magnumslinger
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I don't sling a thing if I ain't got my sling!
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United Arab Emirates
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As I recall, that "special munitions" crap was one of the weak points of the book: some imaginative, but worthless and even dangerous speculation by Mr. Savage regarding possible applications of the sling as a weapon of "urban warfare" by so-called "guerilla" fighters. I just ignored those parts of the book, or took casual note of them in context of previous experience in the military, where we were taught the intricacies of such improvised "street etiquette" by some very athletic, higly trained, rather humourless gentlemen, incongruously wearing "funny little effeminate-looking green hats" (Nobody laughed, or commented!). The small medicine bottles depicted as the entire coctail in Mr. Savage's book would not have been much bigger than the tiny vial-like bottles (which we were taught that we could stuff down the necks of ACTUAL Molly-bottles) containing a small quantity of something such as sodium-in-oil (kerosene?), and a ball bearing, rock or fishing weight, all dangled inside the larger container containing a charming combination of styrofoam or dish soap, petrol and water, among other possible components for use against enemy fixed fortifications, or even against ancient, outmoded tanks still in use by certain satellite, or third-world nations at the time, or against BMP's, -D's or BRDM's with their hatches carelessly left open, etc..
With this setup, there was no need for a flaming rag to give away your position, or set the thing off prematurely, frying the thrower instead of the tank or APC. However, it was suggested that if a rag were used, that the bottle should be sealed, and the rag tied round the neck of the bottle, so that it would only be able to ignite the device after it shattered on impact with the target.
Mr. Savage's rather fancifully depicted "Coctails" were more of a tiny incendiary initiator than a "Molly-cock". They looked small enough to fit into the cradle of many conventional slings, and were rather hilariously shown with a burning CIGARETTE taped to the side! I personally prefer the old idea of the ancients of simply heating up slingstones or glandes until red hot, and letting the wind of the slingstone's own flight blow them even hotter (hence the modern notion of certain "historians" that ancient generals supposedly believed that COLD glandes became "white-hot" during flight?) until they impacted with thatched rooves of enemy villages.
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Book -- "The Sling For Sport and Survival& (Read 4716 times)
