ADDED:  This is a very old tutorial that I have to get off my lazy butt and re-do.  It started out as just a thread and somehow became sort of a tutorial.  I was very new here when I started it.  It goes on and on but never really gets to the heart of the matter. A TS-3 is Malik Lund's Appu-sling
http://slinging.org/index.php?page=making-a-simple-string-sling-an-illustrated-guide---malik-lund
with the pouch woven instead of open.  The trick is to weave it very tight so the pouch pulls up into a permanent "U" shape.  That way you're much less apt to drop your projectiles prematurely.  
2ND EDIT:  IMO this is the best way to make a TS3 or any sling based on the Sheep Shank knot:
http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1338672380/0#0
  At the end of the second world war Winston Churchill described the Rat Man Sling as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."  Well, maybe not, but that's what it's become to me.  The fist time I made one and tried it I felt like I'd invented the wheel or sliced bread.  Here's a sling that's relatively easy  and cheap to make, doesn't look half bad, and will shoot projectiles farther than any other type of hand sling with the same amount of force applied.  I told you all about it and was happily using and experimenting on ways to improve it.  Then it happened...
  I started dropping rocks with it.  Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't.  Peacefuljeffrey said that a while back he tried the same design and didn't like it.  Though he never said exactly why, I assumed rock dropping the reason.  Because I sling while walking my two Huskies, and because of a very unfortunate incident with my wife's windshield, I adopted peacefulfeffrey's design, which is basically the same thing, but with two more strands in the pouch, allowing for cupping, obviously a wider pouch, and no rock dropping.  The pj design, though slightly slower and with a tiny bit less range, practically never drops rocks.  It became my sling of choice and the Rat Man slings collected dust.  There was a member named Pio who made a Rat Man sling, (Catalina) that looked perfect.  He said that he'd try it and let me know how it worked out, but I never heard from him again.  I hope he didn't kill himself with it.  I gave a hybrid Rockman/Rat Man (Rat Man pouch, Rockman cords) to a friend, Patrick and he absolutely loves it and says it's the best sling he's ever used.  
   Today I dusted off my Rat Man or three strand sheep shank sling.  For the most part it worked beautifully.  I dropped a few rocks, but not many.  When working properly, when I'm not doing whatever I do that's wrong and causes me to loose my projectiles prematurely,  it is obviously a superior design.  I get noticeably more range and accuracy.  So...
  I believe that this is an excellent design.  I have some sort of hitch in my delivery that I can't see.  There are a few forum members that I'm exchanging slings and sling making materials with.  They will receive a Rat Man sling to test, if they will be so kind.  If anyone else wants to help with this I'll send you one too.  In that my resources are limited, this will be on a first come basis.  Though these slings are relatively simple, easy, and cheap to make I'd rather send them than have them made by the testers.  This way we're not adding variables to the equation.  However, if someone wants to make their own I'd appreciate any input you have also.  The more testers the more apt I am to find what I'm doing wrong, if anything.  The sling is simply Malik Lund's Appu-sling with the pouch woven like a pj sling.
 
Thanks,
Rat Man

---

please don't think i'm bratty or anything, and rat man sling does have a ring to it, but i'm pretty sure others have made it long before you (seriously no offense), like i know adsi did it, and the peacefuljeffery sling was based off of this too, and the peaceful jeffery sling has been around for ages.

OK, you have a good point.  I'm not completely comfortable calling it the Rat Man sling either.  It just seems less long winded than calling it a three strand sheep shank sling.    What do you think we should call it then?  tsss sling?  Yes... does that work better for you?  Tsss.  I sort of like that better.
   In any case, if you don't mind, you're getting one to try out when I send your tape.  When I'm not dropping rocks out of it, like today, it's the most powerful sling I've used.

Rat Man

I've never found you bratty.

... and not to beat a dead horse, but you did notice that I gave credit to both pj and Malik Lund.  I didn't remember adsi making one until you mentioned it just now, but you're right.  Sorry, adsi.  

never do one post when 3 is possible ;D

:-?
Sometimes I type as the thoughts come to me.  If I wait, they're gone! :-X

You can always add to or change one of your own posts if you want to. Notice the modify button in the upper right of your post. If done within a few minutes of the original post it doesn't even list it as a modification.

Its like a forum equivalent of every politician's dream for their statements. Not to mention any corporations in the public eye.

