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Preferences! (Read 4206 times)
Mersa
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Preferences!
Sep 12th, 2017 at 6:34pm
 
Just wondering if anyone has specific preferences with slinging

The Sling: how long , what material , construction design, weight

The Ammo: how heavy, how big, what shape , safe or destructive materials

The Style : one style , multiple styles , smooth on body , maximum effect max strain

The Task : distance, target, Balearic competition, dog walking, hunting

The Area: where you wanna sling.


For me I really only have a few preferences
My 27inch dyneema sling seems to be all I use seriously.
I like my ammo to not fall out of my pouch due to incorrect size weight shape etc but as long as it sits securely in the pouch and it's not too heavy I'll give it a go.marsh mellows to lead glandes.
Slinging a modified Byzantine style (as best I can tell).
Target shooting from 5-50m but moving targets give the most satisfaction also small targets.
And maybe my most preferred thing the area.

Give me a area with picturesque views endless smooth stones a water source of some sort and some trees. Combine that with no one around and I'm in heaven. I actually love having an area to myself, just start slinging everywhere.

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woodssj
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #1 - Sep 12th, 2017 at 7:39pm
 
Well, depends on what I'm doing.

I always use a just-about-a-meter sling, Rockman or leather-covered Balearic Sling. Hoever, everything else changes:

If I'm hiking, or just out and about, it's found ammo, at a body of water, and a variety of styles.

If I'm going to target-shoot, it's tennis balls if there's risk of people around. Rocks or bi-pyramid lead-free sinkers if there's no one else around, and a good backstop to absorb them, such as a lake.

Most of the time, though, I shoot for distance with found rocks and the same sling I described. I've got to build myself a target, then I'll do far more shooting at it.
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Morphy
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #2 - Sep 13th, 2017 at 12:01am
 
Sling- 24 inch. Paracord Apache style sling. Though Im planning on switching to a skinny split pouch with thicker cords to give it a try. Basically the opposite of my current set up. Ive heard its more accurate. Not sure if I buy that or not, time will tell.

Ammo- usually concrete compressed ammo. Still planning on buying one of Mr. Aardvarks Miraculous Ammo Shaping Machines. But for now, hand shaped. Around 3.5-5 oz. Vaugely bullet shaped. Used to also use stones but they are in short supply around these parts. Stones never flew as true as my ammo did until you get around +6 oz or above. At which point the minor imperfections affect accuracy much less. Just dont care for really heavy ammo though.

Style- Figure-8, Side Arm, Apache in that order.

Task- Target slinging only. I am one with the target. I am the target. And all that nonsense. 20m out to approx. 60. Never below 20.

My ideal area would be the Pacific Northwest or the high desert of Utah. I lived in Utah and it was like a place out of a dream. Still miss it. PNW is all around beautiful and I would hang out with some Bigfeet under a Pacific Yew tree during breaks. Thats the dream.



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« Last Edit: Sep 13th, 2017 at 3:47pm by Morphy »  
 
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #3 - Sep 13th, 2017 at 6:33am
 
Mersa wrote on Sep 12th, 2017 at 6:34pm:
Just wondering if anyone has specific preferences with slinging

The Sling: how long , what material , construction design, weight

The Ammo: how heavy, how big, what shape , safe or destructive materials

The Style : one style , multiple styles , smooth on body , maximum effect max strain

The Task : distance, target, Balearic competition, dog walking, hunting

The Area: where you wanna sling.


Slings: For maximum efficiency and range- paracord (or thinner synthetic cords) and leather pouch with seatbelt type attachment. 27-32'' for close quarters, accuracy, use on the move and confined areas. 32-36'' for general use, high power easy slinging but not too long that you have to use specialized techniques. 40-50'' for long range warhorses and heavy rock lobbers.

For fun and sometimes accuracy- natural slings. My favourite natural sling designs are balearic and apache. I usually go for sisal for it's natural toughness (soaked for increased pliability, and leather lined fingerloop for comfort). Otherwise I go for jute which is a wonderful material but is not strong enough to make a decent whipcracking sling. Length 24''-32'' usually but I'm making a monster 45'' balearic at the moment.

Ammo: Ideal natural ammo is smooth beach pebbles of about 50-150g. If I have rubbish natural ammo like shale I'll make my own clay glandes or balls.

