It is that time of year, Time for the Pumpkin Challenge!

The winner of the challenge will get a portable slinging target from DangerGoods.com (Disclaimer: this prize is put up by yours truly, no sponsorship deals have been made. This is in support of slinging businesses and bringing slinging to a wider audience)
https://www.dangergoods.com/products1/danger-goods-portable-sling-target

The rules are simple, you must:
1. Submit a video of your entry via YouTube and post the link in this thread.
2. The video must contain a pumpkin, a sling, and a slinging aspect. (If you can't find a pumpkin, any other similar food item will do!)
3. Entries submitted after Halloween (October 31st) will not be considered for the prize but are still welcome.
4. The rest is up to you!

The winner will be determined by a poll for entertainment value, difficulty, and encompassing the spirit of the sling.
Voting for yourself is certainly not discouraged. (As long as you really believe yours is the best...)

Let the challenge commence!


Entry 1: Kick https://youtu.be/jzDIvx98TCY
Entry 2: Jaegoor https://youtu.be/ldW49nXWDOo
Entry 3: PracticalParacord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFs0K25lP9s
Entry 4: NooneOfConsequence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESabnoRsKdQ
Entry 5: IronGoober https://youtu.be/T-fIUb-66zw
Entry 6: PracticalParacord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z34SUYmRlSM
Entry 7: joe_meadmaker https://youtu.be/Y-ZCJO0AuqY
Entry 8: Mersa https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4J5971dsMlQ
Entry 9: Dawesome21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lpiLypNoa4
Entry 10: Practical Paracord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAmMR7iZ7VA
Entry 11: A-city https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxilAbAT3OA
Enrty 12: AlbionSlinger Part 1:https://youtu.be/X-G0Om63oQE
                                  Part 2: https://youtu.be/7L3ZHabEkSc

Thanks for getting this started IG, and very generous prize!  I can't wait to see what people come up with :)

In fact, I think I'll sweeten the pot and add a participation challenge...  If we can get at least 10 participants this year, I will throw in a randomly selected winner for a Razor Glande facemask:

https://www.redbubble.com/i/mask/Razor-Glandes-Aim-for-the-Eyes-by-tacpar/52933365.9G0D8

Edit: I originally said “2nd place prize”, but I think a random selected winner among all participants encourages more entries even if someone doesn’t think they can win :)

I can't wait to get in on this. I'm just hoping the weather is good on my next day off.

So it begins...  :D

I'll be checking the grocery store for pumpkins.  Best of luck to all!

NooneOfConsequence wrote on Sep 4^th, 2020 at 8:19am:

I think a random selected winner among all participants encourages more entries even if someone doesn’t think they can win

Forgot to mention, I completely agree with this.  Good call!

As a little bit of additional data perhaps we could all take a photo of our chosen victim (pumpkin) and maybe weight and size dimensions. Just for future pumpkin challenges.

Also might be an idea to move this challenge to general slinging section, not sure we gat as much traffic in this section??

Good luck everyone!!

This is going to be fun...

This challenge sounds fun!! I will promote this.To be clear how do you win?

PracticalParacord wrote on Sep 6^th, 2020 at 9:07am:

This challenge sounds fun!! I will promote this.To be clear how do you win?

Cool man!  There's no specific situation in which someone will win.  Entries just need to have a sling hit on a pumpkin.  Once the deadline is reached we'll add a poll to this thread and slinging.org members will vote for the one they believe is the best.  The listed criteria are 'entertainment value, difficulty, and encompassing the spirit of the sling'.  The voting will be subjective, but it's all about having fun!

In the spirit of friendly competition... I also think it will be fun to crush you all like a pumpkin and win the prize ;D

Pumpkin: Acquired

Now, you didn't say that there couldn't be somebody off camera with a shotgun so that when the slung rock hits the pumpkin it makes a super loud bang and then explodes? :D :D

SlingingBri wrote on Sep 9^th, 2020 at 7:29am:

Now, you didn't say that there couldn't be somebody off camera with a shotgun so that when the slung rock hits the pumpkin it makes a super loud bang and then explodes? :D :D

Entertainment value is one aspect!  But difficulty is also. Choose your poison. :)

As long as you’re using firearms, you might as well use a hunting rifle and stuff the pumpkin with tannerite :)
Of course then you’ll definitely need to be slinging from afar, so you get the difficulty check mark too!

Pumpkin: Destroyed.

Video coming soon.

Awesome!  That was fast.  I didn't even get a pumpkin yet.  :(

I had to be quick. I've had precious few days off and even fewer where the weather hasn't been utterly dismal. I was lucky to get it done yesterday as today is grey, raining and misty as hell. Even so, every now and then when I missed there would be a splash as the rocks hit one of the many puddles.

Pumpkin acquired. Game on Kick!