I developed this design by myself about 25 years ago, messing around as a kid. It was the first design I made last year when I rediscovered slinging, and it went with me around the USA on my road trip.  I call it the Folley sling because that is where I lived when I first made one.

I've had great results with my PJ 5-strand slings, but for the sake of Science I will construct a 3-strand and test them side by side.  

Quote:

and not to beat a dead horse, but you did notice that I gave credit to both pj and Malik Lund.  I didn't remember adsi making one until you mentioned it just now, but you're right.  Sorry, adsi.

no worries i already have my own design :) :) :)

Aussie wrote on Aug 30^th, 2009 at 10:22pm:

You can always add to or change one of your own posts if you want to. Notice the modify button in the upper right of your post. If done within a few minutes of the original post it doesn't even list it as a modification.

... and I know that too.  I'm capable of much worse malfunctions than that.

quepy wrote on Aug 31^st, 2009 at 5:27am:

I've had great results with my PJ 5-strand slings, but for the sake of Science I will construct a 3-strand and test them side by side.

  I have about 8 pj slings that I love.  They shoot far and don't drop rocks, plus they don't look bad.  The three strand design shoots farther.  I worked one out this morning again and I'm convinced that it shoots significantly farther, like even up to 30%.  This is just eyeballing.  It's hard for me to measure exactly with beasts in tow, plus I can't see exactly where the stones land.  They're way, way far away when they touch down.  I've taken a lot of shots in the past 10 months though, and I'm certain that the three strand shoots farther than a pj, Rockman, or anything else I've made so far.   That alone doesn't necessarily make it a better sling all around, but it makes the design at least worthy of more investigation and experimentation.  
  The thing is that I can take ten shots in a row with the three strand sling without dropping a projectile, then I go into the rock dropping mode and loose like five in a row.  It's me, not the sling that's malfunctioning.
  I did find at least part of the problem.  With the other designs the pouches are cupped.  That allows me to move around a bit without loosing projectiles prematurely and even shoot while walking.  I may have consequently developed a bad habit or two.  A lot of my problem with the three strand is footwork.  If I relax, bend my knees, and limit my foot movement to only what is absolutely necessary to shoot I'm much less apt to loose rocks early.  
   I feel that the obvious extra distance is worth the effort of figuring out what I'm doing wrong.  

David Morningstar wrote on Aug 31^st, 2009 at 3:49am:

I developed this design by myself about 25 years ago, messing around as a kid. It was the first design I made last year when I rediscovered slinging, and it went with me around the USA on my road trip.  I call it the Folley sling because that is where I lived when I first made one.

I will never claim to invent an original sling design because, as anyone who's read my posts will remember, I don't believe it's possible.  This is all rediscovering, which is just as valid and important with a mostly lost skill like this as inventing.

and once again i stick my fat head in and dump cold water onto someones achievements, the knotted sling that you make has already been done by other people off the forum, but still, all of you guys independently (at least i hope so) designed it

and probably somewhere someone else is "designing" it right now.  Your point was well taken and I really don't care what it's called.  I'm just saying that I believe it's a good design that hasn't been fully utilized or investigated here.  It's such a simple design that I'm sure it's been used countless times before.  But hold the presses... I tried something different, but before I go off saying that I've fixed the occasional rock dropping problem I want to test it.  I'll do that shortly in that the beasts are due for their walk soon.  I'll report back later tonight.  

Here's a sling similar to yours I made some months ago.
Looks like a 3 strand, but there's 9 strings. This has no fingerloop, you wrap it around your hand.  
The pouch is a simple 3 strand weave.

---

Yes, very similar.  How do you like it?  How well does it work and do you have a problem dropping projectiles out of it?  

I used that sling a couple of times before I gave it away. The pouch was a bit narrow, so it worked well with smaller projectiles.  
And i like the fingerloop better.

That's what I found also.. though I can toss larger projectiles with it they're more apt to fall out.  I've got something to try in a few minutes that'll hopefully take care of most or all of that though, as soon as the beasts are done eating.  

My modification was a total success.  Under less than ideal conditions (dogs in tow, fading light, not enough room due to branches, brand new never used before sling, etc..)  I took ten shots and only lost one rock prematurely.  It's late and I can't take pictures without waking the entire household but around midday tomorrow I'll post some pictures of the improvement and explain. I wish I could have taken more than ten shots, but I really believe that I've found the answer.  The tsss sling is a success!  

