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General >> Project Goliath - The History of The Sling >> ancient non-military uses for the sling
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Message started by jeremy cockrill on Jan 22nd, 2005 at 2:59pm

Title: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by jeremy cockrill on Jan 22nd, 2005 at 2:59pm
I'm looking for any ancient Near eastern culture non-military uses for the sling.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by tint on Jan 25th, 2005 at 8:46am
People in tibet used it.  What exactly are you looking for?

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by RockChucker on Jan 25th, 2005 at 1:13pm
what about the sheperds  useing them  to protect the flock

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by english on Mar 12th, 2005 at 9:15am
People all over the world used the sling in that capacity, in Tibet, Peru/Ecuador/Bolivia, ancient near east, and so on.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by lionheart on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 7:36am
SOme sheepherds also used the sling instead of a sheep dog, theyd simply drop a stone close too the animasl to round them up
 Mustve tkaen a lot of skill though
Rik

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Douglas_The_Black on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 11:55am
i would of used the sling and the sheep dog personaly.  :)

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by lionheart on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 3:02pm
Togetehr youd be nearly unbeateable i nany fights a sheepherd could get in"
Rik

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Willeke on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 3:12pm
I guess they also hunted with the sling, may be just smal animals but may be even bigger game.

Willeke

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Dale on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 10:46pm
Check out L.W. Forsyth's article.  The Mescalero Apache gentleman he learned the sling from, told Forsyth that his people used slings for hunting game as well as warfare.  They'd take down deer with a sling.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by sensingpresence on Jun 6th, 2005 at 9:35am
wow-that forsyth story rocks-very helpful-Arwen

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Zorrro on Jun 24th, 2005 at 8:01am
Here in Spain a few old shepards still using the sling to drive the flock, specially at the mountains where it's hard to climb up and down to get close to the sheeps, they use it  along with dogs. fiveteen years ago i met 2 shepards at Sierranevada range (over10.000' height)
They were driving a flock of 3.000 sheeps with 5 dogs and  their slings.
Shepards here also do some stealth hunting  while going with the flock, but they use their sheep stick/cane as a rabitt stick for getting some rabbits hares  partridges etc.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by me on Jun 26th, 2005 at 1:54pm
Can you imagine how good one of those guys would be with a sling....makes me drool just thinkin about it. In the Bible didnt David mention protecting his flock from a lion or bear with a sling? Maybe even killed them with it I'd have to look it up. I suppose if you've been using a sling day in and day out since the time you were just a small kid your accuracy would be so good and your arm so strong you might kill a bear or lion with a sling. Though if you didnt kill them on the first shot you better be a fast runner.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by me on Jun 26th, 2005 at 2:13pm
By the way does anyone here use the slinging technique described by L.W. Forsyth in the Apache sling article? I tried it the other night and nearly tore a muscle. If anyone has any advice on it, I'd appreciate it.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Zorrro on Jun 29th, 2005 at 1:47pm

wrote on Jun 26th, 2005 at 1:54pm:
Can you imagine how good one of those guys would be with a sling....


While i was talking with this two shepards  about accuracy with the sling  2 mountaineers came in sight more than a hundred yards away,  one of the shepards said he was able to shot down  one of them  with the 1st stone....   :o

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Zorrro on Jun 29th, 2005 at 1:59pm

wrote on Jun 26th, 2005 at 1:54pm:
...In the Bible didnt David mention protecting his flock from a lion or bear with a sling? ... I suppose if you've been using a sling day in and day out since the time you were just a small kid your accuracy would be so good and your arm so strong you might kill a bear or lion with a sling. Though if you didnt kill them on the first shot you better be a fast runner.


Here there are only a few animals to protect the flock from... some feral dogs and may be some fox...  no wolves here...,
usually the shepard dogs fight back any other dogs or foxen, shepards also should use their slings to scary away dangerous animals, also their shepard canes if the animal is close enough.
Their slings had tapered fluffy release cord ends wich make a loud crack! sound  like a whip does... animals know what this sound means... (a slinged stone on the way....  ;D ) so they better run away before any stone can reach them.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by me on Jun 29th, 2005 at 5:22pm

wrote on Jun 29th, 2005 at 1:47pm:
While i was talking with this two shepards  about accuracy with the sling  2 mountaineers came in sight more than a hundred yards away,  one of the shepards said he was able to shot down  one of them  with the 1st stone....   :o


WOW!! That is so amazing. Did you get to see them sling at all? I'd be interested to see what style they used. Also did you see how long their slings where?

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Zorrro on Jun 30th, 2005 at 8:48am
Me; Yes, they slung a few stones and they reached over a hundred yards at a given 2 - 4sq meters  spot, their slings were really short , about 15" from pouch to fingers
they threw under arm tilting to overhead almost  horizontally 1 or 2 spins.  slings were balearic style braided (split pouch) made of pita cord (Agave americana)
My sling was 35 " and i could hardly get their  range. and of course my accuracy was a lot worse than theirs  :-[

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Douglas_The_Black on Jun 30th, 2005 at 10:14am
so short slings hmmm.. Most of my slings where real long and it seems that i get the most range with the long ones.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by me on Jun 30th, 2005 at 6:13pm
Im seeing a a pattern here, it seems like most of the ancient people preferred shorter slings or maybe I should say the shortest possible sling that could still get the job done. I guess when your life depends on accuracy, as opposed to distance that makes sense. And
to be honest, speaking from my own personal expirence it is surprising how much power one can get from a small sling.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Douglas_The_Black on Jul 1st, 2005 at 1:44pm
in truth the only time i could see using range with a sling is in a battle, or when you got to hit near something to scare it. Maybe slinging into a group of things.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Zorrro on Jul 10th, 2005 at 1:35pm

wrote on Jun 30th, 2005 at 10:14am:
so short slings hmmm.. Most of my slings where real long and it seems that i get the most range with the long ones.


you are right DTB i guess they were used to those short slings, and their arm strenght was enough to outperform my longer sling. Shepards  also throw stones with their bare hands a lot further and accurate than ordinary people..
i've used short and long slings and longer slings get further easier

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by tint on Jul 10th, 2005 at 9:25pm
short slings also allows a quicker release and reload.  That is important in battle.  Moreover, praticing with a short sling would mean more shots per given time, allowing mastery over the weapon quicker.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Kold on Jul 30th, 2005 at 10:46pm
I started with a 24 inch sling from the beginning around 5 years ago. I then tried the longer slings and found that while they were better for distance but my accuracy was shot to hell. I dont play with the long ones anymore. They also made my arm feel like it was coming out of socket. But , to each his/her own.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by badgerdude on Sep 11th, 2005 at 10:25am
Many Arab and near Eastern people used the sling to drive away lions. Today Indians use them to help drive working elephants and yaks. They simply hit them in the side that they want them to turn.

Title: Re: ancient non-military uses for the sling
Post by Crater_Caster on Sep 13th, 2005 at 7:06pm
I am going to try shooting flak clouds at large swarms of bad bugs and see if it works. ::)

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