Here's what you have to best. I'm pretty happy with the finale :D

https://youtu.be/jzDIvx98TCY

I can't wait to try out my new target...  :P



Gold star award wining post
http://slinging.org/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/goldstar.JPG

Wow!  You sure smashed that thing up!  Fantastic first entry.  The bar has definitely been set high. :thumb:

Yeah Kick!!!
That’s for sure your best entry in the pumpkin challenge yet and a great video to start the challenge.
I might have to change my plans a little after seeing that.
Your pretty good with that staff sling seems like you got it tuned

Yeah it took some throws to get back into it; been a little while since I last used it, but, once I was warmed up, I was getting pretty consistent. I really love that thing.

Way to come out swinging Kick!  Definitely setting a high bar.

Nice Kick! You are getting really good with that staff sling.

Also, I'm going put the links to all the entry videos in the first post so they are consolidated and can be found easily.

I hope everybody isn't waiting to the last minute, because I've got a serious contender coming soon!  My 5yo son just finished the design that we plan to carve into the pumpkin before I start slinging, but don't worry... my schtick isn't just going to be me slinging at a carved pumpkin instead of an uncarved one.  I have a few real surprises in store ;D

It's raining, so I'm going to wait a day or two to carve and smash the pumpkin when the weather clears up a little bit.   

I honestly hadn't considered taking the time to carve it before smashing it up... good idea! I won't steal it, but good idea nonetheless. I'm looking forward to the video.

I got my pumpkin, but I need a workday that is light so I can leave early to film.

I considered carving mine but I wanted to ensure it's structural integrity.

https://youtu.be/ldW49nXWDOo :)

As always... nice shooting Jaegoor!


IronGoober wrote on Sep 21^st, 2020 at 10:34pm:

I honestly hadn't considered taking the time to carve it before smashing it up... good idea! I won't steal it, but good idea nonetheless.

It’s not stealing if I give the idea away. Besides, I am pretty sure I’m not the first person to come up with the idea of carving a pumpkin :)


Kick wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2020 at 2:28am:

I considered carving mine but I wanted to ensure it's structural integrity.

Ha! If we're being scored on structural integrity, then we should just give the prize to Jaegoor and his coconut now! It’s true that carving will weaken the pumpkin, but I decided it would be worth it because one of the criteria is entertainment value... plus my son really wanted to carve it when he saw that I bought a pumpkin.  ;D

Well I’ve talked about it enough and it’s time for less talk and more pumpkin destruction...

Yeah Jaegoor nice stuff, this challenge is already producing the goods, I’m still awaiting the arrival of the classic orange pumpkins in my local stores, I have a few ideas on what I want to do but I’m getting less confidence as the clips roll in . Anyway I’ll try my best , it’s fun nonetheless

Fun is always the main point anyway. The only reason I got mine done so quickly was because I had to. Can't trust the weather this time of year so I just went for it. That was really the main reason for not carving it, I didn't have the time :D

Awesome hit Jaegoor!
Two broken pumpkins so far.  I'm getting concerned that I will not.  :D

I got mine.  Hopefully this weekend I'll get some time to throw at it.

Channing (Practical Paracord) posted up his attempt and did amazing! I guess a link will be coming soon.

Another teaser for y’all. Smashing complete. It may take a little longer to finish and post the video.

---

Kick wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2020 at 3:17pm:

Channing (Practical Paracord) posted up his attempt and did amazing! I guess a link will be coming soon.

Just looked it up on YouTube... Nice slinging Channing!

Good smash there NOC!  Looking forward to that video!  :)

Jaegoor wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2020 at 6:38am:

https://youtu.be/ldW49nXWDOo :)

Jaegoor, great job, as usual. I love that it was a hit in the dead center.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESabnoRsKdQ

...and yes.  That is a razor glande mask I am wearing :)



Gold star award wining post
http://slinging.org/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/goldstar.JPG

Very very entertaining!!! , this is going to be a hard one to vote on that’s for sure !!!

Damn hard. It's going to be pretty close I think.

Nice!  If there was a category for 'most intricate setup', you'd have that with 100% certainty!  :D

joe_meadmaker wrote on Sep 24^th, 2020 at 9:56am:

Nice!  If there was a category for 'most intricate setup', you'd have that with 100% certainty!  :D

Well I was fresh out of grand pianos, but I did have a pile of bricks handy.  When you can barely squeeze a 10-yard shooting range out of your backyard, you have to focus on the "entertainment" aspect to stay competitive :)

My 5yo was certainly entertained by the whole process!  He designed the face on the pumpkin and provided some excellent color commentary in the background. No matter who wins, my son and I had a ton of fun with this one.  There's just something deeply satisfying about pulverizing a pumpkin with a pile of bricks ;D

Haha. I was chuckling the whole time. I truly enjoyed the ending. It's much more satisfying when it is destroyed in one fell swoop.

