Welcome, Guest. Please Login
SLINGING.ORG
 
Home Help Search Login


Pages: 1 2 3 
Send Topic Print
Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live ! (Read 9274 times)
Curious Aardvark
Forum Moderation
*****
Offline


Taller than the average
Dwarf

Posts: 13965
Midlands England
Gender: male
Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Jun 28th, 2008 at 6:26pm
 
spent this afternoon with the immense help of Curious_aardvark senior and Dave, in abig field playing with wood.

Target ranges are set up, picanick tables have been scrounged, the amazing portaloo arrived (working wash basin with water soap, foot flush toilet - and all in the middole of a field in the middle of nowhere :-)

Tomorrow morning I'll put pennants and awnings and wait for people to arrive :-).

Here's  the frames in the car (yes that small bundle of wood is both frames) and being erected. The crucifixion victim is curious_aardvark senior :-) WE share the same warped sense of humour ;-)

And when you see what I've managed to load into the aardvark mobile - you will be utterly amazed :-)

See ya tomorrow :-)

Oh yeah we went out for a chinese meal last night and my fortune cookie said (no lie) 'You will get it all done'.

And bugger me, I have ! lol



Back to top
 

framestitch1.jpg (226 KB | )
framestitch1.jpg

Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
Curious Aardvark
Forum Moderation
*****
Offline


Taller than the average
Dwarf

Posts: 13965
Midlands England
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #1 - Jun 28th, 2008 at 6:34pm
 
Oh yeah after building the first frame and setting it up with a 4x4 tarp. We discovered that given wheels it would make a great land boat. Plus two shots witha  golf ball in the same spot and you get a golf ball shaped hole.
So we popped back to the army surplus and exchanged the tarps for some netting.

It ain't very big approx 3 feet square.

I might move the ranges in a bit as it's a bugger to hit. BUT - It will take any power  shot with a golfball no problem.

At some point in the future I'll get some bigger netting. But for this year this is what we got Smiley
More pics timorrow.


Back to top
 

2ranges.jpg (40 KB | )
2ranges.jpg

Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
Matthias
Past Moderator
*
Offline



Posts: 1418
Gatineau/Ottawa QC, Canada
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #2 - Jun 29th, 2008 at 1:06am
 
Great looking targets C_A! I hope they get suitably... initiated.

NIce looking environs too - Looking forward to the live(ish) reporting. Smiley
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
BrianGrubbs
Funditor
****
Offline


Joined May 6th, 2008

Posts: 559
Alabama
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #3 - Jun 29th, 2008 at 3:10pm
 
That all looks really great C_A, should be a great event.  Looking forward to more reporting on the matter.  Question though, did you suspend the tarps tight across the frames or were they loose?  And also, how do the centers react when hit with the golfballs?
Back to top
 

When in doubt, shoot for the head (worked for David anyway...)
 
IP Logged
 
ronan
Tiro
**
Offline


Slinging Rocks!

Posts: 21
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #4 - Jun 29th, 2008 at 4:13pm
 
I want to give a massive thanks to Mr curious for putting on a fantastic day out.

Really good venue and a great target range. Met some lovely people and eat some great grub (thanks curious)

Only downside was our great British weather in the afternoon !

Will be there at the next one and highly recommend people to give it a go.

Thanks again Alex.

Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
Curious Aardvark
Forum Moderation
*****
Offline


Taller than the average
Dwarf

Posts: 13965
Midlands England
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #5 - Jun 30th, 2008 at 4:34pm
 
wow - now that was a busy few days.

At one point on the sunday morning I was sitting all alone in my car in the middle of a field. The wind had bent the poles on the awning i put up and then hastily took down (echoes of wyoming there) and I was feeling very sad and lonely.
And then the phone rang (I suspect never before Has Dave m's voice on the end of a phone inspired so much joy) and an hour later there were 11 of us in a field with slings :-) Brilliant day.

After lunch the rain just came down in sheets - torrential. And unfortunately for ronan he left about 10 minutes before I remembered there was a pub half a mile away where we could all sit and chat and get a cup of coffee. Which we proceeded to do till the rain stopped then back to the field for some serious tuition.
And having seen someone crack themselves on the head with a golfball loaded sling - I can honestly say that if you're learning figure 8 - do it with an empty sling :-)
Trained up a number of total novices to perform at least one style well enough to send the ball forward more often than not. One guy - seb, definitely a natural, hopefully to appear on the forum at some point.
After cracking sidearm in about an hour he put a golf ball well over 120 yards. Nice one.

