 6 2003, 05:41 AM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 588 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 227 |
A weignt on the end of a whip makes it HARDER to crak. If you want a whip that can crack, you make it very flexable and tapering in thicknes along its lenght. The when you put a "wave" motion into it, the momentum through the cross-section of the whip remains the same as the wave travles from the handle to the end. Becuase its getting lighter towards the end, the end portion ends mu moving much faster than you moved the handle section.
Could this be done with a metal cable? Maybe- the tapering wouldn't be TO hard (serious PIA, but doable). Would the cabel be flexable enough? Maybe, if it was braided or some such. Is there any point in bothering? NAh, you don't need to make a cracking whip to have a dmaging flexi-weapon. A simple chain (or cable) with a weight on the end is a clasic ninja weapon. Go see "Kill Bill" for an example of a how one might be used, then scale it back down to the real world... |
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Nov 6 2003, 07:29 AM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 218 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Raleigh/Durham, CAS Member No.: 149 |
Saw the Rundown didn't you? ;)
For those that didn't, one of the bad guys had a nice whip like the one Felis is describing. Actually, he had two, but he only used one. Then at the end of the movie, then he pulled out this handle that looked like the whip handle and popped out the cable. Whips Akimbo. I was impressed by the guy's skill alone. But they probably added the whips using CGI. |
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Nov 6 2003, 02:37 PM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 280 Joined: 22-October 03 Member No.: 5,757 |
Watch Underworld.
One of the vamps in the sewer fight with the w-wolves was using a -pair of silver edged razorbladed metal short whips- looked seriously cool, untill he f-ed up and well... hehe |
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Nov 6 2003, 03:58 PM
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#10
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,965 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Edinburgh, Scotland Member No.: 2,032 |
AFAIK Mongoose is right about the tapering thickness condensing the kinetic energy. As you swing the whip; the wave of energy passes down the length of the whip until the end is moving at supersonic speeds (hence the crack which is actually a sonic boom).
A whip probably could be condensed into a hand-holster using SR tech. I don't know how but then-again in SR they have monofilaments. |
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Nov 6 2003, 10:19 PM
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#11
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Target Group: Members Posts: 42 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,985 |
Hm. Actually, no, though it sounds cool. I was just thinking that whips are cool, in that Indy Jones way, but the Conceal on them isn't so great, and that SR technology ought to be able to improve on that. I was also thinking about the possibility of adding a small, sharp spike or blade on the end of the whip, to give it some more serious wounding potential and perhaps allow it to penetrate armor a little better (resisted by Impact instead of double Impact, like a regular bullwhip.) Would this make any sense, or would it be redundant? |
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Nov 7 2003, 03:00 AM
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#12
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
It's in no way redundant. But it might be less effective than you'd like. When it comes to using a whip on people, you'll be trying to aim 1 inch at them out of 12 feet. Odds are, you'll only actually hit them with it occaisionally. However, if you had sharp things along the whole cable that would work (maybe teeny blades of silicon which would leave a strip of thousands of tiny wounds). Get the best from both whips and flails, lotsa fun!
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Nov 13 2003, 08:25 PM
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#13
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,677 Joined: 5-June 03 Member No.: 4,689 |
With any practice, it wouldn't be occasionally - once you catch the knack, it's much easier to aim than might be suspected. It would be very different, however, to use a nearly weightless length with minimum counterweight as opposed to something like a true bullwhip, which does have a relevant weight factor.
Curious factoid for today: you can "crack" a piece of string in exactly the same manner as a whip. (I've done it.) |
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Nov 13 2003, 08:56 PM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 268 Joined: 30-March 03 From: Denver, CO Member No.: 4,355 |
I just saw a show two days ago on the construction of the "Death Railroad" (Bridge over the River Kwai) and on the "other" bridge where 1200 of the 1600 POWs died, how the the guards would use wire whips made of "measuring wire" and would often beat people to death with them. |
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Nov 13 2003, 09:00 PM
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#15
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Technomancer Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,638 Joined: 2-October 02 From: Champaign, IL Member No.: 3,374 |
I made an akimbo whips character once. Gave the character whips b/r and armor b/r then had the character make whips that had metal barbs on the ends as a weight and the GM gave me a STR(M) whip rather than STR(L) like the canon ones. Last, make you're own secure long coat style armor and attach the whips to it in a stylish pattern. Make it so that the whips don't look like they can detach and you can get those things into a lot of different places that you shouldn't ;)
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