bio
Aloha,
I'm Keanu Shimaoka
I was born and raised in Hawaiʻi, and I've been making and cracking whips for about 16 years [as of 2024]. My journey with whips started after watching films like the Indiana Jones series and Zorro where the titular hero carried and wielded a whip.
When I was about 13 years old, I built a makeshift whip with an old vacuum electrical cord, chopsticks, rope, string and some electrical tape. The rope and string were tied to one end and served as the fall and cracker. The chopsticks were taped on to the other end to form the handle. Despite being so poorly built, the satisfaction from getting the sound of a crack was so immense, that I was instantly hooked. From then on, I continuously sought to improve on both crafting and cracking whips. Thanks in large part to videos on YouTube posted by the late whipmaker, Bernie Wojcicki, I started learning how to braid whips. Following that were countless experiments, failures, and self-teaching moments.
When I decided to start selling whips online, I ended up going with the name: "808 Craftsman Company" which ultimately became what is now known as The "808 Whip Company." The "808" comes from the area code in Hawaiʻi phone numbers which is also quite commonplace within local nomenclature.
Mahalo Nui (Thank you very much).
I'm Keanu Shimaoka
I was born and raised in Hawaiʻi, and I've been making and cracking whips for about 16 years [as of 2024]. My journey with whips started after watching films like the Indiana Jones series and Zorro where the titular hero carried and wielded a whip.
When I was about 13 years old, I built a makeshift whip with an old vacuum electrical cord, chopsticks, rope, string and some electrical tape. The rope and string were tied to one end and served as the fall and cracker. The chopsticks were taped on to the other end to form the handle. Despite being so poorly built, the satisfaction from getting the sound of a crack was so immense, that I was instantly hooked. From then on, I continuously sought to improve on both crafting and cracking whips. Thanks in large part to videos on YouTube posted by the late whipmaker, Bernie Wojcicki, I started learning how to braid whips. Following that were countless experiments, failures, and self-teaching moments.
When I decided to start selling whips online, I ended up going with the name: "808 Craftsman Company" which ultimately became what is now known as The "808 Whip Company." The "808" comes from the area code in Hawaiʻi phone numbers which is also quite commonplace within local nomenclature.
Mahalo Nui (Thank you very much).