Morphy wrote on Nov 22
nd, 2013 at 3:26pm:
Pikåru wrote on Nov 10
th, 2013 at 11:50am:
Settling on this design as the best sling for me. Braided and tapered fiber cords, wrist anchor and soft leather pouch.
The pouch on this sling is 3.5oz. If the leather is soft enough I favor about twice the leather weight.
Pik, can you explain why this design is your favorite?
Sure Morphy. My favorite kind of sling is more about the kind of leather used for the pouch than it is about the other components that make up the sling. Single strand or multi strand braided anchor and release cords operate about the same and at the end of the day come down to personal perference and experience.
My experience dictates this design because I prefer a heavier sling. I want to be able to dry fire my sling and have it perform nearly the same empty as it does with a projectile. This is why the pouch is thick and the cords are wide at the root then taper towards the ends, especially the release cord. A release cord that starts thicker then thins out to the end makes for a smooth release without tangling.
For the leather, I prefer a heavy garment-like grade of leather because it is usually the softest. No matter where it comes from the leather must be soft and full grained. No stiff leather and no leather splits (suede). I prefer a cut from the belly or lower shoulder because the leather in those areas is more elastic. I like a pouch that will stretch a little and mold itself around the protectile, no matter what kind of projectile you're throwing so that it does not accidentally come out of the pouch on wind up.
Because belly area leather is typically weaker than say the back area you have to attach your pouch in a way that will not easily tear. Just punching a hole and attaching your cords will not last long. The way these cords are attached keeps the pouch in tact and allows the pouch to open up completely when you throw.
If you look at the photo, the pouch with the black dyed edging is actually a third less the weight of the pouch shown on the top which is 4.5oz. A leather gauge works best to measure the exact weight, which equals thinckness, of your leather to be sure of what you're working with.
These are my preferences based off of my experience. I do like some woven and split pouch designs and again most of these really perform very similarly to each other but I always come back to this pouch design and material. For all the years I have been slinging about the only thing that has changed for me recently has been the use of fiber braided cords instead of single strand or braided leather. Fiber just lasts so much longer.
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