Haven't awarded a gold star for some time - But damn NOC - That was absolutely AMAZING !

You got my vote :-)

And of course, the rare and widely coveted Curious Aardvark Gold Star Award for services over and above to the cause of slinging :-)

***

Well this is completely unprecedented !!!

TWO gold star awards in a single thread !

The world's gone mad :-)

But kick, for the very first serious and extremely accurate use of a staff sling in slinging.org history - Have a gold star !

All i got to say is: pumpkins be double tough !
That was some big rocks coming in at decent velocity. 

No jaegoor is not getting one. lol
I mean: jaegoor hits target - it's not exactly news is it :-)

So guys - is it possible. can you turn this into a triple star award thread ?
Have at it !

Crazy to me that we have run basically the same thing the past 2 years in the “online challenge” thread but just a little bit more effort in making a specific thread for the 2020 Halloween pumpkin challenge has really picked up interest. Also the editing skills of everyone so far has been great. It’s really raising the bar!!!

Still no orange pumpkins in stores here yet but I’ll be getting one as soon as they arrive!!

Mersa wrote on Sep 24^th, 2020 at 7:20pm:

Still no orange pumpkins in stores here yet but I’ll be getting one as soon as they arrive!!

If this continues to be the case, I think a painted vegetable/fruit of your choice would also be acceptable. :)

Mersa wrote on Sep 24^th, 2020 at 7:20pm:

Crazy to me that we have run basically the same thing the past 2 years in the “online challenge” thread but just a little bit more effort in making a specific thread for the 2020 Halloween pumpkin challenge has really picked up interest.

To be fair, I was planning on entering this competition for the first time before IG spun off the new thread, but it is cleaner to have separate threads for each individual challenge.  It might also help that there's a serious prize up for grabs this year... two prizes if we have at least 10 participants.

IronGoober wrote on Sep 24^th, 2020 at 7:58pm:

Mersa wrote on Sep 24th, 2020 at 7:20pm: Still no orange pumpkins in stores here yet but I’ll be getting one as soon as they arrive!! If this continues to be the case, I think a painted vegetable/fruit of your choice would also be acceptable. :)

I don't think anyone who really wants to participate should be disqualified because they are unable to buy a pumpkin.  A watermelon would certainly be acceptable by my standards!  Also, I'd like to see a tomato... not because it's a good replacement for a pumpkin, but because it would be fun to watch it explode :)

Thank you kindly C_A! I'll put that on the mantlepiece. This has definitely been a good idea to seperate out theof challenge to it's own post.

Also, I agree. Watermelon, squash, courgette... I'm fine with anything being included.

The pumpkin will come , it’s just not the typical pumpkin where im from , we have these Grey things that are basically concrete or butternuts as the usual in the store but they always bring in the orange ones before Halloween. But I’ll definitely need help editing my clip , I will clearly lose on the editing quality if not, the videos so far have been great I’m loving it

Kick wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 12:21am:

Thank you kindly C_A! I'll put that on the mantlepiece. This has definitely been a good idea to seperate out theof challenge to it's own post.

Same here CA. What an honor!  I didn’t have any room on my mantle, so I took down my university diploma and two of my patents to make room for the star in my office. Doing so immediately boosted my credibility with both colleagues and clients... or at least it would have if we weren’t in a pandemic and anybody were actually coming to my office.

@Mersa, I’m very much still an amateur but I’d be happy to share editing tips if you want. I use Blender, which has a truly awful user interface but is a powerful video editor if you’re willing to learn how to use it.

NooneOfConsequence wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 8:43am:

Kick wrote on Sep 25th, 2020 at 12:21am: Thank you kindly C_A! I'll put that on the mantlepiece. This has definitely been a good idea to seperate out theof challenge to it's own post. Same here CA. What an honor!  I didn’t have any room on my mantle, so I took down my university diploma and two of my patents to make room for the star in my office. Doing so immediately boosted my credibility with both colleagues and clients... or at least it would have if we weren’t in a pandemic and anybody were actually coming to my office.

I think I've been giving these out for at least ten years and I'm pretty sure we are NOT into double figures yet.
So yeah, pretty damn rare.

Unlike most awards that get given for trivial things like killing people or running faster than someone else who is also running fast.
You have to do something fairly unique to get one of my gold stars :-)
   
So hey treasure it - one of these days there may even be an actual physical award - but you know me. easily distracted - so if that ever happens, it will really be one of the rarest awards on the planet :-)

We don't have pumpkins yet.

However the field near my house has been cut for hay, close enough I can hoof the target over, and sufficient backspace that I don't risk killing anyone.
Currently figuring best way to set pumpkin up for demolition.

