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General >> Other Primitive Weapons >> Mini "indoor" bolas
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Message started by Kick on Apr 11th, 2019 at 12:57pm

Title: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by Kick on Apr 11th, 2019 at 12:57pm
I've been wanting to go out and do some slinging and bolas practice but it's been raining for ages so all my practice areas are mud pits and, even though it's been amazingly sunny today, it's been chilly and everything is still soaked. If I can't (won't) go outside I guess I'll have to do some indoor practice which required making an indoor bolas.

Well it's sort of an indoor one. It's really tiny so it's easy to swing around but the washers, though small, are metal so I still probably wouldn't want to get hit with it :D
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Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by walter on Apr 11th, 2019 at 6:44pm
Do you hold one of the three nutty ends?

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by joe_meadmaker on Apr 11th, 2019 at 8:30pm
I was going to ask the exact same thing :D

I've never used bolas.  But I've been watching some videos on throwing them and have seen two techniques.  One by holding on to one of the weights.  And the other by holding on to the cordage where they all connect.  Which do you use, or recommend?

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by vetryan15 on Apr 12th, 2019 at 4:33am
I believe it just depends on technique on which spot you hold while throwing, as well as how many ends the bola has. Since it can range from 1 up to 9 (from the Inuit) I think a safer indoor bola would be with tennis balls, but if you need something smaller.  I know that they make smaller tennis balls for smaller dogs that cant hold onto normal sized.

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by Kick on Apr 12th, 2019 at 9:34am

walter wrote on Apr 11th, 2019 at 6:44pm:
Do you hold one of the three nutty ends?



joe_meadmaker wrote on Apr 11th, 2019 at 8:30pm:
I was going to ask the exact same thing :D

I've never used bolas.  But I've been watching some videos on throwing them and have seen two techniques.  One by holding on to one of the weights.  And the other by holding on to the cordage where they all connect.  Which do you use, or recommend?


I've been trying out both methods and I don't have any firm conclusions but I think holding by the knot (or near it) is better than by one of the weights. All of mine are uneven with one longer cord with a heavier weight. I read somewhere this helped with wrapping but I actually can't say for sure whether that's true. I haven't had much practice but I'm hoping to get some practice in soon. For now, I've been doing some practice with the small one. YouTube video can be found on the Easter challenge thread :D

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by Kick on Apr 13th, 2019 at 12:01pm
Ok, it's still pretty chilly out there but I hadn't been outside all day so went for a walk and took both mini and main bolas(es?) with me. The mini bolas I was just chucking ahead of me up the path to see how it flew from the different holding points. I then stopped at a park and threw the big one to see if they were similar. I didn't have any target so this isn't checking wrapping ability, just flight but I think some conclusions on wrapping can still be inferred.

Final results:
Holding from the knot - Not much spin so not as spread out so not as wide an area covered. Probably wouldn't wrap all that well but maybe blunt force hits could be better than other styles of throw?

Holding the weight on the longer cord - Good spin so covered larger area. Because the shorter cords have the same size weights they don't separate much so it's almost like throwing a two-ball bolas. Probably will wrap well (also know from previous experience) but kind of pointless to have three weights.

Holding a weight on one of the shorter cords - because of the asymetrical cords and weights, spins very well. All weights spread out, rotates perfectly. Can easily believe this wraps very well. I think this is how these bolas with one longer cord are supposed to be thrown.

Now this was a very quick test with no target and very few throws so this isn't conclusive. Also this is with this  specific bolas type with these weights in this configuration. Other types might vary. That being said, I think I've found my personal favourite style of throwing :D Would love to hear what other people find through their experiments.

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by Kick on Apr 13th, 2019 at 2:59pm
I've been thinking a bit more about this and watching a few videos and I realised something.

There are two main ways the bolas can travel and the two different ways lead to two different wraps.

They can travel as a "clump" where the weights are travelling at the same speed and trail the cords behind them (which is what happens when I throw holding the knot on my bolas) and they wrap by the weights travelling past the target, the cords hitting the target and yanking the weights back causing them to wrap around the target.

The second type is where the weights spin and the cords hit the target and the weights, travelling in a circle, wrap around. I'm now thinking I need to do some comparisons with a target. I have had the bolas swing off the target when it's been spinning as it only catches the edge of the cord near the weight and "catapults" off of it so I'm wondering if it flying as a clump would actually lead to more effective wraps. It seems that, depending on the bolas, you can get it spinning holding the knot or you can get it flying more together holding the weight. It really depends on how the bolas is constructed, weights, cord lengths, cord materials, etc.

More experiments to follow!

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by Kick on Apr 13th, 2019 at 3:14pm
A 4th throwing technique!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVTWCYULqmM

This looks to be very effective when the cords are all the same length so it'll be interesting to see what happens with one of my bolas where there is the one longer cord with a heavier weight.

It's going to be a busy few days :D

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by joe_meadmaker on Apr 14th, 2019 at 10:23pm
Thanks for posting your results!  Cool video too.  Definitely never saw that technique.  I'm looking forward to hearing your results with it.  And thinking I might have to make some bolas :D

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by Kick on Apr 15th, 2019 at 3:54am
They're really good fun and perhaps slightly easier than a sling. Still takes some getting used to but you can get results a bit quicker than a sling maybe :D

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by Curious Aardvark on Apr 17th, 2019 at 12:04pm
still metal - how is that an indoor bolas ?

Title: Re: Mini "indoor" bolas
Post by Kick on Apr 17th, 2019 at 12:46pm
It's tiny. It doesn't really even mark anything it hits. I've mostly been using it against some already-chewed-up chair. My girlfriend's dog had a great time on the legs so, even if it is leaving marks on them, you wouldn't notice :D

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