Has anyone made a sling for indoor use?  You know, on those rainy days when you are stuck inside and can either watch TV or get in a little practice with the extra time?

I love to throw knives (Chris posted a link on a Thrower group I am a member of which led me here), and I have set up a small range in my garage (two car, about 23 feet a side) and it works great for my small knives.  What about a sling?  I can use my sling shot in there using a pellet trap, as well as the pellet pistol, but I don't really have a good design for a sling to use in such a comfined space.  Any ideas?

Ron

I would say keep the sling length short, a retention cord length of about 12 to 18 inches.

I did some slinging inside and it was a disaster.  

It was during a high school ceramics class.  I had brought in my sling (as I often did), and decided to make a new “abstract” piece.  :P  I made a nice 2-inch ball of clay and prepared to make art.  Maybe I was nervous or something, but I could barely hit the wall in front of me.  Eventually I did about 2 pounds of clay later.  It was rather useless in the end because the clay ball just flattened to nothing and was so deeply embedded into the texture of the concrete wall, I couldn't get it off.  

Slinging is great for range!  It's like shooting a sniper rifle at cans 10 feet away.  You want the satisfaction of watching your rock sail 300 feet...... into some guy's front window.   :-/

I saw one individual that used one as a demonstration in one of my college classes once.  His was small enough to use lightly indoors.  He made it from two pieces of string with a small cloth pouch.  He used it to throw those little bouncy balls from the gumball machines (you know, the 10 cent(ers).  

Short might work.  Several websites suggest the idea of starting with a short sling in the first place in order to get used to the feel of the throw and to get your technique down.  It can be used both loaded and unloaded for this, but...let's be realistic.  What fun is a sling if you don't chuck something with it. :)

Rob

I find that short slings are harder to handle.  Because of their smaller radius, they accelerate very quickly and get hard to release accurately.  The minimum sling I would consider using would be 18 inches.

I think I have to agree with Chris that the small ones are more difficult. However, for indoor use, reading these posts gave me an idea.

What about Nerf balls for ammo?

With a small "sling", say 12 inches long, you could maybe just use the same principle as the trebuchet, but with your arm as the main beam? Just a quick overhand, sideways, underhand, overhead, whatever, no spinning around at all.

Hmmm. We all have Nerf guns here at work for when the occasional war breaks out amongst our aisles and cubes. Maybe a small sling and some Nerf balls is in order for longer range....

Bill B.

OK, Bill, now you are giving me ideas that my boss will not find amusing.  Oh well, I guess you gotta live a little.

Anyway, I think I will try your idea, only I have a supply of wiffle (spelling?) balls that my dogs technically own, but do not play with.  I think I will give them a try.  They seem to work well on a smaller scale for practice golf (you know, the golf ball size ones that go about 15 feet using a driver).

Thanks,

Ron

Knot for adjusting a sling.

For people who like to experiment with a lenght of sling. You don't need a few slings. You only need a bit of skill and two minutes of time to adjust your sling.
For example you can 4' sling short to 2' for an indoor practice. It's working  for me and looks really well.  :D

Instructions are below.

http://slinging.org/images/yurek/step-1.gif

http://slinging.org/images/yurek/step-2.gif

http://slinging.org/images/yurek/step-3.gif

http://slinging.org/images/yurek/step-4.gif

http://slinging.org/images/yurek/step-5.gif

http://slinging.org/images/yurek/step-6.gif


Then ready. Enjoy.  :D

http://slinging.org/images/yurek/step-7.gif

Jurek

This is similar to a sheep shank, right?  Just with proper knots holding them in place.

Pretty nifty post and pictures.  Thanks Yurek.

the smallest one ive made wus 10 in. and the most effective way t use it is a one overhand swipe so try tht

jack

Chris,
thx for the nice words :)

Jack,
An "one overhand swipe" method is very smart. It would be useful for fight or hunting. But I prefer the long cords, I admire a power wich a long sling gives. I love a impressive crack during a shot, just a shot not a throw. :) I practice my accuracy with the long sling too but I have a long way before me yet. :)

Jurek

thrower1970,

Try this:  make some baseball sized yarn balls (like really big fork fuzzies).  These things are great.  They fly well but slow down quickly and don't damage the wife's pretty things too badly.  And they are fairly accurate They are easy to make, if a little time consuming.  Also, they last and last and last.

