Well hello Slingers,

I've been interested in slinging for a couple of weeks now, and did think it was time to join this forum.

I've picked up an interest after a reddit post where someone was slinging tennis balls for their dog. I decided to try and make a sling for myself, without doing any research.
The first one was very rudimentary, made out of a bicycle inner tube, and wasn't very much of a succes.

I then had some progression as seen in the attached picture. I started with a simple loop sling from some rope I had lying around. It wasn't a big succes either, but could make some distance with it...  ::)
I guess that's where I discovered this site, and made a black seatbelt-sling-type thing with some paracord and felt.
The red/blue/black sling is where it really took of. I made it based on some post here on the forum, and it works very well. It has a nice crack to it. Unfortunately it starts to show some wear already.
The last one is the blue sling. I haven't really got the chance to test it, probably will do so this afternoon. It is a mersa-style sling, but somehow my ammo keeps falling out. Might have made a mistake in the balance/centering of the lead cords.

I live in the Netherlands, and mainly use my sling when I'm taking a walk with my dog, slinging tennisballs for her to fetch. That's also where my username came from, a Stabyhoun is a dutch breed of dogs.

Nice to meet you all, and thanks for all the available info.

Stabyhoun

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Good beginning.
Welcome.

Made a new sling yesterday. Out of jute cord. It is based off the rockman design.

The pouch holds really well. It is remarkable that it is way more silent than the paracord sling. Probably because of all the fibers sticking out.

Is there a good way to fix this? Burn it off with a flame?

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Welcome from New Jersey.  Your sling making is progressing quickly. 

Welcome from Pennsylvania, USA!


Stabyhoun wrote on May 17^th, 2024 at 8:23am:

Burn it off with a flame?

Exactly.  If you have a lighter, it will clean it up really fast.

And nice looking slings! :thumb:

Nice looking sling! A gas range/stove top will also do the trick, just pass the sling through the flame quickly and it will singe the little hairs off very nicely without altering the sling at all.

If you use the sling for a week or two, they will also just break off.

I decided not to burn the jute sling. I kind of like the silent whoosh it gives now.

Instead I made a new sling out of some desert camo paracord.
I made a double finger loop, twisted flat braid for the retainer cord. Rockman style pouch, finished of with a cobra knot for the ends of the weave.

I've waxed it with some ski-wax I had laying around, and melted it into the fabric in the oven.

In the oven the whip cracker kind of hardened, and didn't work anymore, so I removed it, and made some new cracker cords. I'll try to give those a whirl this afternoon.


I do have a small issue with the double finger loop and the flat braid. The finger loop is kind of at an 90 degree angle in comparison to the pouch, so the cord twists a quarter turn.
Is this normal for this construction, or did I make a mistake?

I was thinking of making the next one with a 6-strand round braid, to be able to turn the finger loops, and align the pouch better.

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Good looking sling.

Stabyhoun wrote on May 28^th, 2024 at 4:09am:

I do have a small issue with the double finger loop and the flat braid. The finger loop is kind of at an 90 degree angle in comparison to the pouch, so the cord twists a quarter turn. Is this normal for this construction, or did I make a mistake?

I don't know if I would call it a mistake.  Most of the double finger loop slings I've seen (and used) do have the loops and the pouch in the same orientation.  So if the pouch is laying down flat on a table, the loops are also laying down flat.  In that sense, yes, the sling you have pictured does have them at 90° to each other.  But as to which is correct, that will come down to you (how you hold and release the sling).  With your normal throw, if it seems that the sling is twisted a 1/4 turn, then you'll probably benefit from getting them lined up.

All that said, the sling does look nice.  It would actually be my preference for a double finger loop.  A double loop like that has never worked well for me.  Even after multiple 100-Rounds, I just can't get a consistent release.  So I end up just using one loop.  And when you do that, it's much better to have the loops and pouch oriented as you have them.

What you have with the pouch/loop orientation is best for a rifled release.  I would say it is correct.

Rat Man wrote on May 28^th, 2024 at 9:07am:

Good looking sling.

Thanks!


joe_meadmaker wrote on May 28^th, 2024 at 9:37pm:

But as to which is correct, that will come down to you (how you hold and release the sling).  With your normal throw, if it seems that the sling is twisted a 1/4 turn, then you'll probably benefit from getting them lined up.

Yeah, That's why I was wondering if I should try a different braid next time.



joe_meadmaker wrote on May 28^th, 2024 at 9:37pm:

All that said, the sling does look nice.  It would actually be my preference for a double finger loop.  A double loop like that has never worked well for me.  Even after multiple 100-Rounds, I just can't get a consistent release.  So I end up just using one loop.  And when you do that, it's much better to have the loops and pouch oriented as you have them.

I never really thought that having a single or double loop would actually effect the release. I must say that I haven't really used this sling enough to be able to tell the difference.

I've added a couple of pictures, one how the sling naturally holds. You can see the twist in de retainer cord.
While inspecting the finger loops; they have a natural tendancy to twist the cord 45 degrees. I might have to look into the braid crossing over in eachother, there might be a more square way to do that. I've just improvised this one on the go ::)

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Reworked the release end.
Removed the crown knot, sewed/binded a small loop made of paracord without core. Then made a tassle out of the core.

We'll see how this one cracks.

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Stabyhoun wrote on May 29^th, 2024 at 1:24am:

I never really thought that having a single or double loop would actually effect the release. I must say that I haven't really used this sling enough to be able to tell the difference.