Style: For general slinging I use fig-8 mainly, it's a great combination of power and accuracy. Helicopter is also decent for both and sidearm/balearic is good for range.

Task & area: What I do depends on where I am. Now I'm back around Cumbria there's a lot of good beaches, this is great for range slinging with 40-50'' paracord+leather pouch. When I'm walking, in more confined areas or trying to hit a target I prefer shorter slings, around 24-32''. These can be shorter paracord/leather or one of my naturals.
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #4 - Sep 13th, 2017 at 9:16am
 
The Sling: At this point I have such a wide range of sling lengths and materials that almost anything will do Cheesy I do find myself going back to thicker slings with the retention cord being around 3 or so cm wide. I've been practicing mostly with the sling JudoP sent me which is shorter than most of the slings I've made but I am finding I'm more accurate with the longer Barbarian sling (still haven't really worked out why). When slinging rocks, I've mostly used the very first sling I made from paracord with a large slingshot pouch.

The Ammo: Recently I've been using tennis balls but that is only recently. Mostly when I've been slinging I've been using rocks of various sizes but I prefer the larger ones upwards of 200g up to 300 and something. I feel it's easier to track where the pouch is as it comes round so I'm more accurate with the larger stones. Saying that, I have also used much much smaller ones depending on the sling Cheesy

The Style : Multiple styles. I've mostly used helicopter but I've been trying my hand at side arm to limited success. I can do Fig.8 but don't ask me to hit a specific target using it. I've found Fig.8 VERY difficult to aim. Ones I do often go back to now and then are Greek and occasionally underarm just for the variety.

The Task : I've only really ever done target slinging. When I've been at a beach or lake then I guess technically distance but I'm not usually taking t all that seriously in that case.

The Area: Where I want to sling? At my girlfriend's family's summer cottage but then I would want to live there as well as sling. Right now, stuck here in the city (well outskirts of city) I've been going to the local park where there's a spare bit of grass not many people use. I've only been able to take tennis balls and a cardboard box target but I'm hunting for an open area, away from houses, cars and pedestrians to take the large metal pan I have and a load of rocks. The pan makes a very loud clang so I can't use it around houses and just beyond some trees to my left, when I'm slinging in the park, is a path and it's easier to apologize for an errant tennis ball than an errant 200g+ rock... I've yet to even come close to hitting anyone there with a tennis ball but I really don't want to risk using rocks just in case.
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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923
 
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Rat Man
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #5 - Sep 16th, 2017 at 2:08pm
 
   Most peoples' ideal sling length is half of their height, folded length of course.  Some people like to go fingertip to fingertip but most times this works out to be exactly their height anyway.  My ideal sling length is 38".
   My most comfortable slings are either pjs or TS3s made from jute.  I also have made nice slings from polypropylene and paracord. I've made slings out of almost everything possible but these are generally my favorite materials. Cheap cotton clothesline slings work great too.  I also like seatbelt slings a lot.  And Rockmans.
    The area I live in is Alluvial so there are many almost perfect egg shaped river stones all over the place.  Ammo is no problem for me.  I generally like stones about the size of a large chicken egg.  For fun I like to sling golf balls, which fly way over the hills and far, far away.
    For accuracy I like Underarm and for letting it fly Balearic seems best. Though c_a hates it I like Helicopter also.
   I've done most of my slinging while walking my last two Huskies, Kali and Odin.  They are no longer with me now. My new crew, Pandora, Max, and Benji the little rat dog are too  wild for that right now.  They are all young. Eventually I'll get them under control and get back into it.  I'm even more stubborn than a Husky.
    Most of my slinging has been done in the woods or in local parks and school yards when there is no one else around.  Lake and rivers are good too. 
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« Last Edit: Sep 17th, 2017 at 8:46am by Rat Man »  
 
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Mersa
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #6 - Sep 16th, 2017 at 7:55pm
 
Great responses guys . Great to see how different everyone is .
I wonder if in history when their was army's full of slingers throwing such varied preferences or if it was a uniformed technique and equipment.
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #7 - Sep 17th, 2017 at 8:50am
 
