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Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets (Read 10834 times)
Curious Aardvark
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Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Sep 30th, 2007 at 9:29am
 
I never claimed to be sane - I think this needs to be pointed out right at the start of this article :-)

I have recently stood in a field while people slung rocks and lead glandes at me (safety equipment ? what kind of wimp do you think I am lol). At one point a lead glande thrown by larry bray landed about 5 feet directly in front of me (just behind the 250 yard marker - he'd indicated it was going somewhere else and I just happend to move into it's path lol).
Now one of the things that is not immediately obvious to the sling user is the noise an incoming missile makes.
It's quite loud and can be heard for 2-3 seconds before the missile impacts. At no point can the victim see an incoming sling missile. You just hear it.
It's a sort of angry whirring sound.

Now if you were to multiply that sound by several hundred - as would be the case with a massed slinging attack - the noise of incoming 'invisible' missiles would be very loud indeed.
You would not have been able to dodge - like you might have done with an arrow that would have been visible - you would just have to stand there and wait for the impact.
Pretty darn nerve wracking I think you'll agree.   
The same effect could be multiplied for horses.

So slinging in battle would have had a dramatic effect on both the mental attitude of those being slung at and on their discipline. That above and beyond the sheer damage the physical impacts would also do.

The other thing that stood out for me while being slung at - is the spin of the missile. Every single stone or glande that larry bray threw spun so fast that on impact with the ground they immediately buried themselves and could not be found - even the ones I had spotted the exact landing position of (even the ones that landed less than 10 feet away) had buried themselves too deep to be found. I suspect that the penetration ability of a slung glande has been strongly underestimated on this website as a consequence of not taking the spin and orientation into account.

On reflection I suppose it should have been quite scary and indeed everyone else took cover behind the four wheeler after the throws - but I was just having too much fun to really care :-) (hence my opening statement)

In short I suspect that being shot at with arrows was probably preferable to being shot at by slingers.

Like so many things related to slings we seem to have lost the experiences our ancestors probably took for granted. Having experienced quite a few now first hand - I have a much greater respect for the sling's impact as a psychological as well as a physical weapon in warfare.
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #1 - Sep 30th, 2007 at 3:59pm
 
great obsevations C A
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #2 - Sep 30th, 2007 at 4:46pm
 
You are not insane you're just really curious!

I don't remember the source anymore  Embarrassed , but a couple of years ago (long before I discovered slinging) I read somewhere that the greeks carved the sling shots for making their flight noisier.

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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #3 - Sep 30th, 2007 at 9:12pm
 
Curious Aardvark wrote on Sep 30th, 2007 at 9:29am:
I never claimed to be sane - I think this needs to be pointed out right at the start of this article Smiley

I have recently stood in a field while people slung rocks and lead glandes at me (safety equipment ? what kind of wimp do you think I am lol). At one point a lead glande thrown by larry bray landed about 5 feet directly in front of me (just behind the 250 yard marker - he'd indicated it was going somewhere else and I just happend to move into it's path lol).
Now one of the things that is not immediately obvious to the sling user is the noise an incoming missile makes.
It's quite loud and can be heard for 2-3 seconds before the missile impacts. At no point can the victim see an incoming sling missile. You just hear it.
It's a sort of angry whirring sound.

Now if you were to multiply that sound by several hundred - as would be the case with a massed slinging attack - the noise of incoming 'invisible' missiles would be very loud indeed.
You would not have been able to dodge - like you might have done with an arrow that would have been visible - you would just have to stand there and wait for the impact.
Pretty darn nerve wracking I think you'll agree.  
The same effect could be multiplied for horses.

So slinging in battle would have had a dramatic effect on both the mental attitude of those being slung at and on their discipline. That above and beyond the sheer damage the physical impacts would also do.

The other thing that stood out for me while being slung at - is the spin of the missile. Every single stone or glande that larry bray threw spun so fast that on impact with the ground they immediately buried themselves and could not be found - even the ones I had spotted the exact landing position of (even the ones that landed less than 10 feet away) had buried themselves too deep to be found. I suspect that the penetration ability of a slung glande has been strongly underestimated on this website as a consequence of not taking the spin and orientation into account.

On reflection I suppose it should have been quite scary and indeed everyone else took cover behind the four wheeler after the throws - but I was just having too much fun to really care Smiley (hence my opening statement)

In short I suspect that being shot at with arrows was probably preferable to being shot at by slingers.

Like so many things related to slings we seem to have lost the experiences our ancestors probably took for granted. Having experienced quite a few now first hand - I have a much greater respect for the sling's impact as a psychological as well as a physical weapon in warfare.


Arrows, or arrow fletching, make a distinct high pitched whispering noise in flight.  In olden days when the Grey Goose flock went up it must have been harrowing to be on the receiving end.

There is an undocumented piece about slingers from Rhodes cutting spiral grooves in the glandes to produce a distinct buzzing sound.  It served as a psy-war tool and also to let the slingers know their own glandes when they took the disputed ground.

Also, I don't think an arrow coming directly at you is particularly visble.  Particularly if launched from a true long bow with 80 to 110 pounds draw.


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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #4 - Oct 1st, 2007 at 11:52am
 
Sling stones and arrows coming toward me I think "smell the fear" comes to mind possibly even find me a large tree NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #5 - Oct 1st, 2007 at 11:58am
 
Did you record it on video?