It ain't even october yet we've got over a month to go - even I've got enough time.
(you'd think)

Melone.

https://youtu.be/15p3CKnzKGo

Here is my entry. 

https://youtu.be/T-fIUb-66zw

I hoped to have better results from the first bit, but oh well.  It was nice to have just about anyone interested , but I'm not used to having an audience. On a different note, I suppose it does say something interesting about the relative "safety" of rusty balls.

Bravo, another great entry!!! This is the best online challenge yet , no questions asked!!!
Great hits and editing again !!

Mersa wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 10:04pm:

Bravo, another great entry!!! This is the best online challenge yet , no questions asked!!! Great hits and editing again !!

Thank you. I look forward to your entry. I don't want to put forward too large of expectations, but I am hoping for some form of flying pumpkin...(I thought about doing it myself, but I am not good at aerial targets)


Jaegoor wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 1:16pm:

Melone. https://youtu.be/15p3CKnzKGo

I really liked this video when you posted it. I wonder, did the gland shape show any differences in damage?? It is hard to tell without having the melon in hand.

Awesome IG!  Great slinging!

All these entries are flying in.  It's great, but making me anxious.  Mine's going to be a little while yet.  It's going to take some time to do what I'm planning.  And basically hope that everything works out. :D

Der Unterschied ist, daß eine glandes die Melone einfach durschlägt. Dabei wird die Melone oft gespalten. Ein Stein macht oft eine größere Verletzung. Was aber alle Versuche bisher gleich haben. Es gibt immer einen bruch. Für Steine typisch ist ebenfalls, daß ein zweites Loch entsteht. Hinten oder seitlich. Das wird bei Schädel sehr häufig beobachtet. Das Loch entsteht durch eine Impuls Weitergabe. Eine Keule macht eine völlig andere Verletzung.

joe_meadmaker wrote on Sep 26^th, 2020 at 1:38am:

Awesome IG!  Great slinging! All these entries are flying in.  It's great, but making me anxious.  Mine's going to be a little while yet.  It's going to take some time to do what I'm planning.  And basically hope that everything works out. :D

Don't be anxious! It's for fun, entertainment. Nothing to lose. Besides, not a single one of your videos has been a disappointment.

Thanks man!  I just meant anxious to get my entry ready and posted.  I love the number of people joining in on this one.  It makes it truly exciting!

I think Mersa said it perfectly.


Mersa wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 10:04pm:

This is the best online challenge yet , no questions asked!!!

It's been fantastic seeing these entries. I do somewhat regret getting mine done so quick. Now I'm thinking of different things I could have done with mine... I might need to make another one. My original video is my entry but doing another one could be fun :D

@ig - there is NOTHING safe about jaegoors rusty balls (snigger). What you basically haver there is what's known as a 'sap'. Usually a leather pouch filled with either sand or lead shot. It's illegal to carry one in most countries in the world.
And instead of hitting someone with it - you're launching it at high velocity from a sling !

They do have a single redeeming factor. they do not bounce.

But never sling one at any living thing, they are totally lethal.

Good shooting !

If you turn your body a bit more to the right before throwing you'll hit more. You're just pulling slightly to the left - looks mainly because you start to front on to the target.
Always an issue with a sidearm throw :-)

Curious Aardvark wrote on Sep 27^th, 2020 at 12:33pm:

@ig - there is NOTHING safe about jaegoors rusty balls (snigger). What you basically haver there is what's known as a 'sap'. Usually a leather pouch filled with either sand or lead shot. It's illegal to carry one in most countries in the world. And instead of hitting someone with it - you're launching it at high velocity from a sling ! They do have a single redeeming factor. they do not bounce. But never sling one at any living thing, they are totally lethal. Good shooting ! If you turn your body a bit more to the right before throwing you'll hit more. You're just pulling slightly to the left - looks mainly because you start to front on to the target. Always an issue with a sidearm throw :-)

Oh, I agree. No one in their right mind would launch one of these at another person/animal without the direct intention to cause harm. And never should.  They are certainly better in that they don't bounce and don't roll too far on a miss (compared to a stone/ball). But that being said, a strike from a rusty ball might cause contusions, broken bones, possibly hemorraging, but likely not missing flesh like a stone would.  The only reason I'm bringing this up is that I've given a lot of thought to what would happen if I accidentally missed when practicing and hit someone somehow (ricochet or roll-away, etc.). A ricochet, or strike from a rusty ball would be much better for some poor bystander than a ricochet or roll away from a stone. Not that this has ever come close to happening, but I'm always cognizant of it.

I was watching Sarosh's form some more on youtube. I think he's got probably the best form of anyone I've seen, he uses his body like a baseball pitcher.  I'm going to try and imitate. I don't know when I started to crouch before throwing, but It just feels weird now if I don't.

Are you suggesting that I turn AWAY from the target more when lining up?

