Slowly but surely the Facebook group is growing. Already up to ten members. Which is more than I expected this early. There is already a person asking for tips on avoiding twist issues when winding up to throw. I want to be sure it is ok for me to link to the forum before continuing further. I figure it will generate more traffic here and help grow the sport. I could use some of your guy's help. Plus it could be cool having both resources at hand in my opinion. https://www.facebook.com/groups/381389413910970/?ref=share

Just joined ;)

Tint wrote on May 4^th, 2022 at 6:02pm:

Just joined ;)

Thanks glad to have you. I am actually about to start working on the sling for the give away ;D

That's at least 12 then :-)

Yes, also I Invision the group and the forum being a good couple so to speak lol.

Joined.

We will be glad to have you. The growth has slowed a little now, but got more members in a week than I ever expected

Up to 18 members! Anyone on here with an Etsy shop or similar is encouraged to join the group and share links. I want to know where I can buy when I'm not making them haha.

Glad to see that there's finally a Facebook group. I don't hang around these parts of the web as much as I would like really.

larinen wrote on May 16^th, 2022 at 7:54pm:

Glad to see that there's finally a Facebook group. I don't hang around these parts of the web as much as I would like really.

I can understand that. For the most part I’m not a huge fan of facebook, but I do see it’s potential to spread education, and maybe even gain knowledge from people who haven’t made profiles here. It will be nice to have you in the group

Loving the group. Although it would be nice if it was set to private, so only members can see who's in it and what is posted. I'm not entirely comfortable having friends being able to comment and like my posts. But maybe that's just me 🤷‍♂️

Just joined. Very excited to see how it goes. I have a hard time tracking my previous posts on here so I think Facebook is gonna make things easier.

really ?
I can never find anything I've ever posted on any facebook group !

What's the trick ?

Curious Aardvark wrote on May 20^th, 2022 at 7:02am:

really ? I can never find anything I've ever posted on any facebook group ! What's the trick ?

🤷‍♂️ my friends and family seem able to find my posts in the shepherd slingers group though, as they keep liking and commenting. Depends what facebook decides to shove down everyone's throat on their feed any given day according to their mysterious algorithms.

Either way, maybe it's just me and my high value/emphasis on privacy that gets me feeling a bit funny when a group's privacy settings are low.

slingostarr wrote on May 19^th, 2022 at 6:22pm:

Loving the group. Although it would be nice if it was set to private, so only members can see who's in it and what is posted. I'm not entirely comfortable having friends being able to comment and like my posts. But maybe that's just me 🤷‍♂️

Same. Same.

Not that I want to keep my slinging secret, but I'd feel better engaging and posting if all 1800 of my Facebook friends couldn't randomly see it in their feeds.

larinen wrote on May 22^nd, 2022 at 7:07am:

slingostarr wrote on May 19th, 2022 at 6:22pm: Loving the group. Although it would be nice if it was set to private, so only members can see who's in it and what is posted. I'm not entirely comfortable having friends being able to comment and like my posts. But maybe that's just me 🤷‍♂️ Same. Same. Not that I want to keep my slinging secret, but I'd feel better engaging and posting if all 1800 of my Facebook friends couldn't randomly see it in their feeds.

Me too. I've even held off posting some things for that very reason.

Well guys, a huge reason for creating the group is, so more people will be able to get involved. I have kept it as open so that we can get members to join from all walks. Not just people from the forum. I intend to set it to private once the group grows a bit, that way we can keep spam bots out etc. However, it is almost impossible to grow a group on Facebook if you set it to private off the start. Myself personally. If my family and friends can see my posts it doesn't bother me. If anything it will help add members. Which is the goal here guys. I am not trying to be coming across any kind of negative way either. I started this group to get more exposure to slinging in general. I can understand wanting the group private once it reaches a certain size, but it isn't like we are self incriminating on these posts so the more who sees the better. That is just my opinion as it is now though. I am not saying my mind can't be changed either. I just don't understand why anyone would be bothered by family or friends seeing a hobby we love? Again not trying to be rude, just trying to understand. Thanks guys. I want the group to be comfortable for you guys, but still want to attract new members who may have never google searched sling related things, to find the forum.

