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such sling I made, with some friends, was nicknamed
the “mucho mucho” due to its size and our
lacking Spanish skills. It was an impressive 9-foot
long!! It was made with some heavy-duty nylon rope and
a large hardened leather pouch, perhaps 20 inch^2 in
surface area. It fired bricks or fist-sized rocks. You
could launch it on the ground, by loading the pouch
on the ground and walking away from it until the cords
were taught. The firer would then lift his/her arm as
high as they could and attempted to get it twirling
in a horizontal manner, much like a helicopter. When
it got up to speed, maybe after a dozen forceful rotations,
you could assume a slight diagonal twirl and carefully
monitor your release. There was a great deal of air
resistance due to the thick cords and large pouch, but
we still managed to get around a 150-foot range with
massive projectiles.
However,
we soon monopolized a nearby picnic table. With our
arms stretched high while standing on the table, we
could just get it off the ground. The extra clearance
allowed us to fire more normally and lower our arms
from above our head to the side of us (still needed
a slight diagonal twirl, but it was much more comfortable).
Also, being able to lower our arms to a more manageable
height enabled us to put in a great deal of power, ultimately
extending our range about 50 feet.
I
would imagine that with low-profile, high-strength cord
and a smaller pouch, one could fire dense golf ball
sized projectiles around 500 feet.
-
Chris Harrison
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