IronGoober wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 6:12pm:

Here is my entry.  https://youtu.be/T-fIUb-66zw

Nice slinging IG!  And way to go with being a slinging ambassador for the next generation of slingers too!

Quote:

Are you suggesting that I turn AWAY from the target more when lining up?

yep, well kind of, but not really. :-)

I need to look at your feet too....

Stance is actually pretty good.

The only thing I can see is that you tend to start turning your body a fraction before you start the actual throw.
So on release you arm has actually started on the follow through, which will pull the throw slightly to the left.

I mean this is nit picking on the micro level here :-)
That's a damn small target and you were extremely close on every throw.   

A little practice on  a balearic target and I doubt you'd miss much.

IG was far more accurate than I was with the staff sling or the hand sling :D

Curious Aardvark wrote on Sep 28^th, 2020 at 6:43am:

A little practice on  a balearic target and I doubt you'd miss much.

:D I've had so much practice on one recently... lol

But I  can't seem to score better than an 8 (maybe I did 9 one time, my diana is a tad too small), but 5 is probably my average. :( 


Kick wrote on Sep 28^th, 2020 at 9:16am:

IG was far more accurate than I was with the staff sling or the hand sling

Editing, my good sir! I was out there for at least an hour with stones. I'm still sore from it, haha. All of my balearic target practice with uniform ammo has made going back to stones a bit of a readjustment.

And thanks everybody. I still think that NOC has the lead though, that was too dang entertaining.

IronGoober wrote on Sep 28^th, 2020 at 10:27am:

I still think that NOC has the lead though, that was too dang entertaining.

Yeah I have to agree. Next year I'm going to hold off and see what I need to beat rather than rushing out a video just to get it done :D

Yeah, wiley e coyote is alive and well and living in texas :-)

The only thing missing was the 'Acme' stamp on the bricks :-)

It's time for another entry!

https://youtu.be/Y-ZCJO0AuqY

Nice Joe! Again, as I usually say aloud when I see your videos, 'Yeah boi!'. I saw that you posted and saved it until I got home so I could savor the pumpkin flavor.

First, nice slinging!  I love the one where you hit it, picked it up, and hit it again. The coward! LOL. I loved that. For some reason, I never realized how much of a hill you are on. I think my brain just automatically assumed that the camera was just a bit tilted. That must make your stance a bit more challenging.

Second, those stones must be heavy. Dang, they pack some punch, the whole pumpkin practically fractured all around the circumference. 

I wish I knew my beers, I don't, but I know it was something pumpkin-y!

Another triumph!

joe_meadmaker wrote on Oct 5^th, 2020 at 6:57pm:

It's time for another entry! https://youtu.be/Y-ZCJO0AuqY

Love it!  Clearly that magical shirt made all the difference. :)

The B-roll footage was great too! My wife never watches slinging videos but you had her laughing and commenting on the pumpkin damage after each session... and then when I paused the video to go check on one of my kids, she wouldn’t let me finish watching it until she was ready too. 

Good slinging. God production quality. And excellent fashion sense! 

IronGoober wrote on Oct 5^th, 2020 at 9:28pm:

The coward!

Can't blame the poor guy. If I had stones that big flying at me I would run too :D

Fantastic video as always Joe! I would love to see you in Mallorca at the next international (whenever it's allowed to happen), but only if you're on Team Finnlandia  ;) You were getting heavy hits on that pumpkin.

I thoroughly enjoyed that joe, as always with your videos.
I also really liked that the pumpkin ran away, from the stones, I know it wasn’t planned but it definitely added to the entertainment. As always video quality is top notch.
This challenge has provided the goods and I must say I’m still waiting on the pumpkins to arrive in my store and I hope they hurry up because between the skills shown in both editing and the slinging itself I’m already getting target panic. I hope the weather gods give me the best chance at making the video.

So far I’m really struggling with choosing a winner and think everyone is deserving of a prize so far.

I hope we continue this enthusiasm for the years to come and for other challenges such as the Easter egg challenge.

Great stuff everyone your all absolute legends!!!

This is going to be really hard to pick. I definitely should have waited a bit before jumping straight into it. I for sure underestimated the competition :D

well I think the only thing left to say for Joe's video is this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLQnrOZmZoc

Excellent and accurate slinging with all ammo.

Looks like about 10 metres - decent distance for a small targer :-)

And it really illustrates how difficult it is to throw with both power and accuracy.

Thanks all!  This was definitely a fun one to do.

@IG - Yeah, I'm on a bit of a hill.  You can see the general angle during the stones.  I put bricks under the target so the pumpkin is level, but the backstop just follows the ground.  It's actually not too bad when you're standing on it.  I think I've also just gotten used to it.

In the glass is The Great Pumpkin from Elysian Brewing.  Very tasty!

