Quote:

If I knew what it was I could probably acquire one :-)
 
okay slings fell out of use in battle for several reasons. 1) you can't aim a sling.  
Even a complete idiot can sight down a crossbow.  
2) you can teach someone to hit a barn door at 50 yards with a crossbow in about 5 mins (assuming you throw in a bit of safety about not putting your finger in the way of either the winding gears or the cord once you pull the trigger)  
It takes several days to get someone even halfway competent enough to hit a barn at fifty yards with a sling - and there's no guarentee it'll go through the door at that.  
 
It's as simple as that. crossbows are pretty much skill free for basic use.  
Even bows require technique and training.  
If you invest that training then a bowman will outshoot a crossbow.  
But both can be aimed and are more effective for battle than a sling, given how many trained crossbowmen or bowmen you can get in the same time you can turn out trained slingers.  
 
For practical purposes there's just no comparison I'm afraid.

i've got it! i didn't really read this topic before, and now that i skimmed over it's 6 pages it took me half an hour, because i didn't percieve funslingers diagram. the release mechanism was a mistery to me, but now i've got it.
 
damn it. i won't be at peace untill i've tried this one  

Quote from curious_aardvark on Mar 31^st, 2007, 12:51pm:

 
I'd say improved logistics killed the sling. Battles are won by superior weapons, wars are won by superior logistics. The sling is an extremely simple weapon. It only requires materials that are easily available everywhere (cord, cloth or leather), while powerful bows require special forms of wood. Composite bows are even more difficult to make. Crossbows are medieval high-tech, no less.
 
Slings can shoot stones or metal bullets, both of which are easy to obtain. Arrows and crossbow bolts require serious technology and skilled craftsmen (this is where all the people called "fletcher" or "arrowsmith" come from).
 
Of course, one can make bows and arrows in far simpler ways, but these hardly beat a sling.
 
So, when you have a supply system that transports bows and arrows to the front, the bow rules. If not, the archers can only run while the slinger keep shooting.  

To be honest, now that I know it CAN work, I have put it aside because it will take more time than I have right now to make it work RIGHT.
 
I'll get back to it one of these days ...

What could possibly keep you from this singularly intriguing pursuit throughout the spring?  
 
 
TS

Touche'.....that does sound doubly intriguing!
 
 
 
 
 
TS

Everybody.......
 
 
(insert collective painful moan here)
 
 
That wasn't just unfunny.  It was somehow...diametrically opposed to funny. Peculiar, really.  You seem to be employing some innovative sort of active humor cancellation.  What is the source of your technology?
 
 
LOL
 
 
TS