Fundibularius wrote on Jun 23
rd, 2010 at 4:56am:
Thanks, timann. Your new grass sling looks looks even better than the one you posted a few months ago. The cord braid seems like it can hold out a lot of tension.
I think you are right, these kinds of slings can be made in a short time, but stone abrasion and stress wear them off quickly. My pampa grass sling broke after about 40 shots, and the nettle sling will probably not be more robust. On the other hand, there are doubtlessly ways to work the fibers more carefully than I did, or treat them with wax or so, so the slings might get a bit tougher for use.
Anyway, it is a lot of fun to make a sling out of something that grows in your garden. And the tea made from the nettle leaves isn't too bad, either.
Never tasted nettle tea but got my fill of nettle soup as a kid(which is not as horrible as it may sound). I have studied the Diego video and pictures of balearic slings during the vinter an could make a better sling now than last summer.
BTW one of those had its release cord tip breaking once, but I simply unbraided the rest a bit, added more grass and re-braided the tip. Now
that is field repair.
Two summers ago I made a short rope from nettle fibers and thought that it
should be possible to braid a sling from fibers without making individual strands first, but I was not aware of the Diego video then...
timann