I think most of the stones I had were around 300 g.  Which is about triple the weight of the ice and pykrete, so that was a big adjustment.  They were the ones I used for the nail challenge.

@NOC - I'm glad everyone enjoyed it.  Slinging videos...great entertainment for the whole family!  :D

@Kick - I'm looking forward to joining Team Finnlandia in Mallorca one day!  With all the craziness going on now, maybe 2022 is a more realistic hope than next year.

@Mersa - Don't worry man, we're going to wait for you!  Looking forward to your submission.

@CA - It's much heavier that what I normally listen to, but I like that song!

I also should have mentioned the distance.  I was at about 50 feet.  So closer to 15 m.  That's pretty much my normal when target slinging.  Unless it's something ridiculous like a nail.  :)

lol the interesting thing about the brothers of metal songs is that they really delve deep into the norse myths and gods.

Until that song, I had no idea that there was a goat in valhalla that produced an endless tream of mead from it's teats.

And i really love the way ylva pronounces Ragnarok.
I just can't get that 'ruuoockk' sound at the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCpi1sZEZ1U

joe_meadmaker wrote on Oct 6^th, 2020 at 10:11am:

With all the craziness going on now, maybe 2022 is a more realistic hope than next year.

I fear you're right...  :(

Yeah it make missing this year’s competition even more painful. But in hindsight I’d be very broke now.

Kick wrote on Oct 6^th, 2020 at 12:53pm:

joe_meadmaker wrote on Oct 6th, 2020 at 10:11am: With all the craziness going on now, maybe 2022 is a more realistic hope than next year. I fear you're right...  :(

It just gives you guys one more year to train like Rocky (or NOC)!

I finally got a pumpkin, Stay tuned !!

yeah - next year is supposed to be the 500th anniversary of spain invading guam and crushing the native culture.
And no I'm not quite sure why they're celebrating - I think they just like beach parties :-)

It's march - but if there are still no reliable vaccines - there's no way I'm spending 24 hours on a succession of enclosed metal boxes with recycled atmosphere and a bunch of infected strangers.

As far as the international in mallorca goes - no clue.
At the moment I've lost track of where you do and don't need to be quarantined for 14 days - going and/or returning.

But again there's the whole aeroplane issue.

I'm supposedly in a vulnerable group and so's my mum.
So risks i do not take.

I had to travel through 4 airports within two weeks for the last one. Do that again with corona about? No, thank you. I work with old, already ill people and, if they get it, it will kill them. All of them. No if's or but's. It sucks because last year was just fantastic and I have never been in more need of a holiday than now.

All footage recorded, now I just need to get someone who can edit to help me be competitive in this awesome 2020 pumpkin challenge

Mersa wrote on Oct 12^th, 2020 at 3:24am:

All footage recorded, now I just need to get someone who can edit to help me be competitive in this awesome 2020 pumpkin challenge

An outside editor!? I feel like this is the beginning of an arms race. Next year is going to be ridiculous...

It’s only my GF she’s more tech savvy than me. I’m the ape that throws rocks

Kick wrote on Oct 12^th, 2020 at 4:01am:

I feel like this is the beginning of an arms race. Next year is going to be ridiculous...

The race is on to see who's first to get a drone and have an aerial view.  :D

Kick wrote on Oct 12^th, 2020 at 4:01am:

An outside editor!? I feel like this is the beginning of an arms race. Next year is going to be ridiculous...

He he. I like where’s this is going, but “ridiculous“ is kinda what I was going for THIS year. Well... at least we have a whole year to come up with a new video. 

I already have my plan for next years pumpkin challenge.
Almost everything I wanted to achieve in this year’s went to plan.
But don’t forget we also have the annual “Easter Egg Challenge” and given the success of this year’s pumpkin challenge I have high hopes for the Egg challenge too.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4J5971dsMlQ

Hopefully it’s up to standard.

Big thanks to my GF for the editing skills!!!

That was excellent!  That mouth hit was too perfect! :thumb:

Love the bonus round.  I wish I thought to try that.

Giving the pumpkin a new nose was also pretty great :D

Aw yeah!  That was awesome.

Talk about consistency. Did you see how many chips were taken out of the wall high right? Same pumpkin sized spot almost every time.

Bonus points for the bonus round. That ain't easy.

Love that through-and-through shot.  Ouch!

I count eight entries so far.  We still have two weeks left before voting time.  We only need 2 more video entries to unlock the Razor Glandes face mask prize.

Who else is in?

NooneOfConsequence wrote on Oct 13^th, 2020 at 4:11pm:

I count eight entries so far.  We still have two weeks left before voting time.  We only need 2 more video entries to unlock the Razor Glandes face mask prize. Who else is in?

Is it unique entries, or competitors?  PracticalParacord has two links in the fist post of the challenge.