We have a couple dozen around the house.  My kids and I sometimes throw them by hand at each other in games of tag.

I can get you instructions for them if you like.

Jeff - who likes to throw things!

Jurek, great demonstration of the sheepshank sling!  I've heard it described elsewhere, but always lacked the photos to associate with it.  They look great! ;D
Now I've just got to wait until I get home from work and I'll make several!

Jeff, I'd actually like instructions for the yarn balls.  Sounds pretty cool.  I'm always looking for a way to practice indoors without injuring anyone or destroying our living room.  ;)

Rob

Yurek,
I was reading in the old pages of the forum today and found a link to this thread. As a knot tyer, and a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers, I am very curious. But alas, it is one of the ones with the pictures missing.

Are you able to post those pictures again?

Willeke

Willeke,

I posted quite a lot pictures to the forum, alas, most of them have disappeared, due to problems with the host. I would like to change the addresses, but it would be very toilful :(

I'm glad, that you have dug out that old topic. I have just restored the pictures of the knot.

http://www.slinging.org/forum2/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=1;action=display;num=1060640990;start=

I still use them to reduce the lenght of some my slings. The knot can be used as a provisory cradle as well, so one could make a sling of a one piece of cord.
I think, since you are a knots expert, most probably, you could find out a better design. It would be cool. For my thin-cord-slings I use the Taut-line Hitch. It allows to change the sling lenght very quickly.

Jurek

Yurek,
thanks for the speedy action.
About the knots, if they work for you, do not change.
The biggest advantage of these knots is that you know how to tie them and that they have proved reliable for you.
The biggest disadvantage of the knot in the picture is that it may be hard to untie. It is based on a slipped thumbknot and fixed with another thumb knot and the thumb knot is known to be hard to untie.
The tautline hitch can slip, although it is rather secure if tightened properly.

I would advice people to use a locked sheepshank instead. The end of the sheepshank forms a kind of sheetbend when locked. It is hard to find a locked sheepshank on the net so I made my own picture. There are loads sites with more explanetions and more ways to tie the sheepshank. Hunt one down and tie the sheepshank that way. Next, you pull the ends of the rope / cord / string / sling through the loops at the end of the knot. You need to make a fairly big loop to get the sling through the opening but you can tidy the knot easily. When you want to undo this knot, you only have to undo this last tuck and with a little shaking the knot will fall apart.
Do not sling with an un-locked sheepshank. If un-locked the sheepshank will get undone when not under tension, always when you do not expect it.

For an easy made eye, there are many knots you can use. I would go for a non slip loop. The best known of those is the bowline but there are many more. Surf the web for one of the sites with knots and you find enough sites with practical knots

(But I know that you, Yurek, know all this.)

Willeke

http://www.slinging.org/images/vanDerHam/locked_sheepshank

Nice!

The knot in the middle look like a "trumpet-knot" as I would say in swedish. It´s used to shorten a roap, right?
But I didn´t know one could make it safer. I must try that.
I usually make tree loops on a roap and make the middle one goes through the other ones at the sides.

That is the knot, the Dutch name also translates to trumpet-knot. The way you tie it is the fastest and the easiest to remember but a little harder to draw.
Instead of pulling the ends through you can also just pull a loop through and than pull the ends through that loop.
I am sure each variation has a name but I do not think you need those.

Willeke

Willeke,

Thank you for that informative post. You are right, the knot I posted can be difficult to untie. It is one of reasons why I don't use that for thin string. I "invented" the knot long time ago, as an "improvement" of the sheepshank. I'm sure I wasn't the first inventor of it ;) The way of locking you presented on your clear picture is really better, I tried it. I will use that way in other uses, for sure, but for sling cords I stay with my one, as you advice. There is the one reason - I am able to tie that much quicker. Need pull only the one free end of the cord through the loop. I'm sure you see it :)

Yurek,
I guess the untying of the fixing knot is much harder than the slipknot you start with. If you are willing to change your knot a little bit, you might make a slipped thumb knot (as you do now) to start with and use the way to fix the other end with half a sheepshank.
Gives you the advantages of both knots.
The knot you get than is known as (part of) the carters knot or truckdrivers knot.

Willeke

Willeke,

I didn't think about it! It is a good compromise. I will go for it. Thank you :)