Duckhands wrote on May 22^nd, 2022 at 1:01pm:

Well guys, a huge reason for creating the group is, so more people will be able to get involved. I have kept it as open so that we can get members to join from all walks. Not just people from the forum. I intend to set it to private once the group grows a bit, that way we can keep spam bots out etc. However, it is almost impossible to grow a group on Facebook if you set it to private off the start. Myself personally. If my family and friends can see my posts it doesn't bother me. If anything it will help add members. Which is the goal here guys. I am not trying to be coming across any kind of negative way either. I started this group to get more exposure to slinging in general. I can understand wanting the group private once it reaches a certain size, but it isn't like we are self incriminating on these posts so the more who sees the better. That is just my opinion as it is now though. I am not saying my mind can't be changed either. I just don't understand why anyone would be bothered by family or friends seeing a hobby we love? Again not trying to be rude, just trying to understand. Thanks guys. I want the group to be comfortable for you guys, but still want to attract new members who may have never google searched sling related things, to find the forum.

I think the reason it hasn't become an illegal activity yet is because it is so unknown. The more people kmow about it, the more people who shouldn't be doing it engage in it and ruin ot for rest of us. I thought the FB group would have more been for people here who aren't as active due to the oldschool format and inconvenient layout. Also this group doesn't have any attachment to personally idenrifying details. Slinging is a bit of a grey area legally in Australia too. It isn't listed as a weapon on AFP prohibited weapons list, but it also isn't something I would openly admit to a police officer that I possessed and used.

I understand your sentiment, I just personally am not comfortable with friends and family seeing my posts. I'll probably just stick with the forum here rather than engage too much in the FB group. Just my two cents 😊

Curious Aardvark wrote on May 20^th, 2022 at 7:02am:

really? I can never find anything I've ever posted on any facebook group ! What's the trick ?

I think you can see all your posts on your Activity log. I haven’t been using Facebook as much as Twitter recently, so I’m not sure if things have changed.

At work, my company block this site saying it is a site related to weapons....

That happened a few years ago and was the major cause of me being unless active.

The Facebook group is great! I am more motivated to practice and make slings. Thank you!

Anyone who is worried about the privacy settings. I am trying to get FB to let users post anonymously, while remaining public. Just got to get the glitchy BS software to stop bugging and save the setting. If I get it working, would that be an acceptable compromise? I know some of you have concerns about raising awareness, but bows and arrows, slingshots, crossbows, and black powder muskets all have tons of publicity, and at least in the USA are all very minimally restricted.

Duckhands wrote on May 23^rd, 2022 at 10:11pm:

Anyone who is worried about the privacy settings. I am trying to get FB to let users post anonymously, while remaining public. Just got to get the glitchy BS software to stop bugging and save the setting. If I get it working, would that be an acceptable compromise? I know some of you have concerns about raising awareness, but bows and arrows, slingshots, crossbows, and black powder muskets all have tons of publicity, and at least in the USA are all very minimally restricted.

I think that's a reasonable compromise.

Yeah I agree some those weapons are yet to be legislated, though it's probably just a matter of time. In Australia crossbows are illegal unless you get a specific license for one, which is exceptionally difficult. Slingshots are illegal. Black powder muskets require a gun license. I'm surprised compound bows are still legal. I would just hate to be a suspect in an instance where a rock was thrown. I'm pretty cautious about who I introduce slinging to, as it's such an easily made piece of equipment, so easily concealed and with ammunition available literally anywhere. If authorities got a whiff of it's potential here in leftist, nanny-state Australia I doubt they'd last long.

