magnumslinger
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I don't sling a thing if I ain't got my sling!
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United Arab Emirates
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This is a good, and important issue. Most of the fraying and wear I experience with my favourite slings is related to this very issue, as well as rapidly repated reloading and shooting quickly with the sling. I believe the excellent quotation of the elite Achaean/Balearic long distance slings with the extremely stiff, rigid triple cords which allowed these virtuosos to strike "not only the face, but any part of the face..., etc." supports the belief of some of the best slingers in the ancient world in the superiority of stiffened, non-bending, non-twisting long cords for the ultimate in long-range precision marksmanship with the sling.
On the old "Stoneslings" forum, from which many of us derive, and have been fortunate enough to regroup here at "Slinging.org", bigger, better and more dedicated than ever to our ancient, and ever-new sport/self-improvement skill, some of our slinging brethren and sisters had mentioned stiffening their cords with melted parafin wax dripped the length of the release cord, (or perhaps, both cords?). I think that I should try this at some point. We wax strings on crossbows to give them better life and efficiency, so why not? Or perhaps just rubbing something in like violin resin or surfboard wax onto the strings occasionally would be enough to help. Or you could just used a pine tree as a target, and when it bleeds sap from the gaping hole in its bark, rub the cords against the trunk to soak it in that. I suppose I'm a pine sap vampire, anyway, since that's how I get my quick energy "food" when slinging on long mountain hikes in Korea, when I don't have any other food left.
Anyway, this would allow the cords not to twist, and would probably increase the efficiency of rotation speed, resulting in less cord lag/more efficient acceleration just before the critical moment of release, and would allow for a pinch grip rather than the still excellent, more sophisticated, but possibly energy-consuming separated finger grip, if one needed just a little extra edge when going for something like the world distance record (I know that Jurek knows I'm suggesting this mainly to him, as something to try in the future, if he thinks it might help him!:->)!
I know that if I use a rotation, my lines try to snag. Usually they don't, but as they grow less stiff with wear, they begin to do sop often, and to fray against each other. The projectile also will touch the release cord, as I can prove with the difference in wear patterns when I use jagged vs. non-jagged projectiles, which is why I agree that heavier projectiles and lighter, less obtrusive release lines are another key to avoiding this problem. That's one reason I believe my use of the lightest possible materials in my own ultra-light "magnum" slings works so welkl for me.
I wonder, however, if waxing might add to the drag factor on my nylon fishing net line, whose main virtues are its combination of being both thin AND POUROUS to air resistance, yet cheap, strong and stiff enough to give excellent day-to-day slinging performance (possibly not, since the net pouch size doesn't seem to make a lot of difference due to similar qualities and composition as the lines). I like the consistency of the perfomance of these things even if I replace the components, due to their inherent uniformity and consistency. Since the major drag and resistence is supplied ONLY by the projectile, it tends to make for some very efficient slinging even for shorter length slings. Even after using these things for several months (before I was using thick, spongy "weightless" polyurythane cord, and thought that THAT was the ultimate cord material...well, it DOES tend to resist twisting, and to untwist a little better!) , I STILL feel like a kid with a new toy every day I go out slinging!
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