One of the strips was damaged, the upper layer was almost entirely cut through. There were also damaged areas on the handle. It may have happened during transport, the item was only packaged in plastic wrapping and a soft envelope, and was bent double, possibly stressing the strips. I contacted the seller, who responded quickly but did not offer any solution apart from sending the item back to replace it (with huge transport costs for me) or giving a discount on a future purchase (but I don't need additional items from this shop). So all in all, I'm not happy.
Great whip, love the wooden handle and the real leather