  From what I've read about the Roman army I'd guess that all of the slingers were taught to sling the exact same way and all used a standard style sling and ammo.  Other less strictly structured armies may have allowed for personalization. Thearos would know a  lot more about this than I would.
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #8 - Sep 18th, 2017 at 5:22pm
 
3 and a half foot 6-8 ounce projectile leather sling
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #9 - Sep 18th, 2017 at 5:25pm
 
beleric or figure 8 style and target shooting the yard facing the woods trees to keep the shot from going somewhere i wouldn't want it my bad for not completely answering the question
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walter
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #10 - Sep 18th, 2017 at 7:45pm
 
well, I think we need another prefered sling length poll. I don't remember half your height (pouch ctr to release) as being most peoples ideal length.
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #11 - Sep 19th, 2017 at 1:38pm
 
I prefer slings from leather (pouch & cords) or leather pouch & nylon line / braided polyester, because slings that I use are subjected a very high wear out. So slings from hemp, linen, jute or sisal under my use (a lot of pretty rough sandstones from fileds) becomes damaged (destroyed) within less than three month. Therfore I need either extremly durable (and) or very inexpensiv materials (e. g. "bailing twine" - a special modifcation of polypropylen bast fiber) and kinds of productions that are to perform not so awkward.

There leather (cow or buffalo) has proven its worth (durability) absolutely. When it is thick enough so 30. ... 50.000 throws are absolutely no problem. Despite its strong use I have some full leather slings since more than two decades ... without any damages (at most the seams go times, but this small damage effects only the yarn). Their only disadvantage is its high sensitivity to strong rain (to much water makes it "flobby", heavy and also can change its lenght). Outdoor at rainy days it should be carried in a small rainproof bag.

Length: 115 - 135 cm

Ammo: Natural stones from the field (ball shaped) - otherwise balls of concrete (each 70 - 150 g) or with lime or sand filled tennis balls (respectively rubber balls that are a little bit smaller and without felt).

Task: Accuracy x range (combined) and "to keep on practice".

Style: Nothing else than "helicopter to side arm" ("over-arm"?)

Area: "Far away" from the citys / villages and in the near of shady forests ("far" means here 2 -3 miles only ... of course not too far because mostly I want to reach it in less than 40 minutes - as far as possible on foot or by bike).

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« Last Edit: Sep 19th, 2017 at 5:53pm by Apex-apoc »  
 
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #12 - Sep 20th, 2017 at 7:28am
 
Kick wrote on Sep 13th, 2017 at 9:16am:
The pan makes a very loud clang so I can't use it around houses


Stick this pan with silicone onto a board of wood - that will suppress this loud clang very strong.

Tip: Besides normal types of cheap aluminium (that are relatively soft) there are also to purchase the type "high strength aluminium 7075" (ISO 7075 = material nr.: 3.4365) what is more than two times "harder" (related to "tensile strengh") than the normal (non-hardened) types. Its low density (weight) is nevertheless the same. Price: about 105 Euro for 10 x 500 x 500 mm). Round and combined with wood (or thick rupper mat) this would be the perfect "slingers pan" - relatively silent and easy to carry with.
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #13 - Sep 20th, 2017 at 8:00am
 
I've been thinking I could try something like that but it's not just a small aluminium frying pan it's a (if I remember correctly) 48cm diameter pan, almost a wok but not as deep and it has a flat bottom, so it would be hard to get a piece of wood that it would fit to and still be able to carry it easily.

I've thought maybe many layers of cardboard and newspaper stuck to the inside of the pan (when standing it up, I'm slinging at the bottom of the pan) might work, that way it should have some affect but won't be too much heavier or difficult to carry.
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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923
 
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Re: Preferences!
Reply #14 - Sep 20th, 2017 at 8:31am
 
Kick wrote on Sep 20th, 2017 at 8:00am:
almost a wok but not as deep and it has a flat bottom, so it would be hard to get a piece of wood that it would fit to


So you ment "flat but not absolutely flat" (not even)?

A wooden board is also "flat", and with silicone (or other types of "fluid rubber") you would be able to compensate unevennesses up to 20 mm (or even 30 mm).


However - another good idea is to take a small (but heavy) piece of "carpet" instead of a pan, as I have seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEuVnZq2BMA
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