Thanks everyone, I hadn’t practiced at all with that ammo and it was the first serious slinging session in about 2 weeks, it took a little adjusting to find my groove again but I was pretty happy, think it took 13 shots for my direct hit with the big scary 300g glande.
I was hoping to continue using the glande but it really imbedded itself in the pumpkin. Straight through the front and cracked the back of a fresh pumpkin. A big improvement on previous years. It’s a scary bit of ammo and only just fits in my pouch, you can kinda tell how hesitant I am to try put power into the shot.
I changed camera angle after because I wanted to try see the pumpkin getting hit with the smaller ammo, and yeas I was missing slightly high right almost every miss.
I also loved the pass through. I don’t know if you can tell but it goes pretty much in the mouth and out the back of the pumpkin.
Aerial shot was good too only took 3 try’s , but I wish I caught it better on film it’s just in frame.
Tungsten was crazy only threw it once because it’s very expensive and I didn’t want to lose my best piece, but man that barely left a hole just pushed straight through no problems. With a stone that would have glanced for sure.
I kinda felt bad I put some serious holes in the wall, the steel was just little chips but the big glande was putting massive holes.

My original plan was to sink a pumpkin as last year I discovered they float quite well, but after seeing just what the pumpkin challenge was providing this year I was quickly discouraged from the idea, i did however go and take my remaining pumpkin to my usual slinging spot and attempt it, I can confirm that unles you embed rocks into the pumpkin it will not sink, I basically had a boat made of a pumpkin and I filled it with water after 5 or so minutes of slinging but it wouldn’t sink it just sat at the very top of the water, I was going to include the clips in my video but I was happy with the way the video turned out so I left it out.

I’ll add a small clip so you see my point.

---

NooneOfConsequence wrote on Oct 13^th, 2020 at 4:11pm:

I count eight entries so far.  We still have two weeks left before voting time.  We only need 2 more video entries to unlock the Razor Glandes face mask prize. Who else is in?

I always put the entries on the first post of the thread as soon as I see them. 8 entries so far.

Mersa wrote on Oct 13^th, 2020 at 5:43pm:

I’ll add a small clip so you see my point.

That is funny. Even if you hit at the waterline it would still float.

i just realised i stuffed up, I didn't aim for the eyes!!!

nicer shooting mersa. :thumb:
You actually hit the pumpkin on the secoind throw in the bonus round you can see bits of pumpkin splatter in mid air.

Not easy that !

Hey CA... where’s your entry? 

Thanks CA , hopefully you’re going to upload an entry and get onboard.

P.s. Still waiting on father SITHmas “wink wink”  ;)

I will get the sith posted next week or die in the attempt !

Well friend just gave me his old ipad pro.
Big heavy beast and I'm not an apple fan - BUT !
It does have a camera that takes slo mo videos :-)

Damn thing was about £700 when he bought it and would fetch around £300 even now. People who pay this kind of money are weird.
For a similiarly specced android equivalent (admittedly without the slo mo camera) you'd pay less than £150 - and it would be tougher and weigh less. 

So I'm going to make a mount for it so i can use it with my camera tripod.
Pumpkins around £1-2 - so I'll get one for carving for helloween and one for killing :-)

Curious to see what the clay ammo does to them.

i'm about 12 months from my last haircut - so pretty hairy at the moment :-)

Both a pumpkin challenge and a sith sling posting, CA your getting me overly excited!!

I present: Garbo the trebuchet, chunkin punkins!  10/24/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lpiLypNoa4

Punkin Chunkin!  Awesome man!  That looks like such a great time!  :D

We have 10 entries!

Only 8 participants though.  It sounds like CA is working on one.  Assuming he's in, we need one more participant to unlock NOC's prize.

11 entries if you include joes “pumpkin vs shield” video.
Running close on the deadline, tempted to add another entry but the theatre of nooc’s is hard to top in my opinion.

Questions on voting, will it only be open for the participants or all Slinging.org members and also will the votes be public or secret?
If it’s only participants I think we shouldn’t be allowed to vote for ourselves just to take self premonition out of the equation.
And also how will we resolve a potential draw in the votes?

Mersa wrote on Oct 25^th, 2020 at 11:44pm:

Questions on voting, will it only be open for the participants or all Slinging.org members and also will the votes be public or secret? If it’s only participants I think we shouldn’t be allowed to vote for ourselves just to take self premonition out of the equation. And also how will we resolve a potential draw in the votes?

Whatever this group decides is fine with me.  I was thinking that anyone should be able to vote, but I really don't care either way.

I think voting should be open to all slinging.org members.  i also think once voting is open, we should give it a good bit of time.  Maybe a couple weeks.  With all the videos, it will take a good bit of time to go through them if someone hasn't been watching as they were posted.  And also to possibly get some members that don't check in very often.