Rat Man wrote on Aug 31^st, 2009 at 10:35am:

I have about 8 pj slings that I love.  They shoot far and don't drop rocks, plus they don't look bad.  The three strand design shoots farther.  I worked one out this morning again and I'm convinced that it shoots significantly farther, like even up to 30%.  This is just eyeballing.  It's hard for me to measure exactly with beasts in tow, plus I can't see exactly where the stones land.  They're way, way far away when they touch down.  I've taken a lot of shots in the past 10 months though, and I'm certain that the three strand shoots farther than a pj, Rockman, or anything else I've made so far.   That alone doesn't necessarily make it a better sling all around, but it makes the design at least worthy of more investigation and experimentation.     The thing is that I can take ten shots in a row with the three strand sling without dropping a projectile, then I go into the rock dropping mode and loose like five in a row.  It's me, not the sling that's malfunctioning.

I believe that a good sling makes it relatively unnecessary for the slinger to do anything special to prevent rock dropping.

Of course I'm going to be subject to having a little bit of prideful bias in favor of the design known 'round these parts as the PeacefulJeffrey Sling, but I honestly lost all interest in a 3-strand version when I first made them after learning the design from Stormdrane of EDCforums.  It simply did not have enough width or cupping for holding the ammo I was likely to use, which at the time was golf balls (since there are hardly any rocks to be found around southern Florida).

I do not mean to denigrate your 3-strand design, but I do reject the notion that a design that is prone to runs of dropped ammo is acceptable.  At least, it is not acceptable to my personal sensibilities.  A simile came to me about it just now: it's like calling a gun a really good design because when it works it has superior range, accuracy and muzzle energy, but on unpredictable occasions the magazine will drop right out of the grip well!  I simply would never carry that gun or count on it for defense.  Might it be fun to take it to the range now and then to blast some rounds and work on great accuracy?  Sure.  But for when the gun counts--no way.

For me it's one of those "them as wants it can have it" things.  If you are enjoying your Rat Man slings, go for it!  :)

xxkid123 wrote on Aug 31^st, 2009 at 3:46pm:

and once again i stick my fat head in and dump cold water onto someones achievements, the knotted sling that you make has already been done by other people off the forum, but still, all of you guys independently (at least i hope so) designed it

As far as the PJ Sling is concerned, I did lean heavily on the Stormdrane sling (which I think he learned from someone else, too) and really just modified the design.  And after I wowed myself by coming up with the five-strand modification of the original three-strand design of the sheepshank foundation, I later discovered a description of exactly that kind of sling!  I remain happy that I came up with it independently even though I was not the first person ever to do so.

I may, though, have been the first person to use an Ashley's Stopper Knot for a trigger with a Longbow Knot for a retention loop.  ;)

It's fine now... problem solved.  Check out the "Success" thread please.  No rocks dropped today and only one last night under not so great conditions.  With the 54" tsss sling my shot went farther than ever before and today I got a ricochet sound from the rock but hit nothing.  It just left the pouch buzzing/humming.  Way cool!

I haven't made any sling 54" yet, but an increase of 9" from what I used to use brings me to 45", and I noticed a definite increase in available power when I used that last week.

And I just measured the PJ sling I made last night and found it to be 51", so that oughta be a treat when I get it out with my clay glandes some day...  :D

hey pj, is stormdrane the same stormdrane from instructables that made the paracord bracelet tutorial?

xxkid123 wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2009 at 3:40pm:

hey pj, is stormdrane the same stormdrane from instructables that made the paracord bracelet tutorial?

Yes he is.  The guy is the Gandalf of paracord projects.  I have long thought I was good; he is better.  :o

peacefuljeffrey wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2009 at 7:20pm:

xxkid123 wrote on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 3:40pm: hey pj, is stormdrane the same stormdrane from instructables that made the paracord bracelet tutorial? Yes he is.  The guy is the Gandalf of paracord projects.  I have long thought I was good; he is better.  :o

tell him i said hi- no wait, i can do that on instructables  ;D

peacefuljeffrey wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2009 at 2:24am:

I haven't made any sling 54" yet, but an increase of 9" from what I used to use brings me to 45", and I noticed a definite increase in available power when I used that last week. And I just measured the PJ sling I made last night and found it to be 51", so that oughta be a treat when I get it out with my clay glandes some day...  :D

