Slinging.org Forum - Sinew sling

jlasud

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Sinew sling
Jun 6^th, 2012 at 8:25am

A looong time since i thought about making a sling from sinew,reinforcing hemp slings with sinew. Also i read about slings reinforced with horsehair and or sinew. Now finally a butcher to whom i made some shield bosses,sent me a big handful of sinew,and while raining,i processed some of it in my little bronze age hut. I reinforced a hemp slings finger loop,and the release cords first ~6 inches and it's last 2 inches and the knot included. It feels secured,sturdy and way more flexible than i would have thought.Also slung a single stone with it and it stayed were it is.
It appears to me that none of you guys have made this,and for a natural sling,it seems to be a very good method. Sinew is the strongest natural fiber as i know..not counting spider wire which can't be called fiber. The ropes of catapult were sometimes made of it Shocked

(much sinew)
Sorry for the crappy picture,it's the best i have..the sinew wrapping can't be really seen,it fits in very well with the hemp.

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jlasud

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Re: Sinew sling
Reply #1 - Jun 6^th, 2012 at 8:31am

Here's the sinew release cord..I'm very satisfied with it.It's much more flexible than i would have thought it would be,and it seems that from now on, i'll make my hemp slings release cords out of sinew.I bet they would be a lot more durable than hemp,but remains to be tested.
This took about 1.5 tendons from a cow's leg ,and it's quite thin(4-5mm), 3 strand braided and it's very strong,and a bit smelly. I plan to coat it with beeswax to waterproof it. So what do my slinging brothers and sisters think,and have you made something similar?

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Dan Interfector Viris Spurii SlingingGuide Moderator Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 3974 Gender:	Re: Sinew sling Reply #2 - Jun 6^th, 2012 at 8:57am Very cool! Be sure to keep it away from your dogs though.
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Dilyan Ganev Senior Member Offline Hard rocks... Posts: 276 Balkans, Bulgaria, Burgas Gender:	Re: Sinew sling Reply #3 - Jun 6^th, 2012 at 9:29am I have to try a composite sling of my own( with horse sinew instead)
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Rat Man Slinging.org Administrator Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 13682 New Jersey, USA Gender:	Re: Sinew sling Reply #4 - Jun 6^th, 2012 at 10:04am I often combine different materials in one cord but I've never tried sinew. Very interesting. I'll bet it lasts almost forever.
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Bill Skinner past-moderator Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 3292	Re: Sinew sling Reply #5 - Jun 6^th, 2012 at 3:26pm I live in a very humid part of the world, my average daily humidity is from 40% to 60%, my sinew bowstring never stopped stretching. I never thought of combining it with smething else, I will have to experiment a little with this.
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Thearos

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Re: Sinew sling
Reply #6 - Jun 6^th, 2012 at 7:21pm

Bravo !

I'd often wondered about sinew. It occurs in two passages in ancient Greek literature.

1. Xenophon Anabasis, 3.3.17 (νευρά): sinew found in the villages in Babylonia . I explain the presence of sinews in the villages as the by-product of animal husbandry, reserved for artisanal use; this is well attested in Mesopotamian documentary sources. This material is used to "braid" slings (πλέκειν, 3.3.18),

2. However, Strabo 3.5.1 C 168 mentions the use of sinew for slings in the Baleares

-- are these entirely made of sinew, or sinew + fibre ?

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jlasud

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Re: Sinew sling
Reply #7 - Jun 7^th, 2012 at 1:06am

The first is a hemp sling with sinew wrapped round and round on the places were wearing occurs the most severly :the release cords fist ~6 inches as the stone slides on it.Also the release knot sometimes get's blown off..so the last 2 inches are also wrapped with sinew. I would bet it will longer the slings life quite a bit.

The second picture as braided entirely of sinew,and it feels as sturdy as paracord. Again, i'll have to test it Wink

@ Dan:No dogs ..yet

@ Bill Skinner: here, also it's quite humid,and I suppose waxing generously should keep it sealed

@ Thearos: I knew about the reference about sinew being used for balearic slings..this gave me hope that it should work.

I love hemp,but with local stones it deteriorates quickly...and i seem to blow off the knots fairly quickly too..so i hope a half hemp(retention) half sinew(release cord sling should last much longer.

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Morphy

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Re: Sinew sling
Reply #8 - Jun 10^th, 2012 at 5:21pm

I've made bowstrings out of sinew and considered making a sling out of it, but it never went past the idea phase. I'm really surprised you found it to be so flexible Jlasud. I agree that it will probably last a long, long time. And hey, if you ever get in a survival situation and aren't having any luck hunting game with your sling you can just eat it. Cheesy

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Pikåru Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Experience teaches only the teachable... Posts: 1636 Colorado USA Gender:	Re: Sinew sling Reply #9 - Jun 10^th, 2012 at 7:54pm Nice work. At some point I'd like to trade one of these sinew slings for something I can do.
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jlasud Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Programming stones Posts: 2358 Transilvania Gender:	Re: Sinew sling Reply #10 - Jun 11^th, 2012 at 4:06am Hmm..what do you have to offer?
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Pikåru Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Experience teaches only the teachable... Posts: 1636 Colorado USA Gender:	Re: Sinew sling Reply #11 - Jun 11^th, 2012 at 11:18am Only my skills, my contacts to get cool stuff and the willingness to ship nearly anything anywhere in the world. What do you want? What is your sinew sling worth?
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Curious Aardvark

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Re: Sinew sling
Reply #12 - Jun 11^th, 2012 at 12:14pm

interesting.

Watched a progam a while back where a group of historians set out to reproduce a roman ballista.
Turns out that sinew (which they just couldn't get in sufficient quantity) is vastly superior in just about every way to modern cordage.

So while they managed to make a decent replica - it only had a fraction of the power that a sinew powered machine would have had.

I guess as sling material it's got novelty value

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jlasud

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Re: Sinew sling
Reply #13 - Jun 12^th, 2012 at 11:11am

Quote:

Only my skills, my contacts to get cool stuff and the willingness to ship nearly anything anywhere in the world. What do you want? What is your sinew sling worth?

LEAD!!,lots of it! just kidding,not worth shipping. I like cool stuff,we just have to define it. Do you have some ancient lead glandes? You have a nice sling stone..the one on your avatar pic..can i has it,or similar to that? Fluorescent paint...they don't sell any here,so i would have to order it anyways..archery related stuff is also something i'm interested in..forged arrow heads,bronze arrowheads..primitive weapons generally..what can you produce,besides slings? and what kinds of cool stuff do you have? Get me motivated so i start pounding sinew and braid it.

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jlasud

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Re: Sinew sling
Reply #14 - Jun 12^th, 2012 at 11:19am

Curious Aardvark wrote on Jun 11^th, 2012 at 12:14pm:

interesting.

Watched a progam a while back where a group of historians set out to reproduce a roman ballista.
Turns out that sinew (which they just couldn't get in sufficient quantity) is vastly superior in just about every way to modern cordage.

So while they managed to make a decent replica - it only had a fraction of the power that a sinew powered machine would have had.

I guess as sling material it's got novelty value

Yep ,i also heard that sinew corded torsion engines were much better than plant fiber cord ones.
About the sinew sling..it has novelty value for me.Also the thin little cracker end stayed well in place after a slinging session,where such a thin hemp cracker would have exploded after the first couple of shots,so definitely stronger than possibly all natural fibers. As far as I know, hemp is on the top,at least from what's widely available,again,of natural fibers.

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