If a poll is added to this thread (or maybe a new voting thread could be started in the General board), that would be anonymous.  Other than Admins, who I imagine would be able to see.  Then if someone wants to reveal their vote or explanation, a post can be created.  Which is cool with me.

In general I don't like the idea of self voting.  My vote on that is we just rule it out.  Then we don't need to worry about evaluating our own submissions.  As Mersa said, 'take it out of the equation'.

Just my thoughts on some of the points brought up.

I'm good with all of that. I think it should be open for all forum members.

Kick wrote on Oct 26^th, 2020 at 11:51am:

I'm good with all of that. I think it should be open for all forum members.

This of course all hinges on us assuming that anyone else outside of the participants even cares about what we are doing :)

I think self-voting should be discouraged (hard to prevent someone from doing it in a poll), but that the participants should still vote, I mean, we are the ones most invested in this, we should have a say.

I’m happy with anything moving forward except self voting.
Self voting is not sporting and I think should be banned, if a moderator could oversee this somehow that would be perfect in an anonymous voting system.
As for all the other specifics I’m fairly open.
I also think the vote should be held on the “General slinging” section, I believe it gets more traffic.

Perhaps a point system could be used , like 3 points on your first vote , 2 for your second and 1 for 3rd?? Or just a straight single vote. A poll is good but we should make a limit on voting times. 2 weeks is probably perfect but I’m easy (I have little to no confidence in winning anyway).

I really appreciate everyone’s thoughts and efforts on this challenge it’s been a great outcome from the online challenge thread!!

Mersa wrote on Oct 26^th, 2020 at 7:16pm:

Perhaps a point system could be used , like 3 points on your first vote , 2 for your second and 1 for 3rd?? Or just a straight single vote.

I think a single vote will be best.  If we had a few prizes and were doing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, then a point system might work better.  Maybe we can try that for the next big challenge.

Yeah straight votes I think. Let's keep it simple for now.

Easy

So do PP’s 3 entries each count as separate ones? Or do votes get combined?  I say he put in the effort three times and shouldn’t have to complete against himself, so a vote for any video is a vote for Channing. Same for anyone else who posts multiple entries. Any objections?

I think that's fair.

I have no objection.  Unless he wants to just pick one of them as his official entry video.  That might be more fitting as there are no other participants with multiple entries.  But as you said, he put in the effort, so I'm good either way.

He was one of the many that made this challenge awesome!  Great work everyone!

And there's still one day left if there are any stragglers out there. :whistle:

On his channel there is also a second person that has there own entry:
https://youtu.be/KxilAbAT3OA

Oh wait sorry I didn't see it was already added to the list.

Doesn't look like I will get an opportunity to film my video and upload before the 31st, but I'm in for the spirit of the challenge rather than the prize. Hopefully I can get out today to complete it.

Whether you make it in time for the voting or not, I hope you post a video.  Love to see it!  :)

joe_meadmaker wrote on Oct 30^th, 2020 at 7:20pm:

Whether you make it in time for the voting or not, I hope you post a video.  Love to see it!  :)

Got it filmed, now just to edit it.
Working against the clock!

Thought I would keep it short...
Part 1: https://youtu.be/X-G0Om63oQE
Part 2: https://youtu.be/7L3ZHabEkSc

20m with 20" Luis Balearic sling.

Archaic Arms wrote on Oct 30^th, 2020 at 10:04pm:

Thought I would keep it short... Part 1: https://youtu.be/X-G0Om63oQE Part 2: https://youtu.be/7L3ZHabEkSc 20m with 20" Luis Balearic sling.

Awesome... Dead. Center.

Also, Achievement Unlocked!!! (10 persons' entries)

Great shot!  I also like the melee hit to finish it off!  :thumb:

Great shooting Albion...

And a great contest all around! I will try to do the random drawing for the mask before the weekend is up.

Now the hard part is going to be figuring out how I am supposed to vote for only one of you for the main prize!

It's going to be difficult. Way more difficult than I thought it would be.

Ok... we have a winner of the random drawing! 
With 9 players other than me (I’m not giving the prize to myself), I used random.org to select a number 1-9 where each person is associated with a number based on the order of their video submissions as listed in the first post by IG.

I will PM the winner privately so nobody decides not to vote for them for the main prize.  I will announce the winner publicly after the main voting is closed.

Thanks everyone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Xjw0f7nMg

Was this video part of a challenge in years past?

Or just an independent pumpkin slinging video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjXCXFYSnkY

He has some other good stuff on his channel.

New to me

New to me too.

The video was posted in 2018.  I went back in the Online Challenges topic to that time.  There was talk of a Pumpkin Challenge, but I don't see any videos posted.  Not sure if anyone was doing it or not.  It was toward the end of 2018 when I joined here, so I would have either not been here yet, or been brand new.

I remember seeing this video before but I don't think they were ever on here.