Indy Lounge - The Bullwhip

The Indiana Jones Bullwhip

The bullwhip was both a weapon and a tool for Indiana Jones. The addition of this piece of gear really helped to add a unique style to the character. With a bit of cowboy spirit and an homage to classic serial heroes like Zorro, the whip has become a signature part of Indy's look. The bullwhip carried by Indiana Jones was an original design developed by David Morgan as an American style bullwhip made using the Australian whipmaking techniques, and intended to meet the needs of the working stuntman. This combining of the American and Australian traditions effectively reinvented the bullwhip, and the success of the Indy movies has created a whipmaking renaissance.

Indy’s whip is generally considered (in the novels) to have been a 10ft bullwhip, although various lengths were used in the films. The whip is a heavy double-bellied bullwhip made from natural tan kangaroo hide with a 12 plait overlay. The turk’s heads on the butt and handle transition are both 5 part 4 bight knots and the wristloop is a 6 strand flat braid. These are the general characteristics of what we now call an “Indy” whip.

Reference Images

Grouped by movie, these screencaps are provided for reference and comparison of Indy's whips. Click on any thumbnail for a larger image.