Really long slings like that aren't right for every situation.  They're a bit cumbersome to use and at least for me not all that accurate.  But for making rocks blast into the stratosphere they're way cool.
  I went out to Audubon Park tonight with a 36" tsss sling and a 45" tape pouch.  I was slinging in front of some friends, a few of which had never watched me before.  I did myself proud with accuracy that I surprised myself with.  I hit the same tree trunk from about eighty yards away five times in a row and barely missed with the sixth shot.  Of course I'll probably never do it again, but they don't have to know that.  There were no dropped rocks at all with the tsss sling.  Extreme tightening so it's permanently bent into the U shape has really done the trick better than I hoped.

xxkid123 wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2009 at 8:36pm:

peacefuljeffrey wrote on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 7:20pm: xxkid123 wrote on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 3:40pm: hey pj, is stormdrane the same stormdrane from instructables that made the paracord bracelet tutorial? Yes he is.  The guy is the Gandalf of paracord projects.  I have long thought I was good; he is better.  :o tell him i said hi- no wait, i can do that on instructables  ;D

Well, there was an idiot nitpicking moderator on EDCforums who banned me (over frivoulous nonsense, I can assure you) so I can't say hi for you to Stormdrane there, unfortunately.

I tested out my new Rat Man Sheep Shank Sling, and I have good news: no dropped rocks, easy design, and increased distance in my throws.  It's going to be a favorite in my arsenal.

Seriously, I threw like 40 stones with this thing, and not a single mishap.  I say experiment: success.

Yay!  One tester, one slinger with increased range, one more success story!  

peacefuljeffrey wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2009 at 9:29pm:

[quote author=xxkid123 link=1251648259/15#28 date=1251938182] Well, there was an idiot nitpicking moderator on EDCforums who banned me (over frivoulous nonsense, I can assure you) so I can't say hi for you to Stormdrane there, unfortunately.

I was wondering why you were banned, I couldnt imagine you doing anything that would get you banned. Is there anyway to appeal it?

Camo-sling wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 2:28am:

peacefuljeffrey wrote on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 9:29pm: [quote author=xxkid123 link=1251648259/15#28 date=1251938182] Well, there was an idiot nitpicking moderator on EDCforums who banned me (over frivoulous nonsense, I can assure you) so I can't say hi for you to Stormdrane there, unfortunately. I was wondering why you were banned, I couldnt imagine you doing anything that would get you banned. Is there anyway to appeal it?

Not to be dismissive of the rules of a forum, but I feel that there was a moderator there who, for no particular reason I know of, seemed to just like to send me PMs telling me that nonsensical stuff I had posted had stepped over what he perceived to be "the line."  I pretty much never agreed--and tell me, do I seem like someone who wants to just come into a good and worthwhile forum and piss all over everything and just irritate people?  I don't think I do.  I spend my own time to come up with worthwhile contributions, myself.

I have no way to "appeal" the decision because once you're banned, it's not like you can send PMs to the site administrator or anyone.  I imagine there were probably quite a few people there who saw that I was banned and thought, "Huh??"  But what can ya do?

peacefuljeffrey wrote on Sep 6^th, 2009 at 4:44am:

Camo-sling wrote on Sep 6th, 2009 at 2:28am: peacefuljeffrey wrote on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 9:29pm: [quote author=xxkid123 link=1251648259/15#28 date=1251938182] Well, there was an idiot nitpicking moderator on EDCforums who banned me (over frivoulous nonsense, I can assure you) so I can't say hi for you to Stormdrane there, unfortunately. I was wondering why you were banned, I couldnt imagine you doing anything that would get you banned. Is there anyway to appeal it? Not to be dismissive of the rules of a forum, but I feel that there was a moderator there who, for no particular reason I know of, seemed to just like to send me PMs telling me that nonsensical stuff I had posted had stepped over what he perceived to be "the line."  I pretty much never agreed--and tell me, do I seem like someone who wants to just come into a good and worthwhile forum and piss all over everything and just irritate people?  I don't think I do.  I spend my own time to come up with worthwhile contributions, myself. I have no way to "appeal" the decision because once you're banned, it's not like you can send PMs to the site administrator or anyone.  I imagine there were probably quite a few people there who saw that I was banned and thought, "Huh??"  But what can ya do?

Their loss is our gain.

Thank you for saying so. :)

I'm sure everyone here agrees with me.

nice sling ratman and welcome to the ranks of the slingers

Thanks!!