If Ronan and his daughter & brother look a bit odd on the official photo - it's because I've had to pull them off a video clip and paste him in lol

We were also graced with the presence of the Goth Mobile Infantry's High commander and Propaganda officer :-) An added honour for us all ;-)
Age wise there was a good 50 years between the youngest and oldest attendees. Just about the right balance I reckon. If you don't have at least three generations at a slingfest - you're slacking somewhere  lol

I've learnt a few more things about running a slingfest - and at some point in the near future I will pass it all on. And next year I'll try and reserve a barn or cow shed for the midday bbq which will be a proper Aardvark stylee blowout, rather than just the few burgers and thai style prawn cakes I did this time round :-)

Once the targets were propped up with a couple of old tractor tires (major advantage of doing this on a farm - lots of stuff you can scrounge :-) the frames worked amazingly. Given the hammering they took from both wind and rain and the odd stray missile. The single casualty seems to be a loosened bolt on one of the uprights. But I think That was the one I glued in wonky anyway. The netting came down this afternoon - excellent condition, looks  untouched. Just needs to be bigger but it's definitely the right material for the job.

I really have to thank all the people who attended - they made the hard work worthwhile :-)
Major thanks also go to Aussieslinger - every one who didn't already have an aussie sling - went home with one :-)
And Kudos - as always - to Gunsonwheels who supplied the amazing pennants that just looked so stupendously good blowing in the wind and framing the gateway. Just sorry I had nowhere to hang the small ones.

Also Dave - who I've mentioned at various points in the past and who also helped set things up, now has a new nickname. He's Rainmaker Dave (previously he was Medium dave as Big dave does taichi with me). The weather was fine till he turned up in shorts and literally the second he got out of his car - it started to rain lol :-)

Oh yes and we have  a slogan for the official t-shirt. But I need someone to translate it into Latin for me :-)
'We Came, We Saw, We Slung, We Got Wet !'

Pics later, now it's back to clearing stuff away lol
Got a cracking video of people scattered all over the field engaged in various slingng activities that I'll upload to youtube at some point. It'll warm the cockles of your little heartsies.

But yeah, it was good. I'll do it again - and given it's taken 4 days pretty much exclusively doing nothing else - that's not light commitment (all my clients who've phoned over the last four days have simply been told - 'he's on holiday - back tuesday' [yes even the emergency calls] :-)
My nieces - who I haven't seen for 3 years - flew in from canada On slingfest day - and was I at the airport to meet them ? No I was in a field with some other nutters playing with slings. I'm either committed - or I ought to be, it's a  tough call lol

[i]to be continued....[/i]
Back to top
 

Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
Curious Aardvark
Forum Moderation
*****
Offline


Taller than the average
Dwarf

Posts: 13965
Midlands England
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #6 - Jul 1st, 2008 at 6:31pm
 
haven't put ronan and kin in yet - still trying to get a decent screen grab.
Slings in view = 2 aussies a captain paul special and one I made from the pink leather with the 6 hole pouch template.

Some Things this slingfest had in common with the wyoming slingfest:

1) I got quite badly sunburnt (no, it seems I never learn)
2) the wind buggered up my awning :-(
3) I had my chargriller outlaw on site - and believe me fitting that beast into a small estate car was not easy - technically it shouldn't have been possible - but I'm stubborn lol)
4) Nobody else could really hit the targets - but I have faith that given a years practice they'll be back next year to kick my arse :-)
5) Immense fun was had by all :-)
Back to top
 

Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
bigkahuna
past-moderator
****
Offline



Posts: 3894
Delaware, USA
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #7 - Jul 1st, 2008 at 10:17pm
 
That's a scurvy lookin crew if I ever saw one. Glad to see someone had the sense to wear a helmet! Grin Grin
Back to top
 

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
John Walker  
IP Logged
 
Curious Aardvark
Forum Moderation
*****
Offline


Taller than the average
Dwarf

Posts: 13965
Midlands England
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #8 - Jul 2nd, 2008 at 6:55am
 
Yep the scurveyiest Smiley
lol well the problem with wearing a helmet is that everyone else just wants to bounce a tennis ball off it Wink
Back to top
 

Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
JTK
Funditor
****
Offline


Give me a sling and a
javelin and im a war
machine

Posts: 642
Western Kentucky
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #9 - Jul 2nd, 2008 at 11:51am
 
lol, thats nice
Back to top
 

I missed!  thump  I missed bad...
superj654321  
IP Logged
 
winkleried
Interfector Viris Spurii
*****
Offline



Posts: 1535
Norman Oklahoma
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #10 - Jul 2nd, 2008 at 1:13pm
 
Looks Good C_A. What was the center material of the targets made from? If and when I get off the road for any extended amount of time I may just make up a few targets using your design.

Marc Adkins
Back to top
 

The Few...The Proud.....The Slingers&&Sling to live, Live to sling&&I Ain't right
WWW winkleried  
IP Logged
 
Dave M
Descens
***
Offline


Slinging Rocks at seagulls

Posts: 239
Littlehampton West Sussex Eng
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #11 - Jul 2nd, 2008 at 3:25pm
 
I have Just arrived back today from my holliday which started at the UK Slingfest, first job check slinging .org and say a BIG Thank you to CA from me and my family as we had a wonderful time all hail to CA for some excellent organisation, as you can see the targets were on wheels so this explains why I kept missing them, its one of those things if you wern't there you you will never know what you missed.
Once again thanks to CA the UK slingfest was a resounding sucess, weather/rain who cares we are Brits Smiley Wink
Next time it will be even better but this one will take some beating
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
Curious Aardvark
Forum Moderation
*****
Offline


Taller than the average
Dwarf

Posts: 13965
Midlands England
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #12 - Jul 3rd, 2008 at 8:34am
 
caravan - I'll borrow  a caravan. That way I get a wind proof head quarters and the awning should be a good place to park the picnic tables .