It could just be me.  I don't actually recall hearing anyone complain about the double loop other than myself.

Most of the time a double loop is going to naturally come out at a 90° angle to the fingers.  There's not really a way to get around that.  With a single loop it can easily be held at an angle.  I attached a couple pictures to show that more clearly.  With the double finger loop I can feel it when I release and I don't like it.  And just to note, I'm not bashing the double finger loop.  There are plenty of great slingers out there who use it.  It's just not for me.

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Thanks for the pictures, I see what you mean.

I was mainly wondering the use of a double finger loop in combination with a flat braid. I see you use round braids.

Ah, well. First got to get some more shots with this one to really tell anything about it.

My latest creation; with a 6-strand round braid for the retention cord.
I really had a hard time with the round braid. Got lost in the pattern several times, and the braid hasn't become very even.
I rotated the pouch 90 degrees, and it seems to work very well.

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Managed to score a big load of tennis balls. Got into contact with someone from a tennis club, selling 60 balls for €10.- (right bag). When I got there, we got into a bit of a chat, and she offered me another bag, free of charge, with a random assortment of practice balls (left bag). Must be well over 150 balls in total. Money well spent...

Have been having fun trying out my new sling. Found a soccer field nearby with a nice big fence behind the goalpost. Didn't quite expect to be throwing most balls trough the fence.

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Nice score. 

Rat Man wrote on Jun 13^th, 2024 at 4:39pm:

Nice score.

THIS!!! ^^^

Some of them look to be pretty good quality. I've found that only the pressurized tennis balls hold up for long periods of time. At least for me.

A few new colours of paracord came in the mail.

After seeing me slinging, my kids wanted a "ball-thrower" for themselves. So I constructed the red and blue slings for my 3 and 5 year old.

I wanted to make a more lightweight sling, so instead of a 6-strand braid, I used a 4-strand braid. The pouch is a 2-strand weave, ended with a cobra knot. And the release cord drops 1 strand halfway trough. The whipcracker is a 3 strand-braid from the core of the paracord.

They came out so well, that I couldn't resist to make another one (brown/black) for myself.

Really like the details of the pouch, and the easy crack of the whip.


I'm still a bit in doubt about the length. As a measure I used the length from the fingers, to the middle of the bicep. For my own sling that happened to be 120cm (about 48"). Practical Paracord talks about 60" slings, so I guess I could make it a bit longer next time.

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Lookin' good! :thumb:

I love hearing about kids wanting to sling (and slinging).  :)

Well, they tried, it failed a couple of times, and then they just started playing with the tennis balls.
Maybe next time they might have a bit longer attention span.

On a side note; Yesterday I went out with a friend, and introduced him to slinging. Took a couple of throws to get adjusted, but rapidly improved. Gave him the brown/black sling. Gives me another excuse to make a new one for myself.

I think I had like 5 throws with that sling, before giving it away  ::)

Dude! That progression is incredible. That last sling is a thing of beauty.

RhonanTennenbrook wrote on Jun 28^th, 2024 at 4:24pm:

Dude! That progression is incredible. That last sling is a thing of beauty.

Thanks! I might enjoy making the slings about as much as using them.

Made a new one. Almost the same design, a bit longer now.
I improved the finger loops by making a cobra weave over the single strands. I used a core-less paracord for the cobra, to keep it flat and low-profile.

It is about 150cm (60"-ish). Had a few throws with it yesterday. It doesn't throw as comfortably as the 6-strand sling I made earlier. But that might also just getting some more throws in.
It does crack a lot less, compared to the previous, heavier slings. Can't seem to find the balance on that... Yet...

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Ah been busy checking in on my own thread so didn't realize you were new as well. Those are nice slings indeed. The blue one looks very interesting.

Pouch transitions and whip crackers look quality. Nice work.


Stabyhoun wrote on Jun 24^th, 2024 at 10:12am:

The pouch is a 2-strand weave, ended with a cobra knot.

Having just braided the extra strings into the cord this interests me (that brownish sling v2's transition looks good). Have an easy to follow explanation for this? Same question for the whip-crackers. Also what is that you've used to twist around the braid? Paracord innards or something else?


Stabyhoun wrote on Jul 1^st, 2024 at 7:57am:

It does crack a lot less, compared to the previous, heavier slings. Can't seem to find the balance on that... Yet...

Still using innards of the paracord? Tried any other material? Because same issue here (haven't gotten a chance to try the 6 string versions full force). Best cracking one I've made incorporated in a 4 string round braid is actually a gutted piece of paracord and not braided innards. Worth a try perhaps (?) unless a more senior member here has a better suggestion.


Stabyhoun wrote on Jul 1^st, 2024 at 7:57am:

I might enjoy making the slings about as much as using them.

Couldn't agree more with this; it's thrilling to see if the little tweaks render good results. Looks like they've done so here for sure. 👍


Stabyhoun wrote on Jun 24^th, 2024 at 10:12am:

I'm still a bit in doubt about the length.

I don't know how tall you are/length of your arms, because figure that might/should change preferences, but without talking cm's most of my slings have with a loaded pouch turned out to stretch to just about my armpit (if that's helpful advice?). This length seems pretty accurate; least for me as a beginner. Longer assume will sacrifice some accuracy at least for a beginner but again more senior members would be more in the know; just giving my two cents.