would baseballs be to heavy/light for a bola? I have at least 3 of them and I wondered if i could use them for one

Base balls should do well in a bola, you would probably have to drill through the baseballs to do it, as monkey fists would make it too big, unless you've got another method in which case i would like to see :) Also what type of bola are you making? One where you throw from the middle knot or from a lighter ball?

Btw if you do make one make sure you don't throw this one at your friends, probably a bit to heavy for that and i can already imagine it going sour......... ;D

-Ben

slinger87 wrote on May 12^th, 2009 at 3:40pm:

would baseballs be to heavy/light for a bola? I have at least 3 of them and I wondered if i could use them for one

Too heavy. Baseballs weigh 5oz, three of them would be almost a pound, hard to sling  and you'd really want more than three cords anyway. Small fishing sinkers would be much better.

The bolas i have used weigh about that much while only having three balls and works really well, maybe its the odd throwing style i use but it works ;D

-Ben

I'd go for too heavy myself.
The bolas I have is made with mouse ball ball bearings and seems about right to me.

One advantage you'd have with baseballs is their size. Less chance of random tangling as the balls would help keep the cords apart (maybe) lol

well I made one dispite the people telling me it wouldnt work it did. it worked realy well untill one of the balls came off but is still works, its just a bola with only two weights I might post pictures later

I reckon it'd be the perfect weight for big targets  ;D i prefer the 3 ball version myself  ;)

-Ben

I have a traditional bola from Argentina (?; might also be from the south of Brasil). It is made of three round rocks, size about something between a golf ball and a baseball, but significantly heavier than these (stone!). They are each wrapped and sewed (sewn?) in rawhide and tied together with a twisted plant fibre material. Total length (stretched out from one ball to another) about 2 m or more. Sorry that I can't provide you with a picture of it now, as the bola is stored in Germany. Next time I go there for a visit, I'll take a photo.

The bola is old and has signs of wear. Just for fun, I tried some throws with it in the beginning and had to take care not to crack my own skull with the stones. I'm sure it was used for hunting or herding big animals.

Sounds about right. My bola uses 2 6-oz and 1 8-oz fishing weights on braided parachute cord. The longer cords are about 2-1/2 feet long, the shorter (with the heavier weight) is about 2 feet long.

My next set will use billiard balls. 2 Regular balls, and a cue ball for the heavier weight.

K'Jev
8-)

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Fundibularius wrote on May 19^th, 2009 at 5:59am:

I have a traditional bola from Argentina (?; might also be from the south of Brasil). It is made of three round rocks, size about something between a golf ball and a baseball, but significantly heavier than these (stone!). They are each wrapped and sewed (sewn?) in rawhide and tied together with a twisted plant fibre material. Total length (stretched out from one ball to another) about 2 m or more. Sorry that I can't provide you with a picture of it now, as the bola is stored in Germany. Next time I go there for a visit, I'll take a photo. The bola is old and has signs of wear. Just for fun, I tried some throws with it in the beginning and had to take care not to crack my own skull with the stones. I'm sure it was used for hunting or herding big animals.

Now this is it. Just took a few months to show it to you. Almost like in the good old times when the earth was still flat. ;)

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very cool! and, that is the traditional south american bola style. three cords and weights, although i'm of the opinion that all three should be of equal size and mass. the classic throwing method, and the one i use, is to hold one weight and swing the other two. upon release centerfugal force spreads all three out evenly. inuit bird bola are a different animal. multiple weights on thin cords thrown from the center. it's more of a weighted net affair meant to ensnare birds, whereas the south american is meant to bring down fairly large game. there is another variety using only two stones. it takes quite a bit of practice and a very specific technique to use effectively, but once mastered it's great at wrapping up anything you throw it at. here's my three cord bola.

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That's a beauty, paleoarts, and it looks very effective.

Bolas are an ingenious invention. Well, most archaic weapons and tools are, maybe that's a great deal of the the fascination about them.