It's people that make events. And my faith in slingers just gets stronger each time I do something mad like a slingfest Smiley
We're good people Wink

More pics later - but here's a close up of the netting. It's actually double layer head scarf from my local army stores. 1 metre square. I used two per framen wensimply tied knots in the corners to join the bits together.
It's the perfect material, just needs to be a bit bigger.
Back to top
 

Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
BrianGrubbs
Funditor
****
Offline


Joined May 6th, 2008

Posts: 559
Alabama
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #13 - Jul 3rd, 2008 at 8:37am
 
HAHA, that is brilliant!  I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what kind of small mesh net you could get from an army navy store.  I wonder would a double layer of small square fishing net work...
Back to top
 

When in doubt, shoot for the head (worked for David anyway...)
 
IP Logged
 
Curious Aardvark
Forum Moderation
*****
Offline


Taller than the average
Dwarf

Posts: 13965
Midlands England
Gender: male
Re: Slingfest Uk 08 - Goes Live !
Reply #14 - Jul 3rd, 2008 at 9:16am
 
well bear in mind this stuff is cotton and the cord itself is woven and then woven into netting.
It took a real battering fom the weather and came out totally unscathed. I wanged a few golf balls in from a few yards as hard as I could and it just absorbed the impact and dropped them at my feet. Plus in the constant wind it didn't act as a sail, it bowed a certain amount but obviously being netting - held it's shape and let sufficient wind through.

I'm wondering if it's possible to get rolls of the stuff. Also if Matthias (our forum net expert) can
recommend  something with similiar properties that's commercially available somewhere in either larger pieces or rolls.

EDIT: it's called scrim net. Biggest size I've seen so far was 180cm by 80. Given that I want a piece between 120-150 cm square that's not quite it - but getting closer :-)

Anyway this was what I bought:-
[url]http://www.springfields.co.uk/paintball/paint-clothing-camo/?id=802[/url]
[img]http://www.springfields.co.uk/images/resize.ashx?img=Images/ogscrim1m.jpg&w=540&h=900[/img]

We attached it to the frames with a combination of paracord and short lengths of bungee cord - adding a extra impact absorbancy and putting less strain on the net.

The metal disc and round net were simply hung off the top bolts (put there for this reason and having no structural purpose) on lengths of paracord. I drilled two holes in the metal disc and used brass picture hooks to attach it to the cord. Worked really well. The bolts could also be used as anchor points for guy ropes.
Also just about anything could be hung in front of the nets :-) I suspect the netting would stop a ball bearing as well - next time I've got one set up I'll try it with a 1 inch ball bearing.
I'd probably draw the line at irregularly shaped stones as they tend to spin and have sharp edges - so would act like a flying buzzsaw. moulded concrete ammo should be fine though. The combination of the double layer of netting and the bungee cord pretty much stops everything stone dead and absorbs the momentum energy without any hassle. And unlike a full wood balearic back stop can be rolled up and shoved in a large pocket :-)

I suppose it takes an hour or so to put both frames up and bugger around with the netting targets etc. If you don't have tyres to lean on them guy ropes should work just as well. 
A single frame with netting turns into a compact five and a wee bit bundle of wood and a small roll of net. Easily carried by even quite small children :-) 
With a bit of practice I suppose one person could put up a single frame in about 20 minutes.

It's not exactly instant target frames - but certainly quick enough to take somewhere quiet, use for an afternoon and then take home.

I'll write up the complete process later - but all you need for one frame is fourteen 5 foot sections of 2x1 and a bunch of 3 inch bolts with butterfly nuts. I also used a 4x1 5 foot plank, but 2x1 could just as easily have been used. The top bar is made from 2 pieces of 2x1 glued together to make 2x2 - so you could certainly hang a fair weight from it if you wanted to.
Probably not a full spec baleric sheet but certainly a 4x4 foot sheet of 1/2 plywood would be fine.
I'll just stick to netting myself :-)

frame and net bundle, just before loading in to car boot.
The bit of wood with the screws in was one of the horizontal side support pieces. I'll probably glue bolts into the back braces and uprights at some point - but for now a couple of screws works fine and just as quick. Everything else is bolted. It's just that I didn't think to add the sidepieces untill the day before slingfest :-)   
Back to top
 

Do All things with Honour and Generosity: Regret Nothing, Envy None, Apologise Seldom and Bow your head to No One  - works for me Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
Pages: 1 2 3 
Send Topic Print
(Moderators: Curious Aardvark, Kick, Morphy, vetryan15, Rat Man, joe_meadmaker, Chris)