CanDo
Interfector Viris Spurii Past Moderator
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New England, USA
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I think the point of 'which would you rather be whipped by' is my point exactly; you want the energy to go into the projectile, not to be wasted on the cords. The extra mass of the cords may make the sling move better, but ultimately that energy isn't being transfered to the glande. I know that it's a strange concept, but the empty slings ability to move is largely irrelevant. With lighter cords, you can make the same projectile move faster, or use a heavier projectile (which thus contains more KE, although moving at the same speed). This is of course assuming that all other factors are constant.
Flexibility, actually, is hugely important. Some of us prefer stiffer and some very flexible, but for pure efficiency, the more flexible the better as this makes the glande release more easily. Again, less energy being wasted on the cord opening up to release.
I was not speaking of the traditional, transparent plastic fishing line by the way. They now make fishing line out of some fancy fibers which is braided. Over a hundred pounds of test is now as thin or thinner than the more convential twenty pound test. It's also more flexible and 'softer'.
You're right in that it is a matter of volume/surface area that the cords occupy. This line certainly occupies the same or less volume than any steel/metal cord which could be used. Fly fishing line was mentioned but I'm not sure how strong they make it, I'll have to look into that.
The things compromised by such an efficient sling would be accuracy and feel since it is so flexible and aerodynamic. Thus a stiffer metal cable may be better in real practice... then again so too would be alpaca wool, coconut fibers, etc. For this reason I'm not even going to bother making one of these slings, but rather stick to braided fibers/plastic and paracord.
Anyway, I'm sure that a metal sling could be excellent, especially if you wanted it to double as a cutting garrotte, I'm only debating on the finer points... which I would probably not be able to notice a difference in, in real practice.
Matt, you should sign up... it enables Private Messages (PM's) and will store all of your posts in one convenient place.
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