Howdy  :D,
I was redirected to this thread when I clicked on this link  (wishing to reach a tutorial):

http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1251648259

in this thread:

http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1260271797

Anyone seen the tuto please ?  ::)

biface.silex wrote on Apr 29^th, 2010 at 1:18pm:

Howdy  :D, I was redirected to this thread when I clicked on this link  (wishing to reach a tutorial): http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1251648259 in this thread: http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1260271797 Anyone seen the tuto please ?  ::)

You got to the right place, bro. This is "An active thread where you may post a reply." Sorry it's not what you were looking for. Try this PJ Sling on for size. To may a TS3 sling follow Jeffrey's instructions starting with 3 strand in the pouch instead 5 like the pictures. If you have trouble visualizing that make an Appu-sling and then uses Jeffrey's tutorial to fill in the pouch.

@Masiakasaurus:
Cheers mon

Hi, biface;
   That is a tutorial, sort of.  It goes on a bit because I was figuring out a problem as I went along and had no idea that the thread was going to be a tutorial.  If you read through the whole thing you'll find that the sling as it was, Malik Lund's Appu-sling but woven instead of left open, had a tendency to occasionally drop projectiles.  A  good solution was found... if you pull the strands really tight as you weave so that the pouch forms a permanent "U" when completed it will not drop projectiles.  Due to it's thinness, this is the fastest sling with the best range that I've  found.  I hope this answer isn't confusing.  If you need more help with this you can PM me or I can send you one so you can see what I'm talking about.

Hi, here's my attempt at the Rat Man (three strand sheep shank) sling.  It's make out of some rather thick rope, for sling making. -Abe

---

Welcome, abetwo643;
  Way to go.  I'll bet that thicker cord was hard to weave.  Good job.
   A few weeks ago I made and used a Rockman for the first time in a while and was pleasantly surprised at how much easier and better it worked for me.  I posted a thread about it.  Today I finished up a TS3 I was making and tried it out this morning.  When I first started messing with and modifying Malik Lund's Appu-sling I thought that I'd discovered something great, but, as the tutorial states, it sometimes prematurely dropped it's projectiles.  When I found the solution,  pulling the pouch strands very tightly when weaving it so that the pouch formed a permanent "U",  I thought I'd found what would be my signature sling.  Something still was missing.. I was more comfortable with slings with bigger pouches and gradually the TS3 got pushed to my back burner.  
   To make a long story shorter, as with the Rockman, everything was different today.  It worked like I always hoped it would.  Obviously, something in my style had changed and improved.  I used mostly Byzantine style and a few Choctaw (underhand Byzantine) shots.  I tried all different sizes and shapes of rock, from acorn to almost fist sized, shot many, many times, and not one projectile was dropped.  Also, the smaller stones fired just fine.  The TS3 may still end up as my signature sling.  Today's was a really good session.
  I have to go now, but I'll post a picture of the sling and another kind I recently completed, later today.

Rat Man, I'm looking forward to seeing what your sling looks like.  The thicker rope was hard to weave.  The rope is discarded form work so it is only so long (about 4-5 feet) so I couldn't weave the pouch as tight as I wanted to.  I guess the next TS3 will be made out of paracord. -Abe

I ran out of stuff to make my normal Rockman slings and tried a 3 strand sheep shank this weekend.  Works like a charm.  No dropped rocks, and the pouch fits perfectly with my available rocks.  They are about the size of a chicken egg or a little smaller.  I have a 16 strand box braid in the works, but that is going to take a while.  This one only took about 20 minutes, done during commercials of my kids cartoon shows.  I've tried the PJ slings too, but they kept twisting in the pouch.  I used some rope that was about 1/4" in diameter.  Were I using paracord, I'd use the PJ model.

This three strand sheep shank sling, I used to make them in the beginning but the pouch was way to small for me so I swapped to the pj design and it works like a charm. But maybe I didn't use it enough to get good with it

  The pj is an excellent design;  you'll never find me writing anything bad about it.  It's one of my top three favorites in fact, up there with the Rockman and TS3.  I've found that the TS3, if made properly, is just as easy to use as the pj.    The trick to making a TS3 easy to use is to pull up hard on the warp while weaving the pouch so that the pouch stays in the shape of a "U" when you're finished.  If your TS3 looks like this it will hold onto projectiles just as well as a pj.  I don't know why weaving a TS3 pouch in this manner makes such a big difference but it does.