Mordechaj wrote on Mar 15
th, 2010 at 5:32am:
if you are using a sling as a melee weapon, you are using it wrong
I don't believe it could be very useful in hand to hand combat - except you are Jet Li or so, but if you are, you probably won't need any weapon at all.
Shepherds used to (and many still do) carry a stick or staff with them, for multiple uses, among them, in the old times, to hit wolves and other predators (or human thieves) if they got into close range.
Even David is reported to have carried his sling
and staff with him when he walked into the duel with Goliath.