I can't help to imagine the headline "Man from England shot to death with a sling by former Guiness-World-Record holder during tournament"...
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #6 - Oct 1st, 2007 at 12:24pm
 
yep got quite a few shots on video - but it's probably the most boring set of clips of the lot. Basically me just standing in a field (and you can't see me) occasionally shouting 'over there' and pointing. Not sure if you can hear the sling missiles or not - haven't run that set of videos through a pc yet.

I suspect you could see an arrow well enough at that distance to get a shield up and block (assuming you had a shield :-) But you just don't see sling bullets. So while you might hold a shield above your head - the missile might be coming in on a shallower angle and get you anyway.

I suppose if you were to drill a small hole in the right place you could even have a whistling sling bullet now that would really put the frighteners on.

Everyone else hid behind the 4-wheeler and as a consequence didn't see a lot of the stones land. (I'm just saying that because my best throw went right over their heads and when I gave the 'coming at you signal' they disappeared behind the bike so fast it was hilarious - but they never saw it land and it was well past the 220 yard throw they did see :-(
So I didn't hide when I was on 'point'. :-)
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #7 - Oct 1st, 2007 at 9:23pm
 
[quote author=curious_aardvark link=1191158963/0#6 date=1191255883]
I suppose if you were to drill a small hole in the right place you could even have a whistling sling bullet now that would really put the frighteners on.
[/quote]

Maybe a spiral around the glande. Not only would that make a pretty cool noise, it might help the glande orientate itself point first and maybe even do a little extra damage because of spin. I'd think lead would be a little to dense for that to really work out well, though...
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #8 - Oct 2nd, 2007 at 12:39am
 
Hey, I've got a metal key and a kite if you want to do some electrical experiments. Roll Eyes
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Lasse C
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #9 - Oct 2nd, 2007 at 10:30am
 
[quote author=curious_aardvark link=1191158963/0#0 date=1191158963] one of the things that is not immediately obvious to the sling user is the noise an incoming missile makes.
It's quite loud and can be heard for 2-3 seconds before the missile impacts. At no point can the victim see an incoming sling missile. You just hear it. It's a sort of angry whirring sound.

Now if you were to multiply that sound by several hundred - as would be the case with a massed slinging attack - the noise of incoming 'invisible' missiles would be very loud indeed.
You would not have been able to dodge - like you might have done with an arrow that would have been visible - you would just have to stand there and wait for the impact.
Pretty darn nerve wracking I think you'll agree.  
The same effect could be multiplied for horses. [/quote]

In other words, an angry, whirring sound that sends a message to a very basic level of your consciousness:

[color=#339900] THIS IS BAD. [b][u]VERY[/u][/b] BAD.
THIS IS GOING TO HURT. REALLY, [b][u]REALLY[/u][/b] HURT.  
THERE IS NOT MUCH YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.[/color]

Yep, I think that is the kind of message that would make both men and horses want to go home. Fast.
At least I would.

However, in a massed slinging attack, I think you might see the missiles. Not individual missiles, naturally, but some sort of cloud of them. (OK, that would probably make you feel even worse, but still)

Lasse C



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« Last Edit: Oct 3rd, 2007 at 4:31am by Lasse C »  
 
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #10 - Oct 2nd, 2007 at 11:02am
 
[quote author=Lasse C link=1191158963/0#9 date=1191335417]

However, in a massed slinging attack, I think you might see the missiles. Not individual missiles, naturally, but some sort of cloud of them. (OK, that would probably make you feel even worse, but still)

Lasse C



[/quote]


Maybe next slingfest we can get C_A to stand in a field again while all 800 members on this forum sling rocks at him. Maybe he can tell us if there really is a 'cloud'  ;D

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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #11 - Oct 2nd, 2007 at 11:05am
 
don't worry CA, we'll get you some protective eye-wear  Grin
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #12 - Oct 2nd, 2007 at 1:07pm
 
As the Spartan 300 marched toward the Gates of Fire and their destiny, one of the rabble rousers said that when the "Medized" archers let loose their volleys of shafts, they would block out the sun.

"Good," replied one Spartiate.  "Then we shall fight in the shade."

Laconic reply at its best.   Wink

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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #13 - Oct 2nd, 2007 at 4:20pm
 
Quote:
Maybe next slingfest we can get C_A to stand in a field again while all 800 members on this forum sling rocks at him. Maybe he can tell us if there really is a 'cloud'  Grin


As crazy as C_A is for slinging and jawing with other slingers I imagine if all 800 from the forum were really going to be to the next Slingfest he'd head on out into the bean field again...  but I bet he'd grab a motor cycling helmut as I suggested if all 800 we pelting at him    Smiley    Wink    Shocked  
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Re: Psychological Impact Of Slinging On Targets
Reply #14 - Oct 3rd, 2007 at 4:36am
 
Hmmmm... Let me think about that.
Standing in a field, hearing the angry whirr of 800 glandes, possibly (probably) seeing them in a kind of cloud or swarm, knowing they were all aimed my way... Shocked

I´d definitely need a stout helmet. And a full-body armour. And most likely a clean pair of shorts!  Wink

Lasse C
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