Slings aren’t a weapon like the ones you mentioned. It’s more akin to a throw.  You could “sling” with almost anything. Yes some are better designs but essentially a belt or scarfs can be used to sling with .
And you can sling marshmallows or lead glandes. Much is in the application and circumstances.  I think that it’s no more deadly or dangerous than a baseball bat or a broomstick. And probably less deadly in a non experienced user.

I don’t think a sling is very dangerous in itself.
What you throw could be considered dangerous in the wrong application but mostly to the user if they have no idea how to sling . In someway the sling is an ultra safe tool. And in the right application it’s more a toy or sport equipment than a “weapon”

Yes, I agree.

Mersa wrote on May 24^th, 2022 at 8:23am:

And you can sling marshmallows or lead glandes. Much is in the application and circumstances.  I think that it’s no more deadly or dangerous than a baseball bat or a broomstick. And probably less deadly in a non experienced user.

Throwing a tennis ball with a sling is as dangerous as throwing a tennis ball with a racket.
It's up to us to refuse those who are in the "grey zone".

Yeah, I tend to forget how upity most of the world is about one's ability to protect themselves, but yeah the fact that anything can be turned into a sling is all the more reason I don't see a problem trying to grow slinging in general. I think of slinging as a sport. Even if only for hunting. Part of the reason I made the group is also to grow sling-golf as a potentially fun sport. I am in the process of figuring out the hole design. I was thinking if not just using existing golf balls and holes that it could be cool to make a Cornhole style target with a Diana sized netted hole

Ideally the Diana Cornhole idea would be easy to mount to the bottom, or top maybe, of an existing disc golf basket. So retrofitting existing disc golf courses wouldn't be too hard.

slingostarr wrote on May 22^nd, 2022 at 7:32am:

larinen wrote on May 22nd, 2022 at 7:07am: slingostarr wrote on May 19th, 2022 at 6:22pm: Loving the group. Although it would be nice if it was set to private, so only members can see who's in it and what is posted. I'm not entirely comfortable having friends being able to comment and like my posts. But maybe that's just me 🤷‍♂️ Same. Same. Not that I want to keep my slinging secret, but I'd feel better engaging and posting if all 1800 of my Facebook friends couldn't randomly see it in their feeds. Me too. I've even held off posting some things for that very reason.

I definitely want everyone to feel comfortable posting I am annoyed any government would have people nervous to post pictures of string crafts ;)

Agree with the above. Facebook is not my go to for public posting, I like the anonymity of this site. I suppose I could make a separate Facebook account, but I'd rather not.

IronGoober wrote on May 25^th, 2022 at 1:45pm:

Agree with the above. Facebook is not my go to for public posting, I like the anonymity of this site. I suppose I could make a separate Facebook account, but I'd rather not.

I can understand that sentiment, it saddens me. I struggle to see how posting about slinging could cause problems, even in the most strict countries. Unless your post contained legitimate illegal activity. I am still working on getting animosity as a setting for posting though. It won't work on my phone or iPad though so I may bust out the laptop. Hopefully at some point all of the active members here will cross over as well. I still think the forum and group could work well together.

just joined

As far as slinggolf goes, we did the Diana sized net on a stick in 2007

It did not work well lol
If you miss, you tend to end up halfway down the green.
And a hole that could have been below par often turns into double figures !

They take a different approach in guam.

And use a ground based target (pyrimidal I believe) that sits over the hole.
So you're basically rolling the ball in, which makes it easier to hit and less likely to carry on for miles if you miss.

Sling golf is quite well established in guam.
If you post on the worldwide Facebook slinging group they'll no doubt show you what they use.

But trust me, a target on a stick, is NOT the way to do it. :-)

Facebook isn't really any more intrusive than any other social media.
It only knows what you tell it.

If you don't want someone to know something, don't post it.

It's a bit like these idiot celebrities who winge when their naughty pictures they've stored on a 'cloud' become public.
If you have to keep such things, never store it anywhere you don't have physical access to.
There are no clouds. Just storage facilities in countries that don't have privacy regulations.

But I digress.

I haven't heard from Roman in a while, might drop him a line and get the slinggolf info.