So based off the previous post about sling weight, what cordage would you recommend me if I wanted to make something thin and dense?

I want to braid it btw

Nylon braided cord of about 1.5-3mm thickness, you can adjust the number of strands according to taste.

@Tomas - In your post on the other topic you mentioned that you find most natural fibers to feel a bit light.  Does that include hemp?  For your description of something thin and dense, I've found that hemp holds up really well.  Even with thing cordage slings.

You question brought to mind something else I've been thinking about for a while.  The last couple slings I've worked on have been made from linen.  Which I like, because it's pretty soft.  But I've been thinking about combining it with hemp to see what the pair would do together.  For example, 4 strands of hemp braided together with 4 strands of linen.  The softness of the linen, combined with the strength of the hemp.  Definitely something I want to try soon.

I agree with JudoP, nylon, but if it's too thin you are gonna feel the stretchiness.


In the past I combined nylon or another synthetic cordage with linen cordage in the pouch area in a try to improve abrasion resistance , the results were more or less the same...

you can also put bees' wax on to raise the density. I personally hated braiding waxed cordage, too sticky.

Thanks guys. I'll let you know what I come up with.
I was thinking I might try embroidery thread.... We shall see!

I mainly use polypropylen cordage, 1.5mm thick, braided.

pro: good flexibility, don't strech much (especially when braided), cheaper than paracord.

THE con: poor abrasion resistance! I keep trying various solutions to this issue. By now, I protect the most fragile parts (especially both end of the releas cord) with sewing cotton threads.

Of course, if you stick to non-abrasive ammo, there's no probleme anymore...

Joe- ya hemp is actually not bad.
I would like to try linen as I imagine it would be similar to cotton but without The stretch.
And my solution to abrasion is an extra inch of length on the pouch.

My linen experience is limited, but I would definitely recommend giving it a try.  I literally just finished braiding my second linen sling.  I'll be attaching a pouch in just a few minutes and hope the weather holds out tomorrow so I can give it a try.  At the moment there is rain in the forecast :(

But with the first linen sling I made, I was very surprised how tight the throws felt.  Very little stretch.  So my experience has been as you describe.

When I've used cotton string I've found they have very little stretch. Linen is one of the few materials I haven't used so I'll add that to the list :D

Ich habe auch schon Seide verwendet. Geniales Zeug.

Jaegoor!!! That is a wonderful suggestion. Did it fray easily?

Dyneema fishing line is also very thin and strong. A 3-strand braid made of dyneema braided fishing line cords is still thinner than a single strand of jute twine.

In short, you can use almost anything to make a decent sling.

Nein. Ich schieße diese seit vielen Jahren. Bisher mußte ich nur das Leder zweimal erneuern.

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I've seen that sling picture before and, seriously Jaegoor, it's quite possibly the prettiest sling I've ever seen.

Beautiful Jaegoor- silk is on the list now 8-)
I started making a practice sling(it's been a while) out of cotton butchers twine and it's coming along well.
I'm using a leather pouch and braiding a six strand "semi-round" braid.

I'm curious about trying silk as well.  Does anyone have any recommendations for a supplier of silk cord?  I've done a little searching on the web but I'm only finding silk thread and satin cord made from nylon.

I've used satin cord made from nylon before and I'm not a big fan of it.  I only made one sling with it but there was a lot of stretch because the individual strands slipped along side each other very easily.  It also seemed a bit too heavy for the thickness of the sling and made it feel inefficient.  Admittedly those observations are from a very small sample size.

Ich empfehle Tusa Seide. Sie ist nicht hochglänzend. Dafür sehr robust.

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Great!  I'll see if I can find it.

Gentlemen and Ladies the Gods of the wild places have seen fit to bless central ohio with its first black walnut in its husk .One and three quarter oz   flew as straight as an arrow
soon be out there with my shovel .

My experience so far is if you want low stretch and natural go with linen, hemp, sisal or many of the other strong plant based fibers. Cotton has let me down. It tends to stretch way too much for my taste. But everyone has different preferences. Dynema is one I want to look into. You can buy it in bulk, many different colors with relatively thin diameters and it should have virtually no stretch.