ScantPalaver wrote on Feb 14^th, 2025 at 1:43am:

An advantage...I wouldn't really think so.  Although that said, if you orient the sling so it closes in the direction that it's stiffer, it should naturally want to open faster resulting in a cleaner release.  In theory anyway.

I haven't used anything like that as it relates to the cords, but I have used slings with stiff pouches.  I have a sling from Sarosh (Acroballistics) and the leather pouch is pretty stiff.  If a tennis ball is just sitting in it, the pouch is still (basically) in an open position.  It only closes around the ball when it's in motion.  That resulted in a very fast and clean release.  There's a picture of that pouch somewhere on this forum.  I'll see if I can find it.

joe_meadmaker wrote on Feb 15^th, 2025 at 10:07pm:

I found it.  You can see that pouch if you scroll down to my first post on this page: https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1711562145/15.

joe_meadmaker wrote on Feb 15^th, 2025 at 10:15pm:


I came to the same conclusion a little after asking.  Kinda like doing a swatch while knitting or crocheting.  The bonus question is figuring out the ratio between retention cord material and release cord material.  Like, if you have 12 ft, do you divide it into 7 and 5?  8 and 4?  Some materials I don't really care about wasting (like baling twine).  But for the ones I do (like aramids or HMPE), it'd be nice to minimize waste.

To keep the questions coming:

We twist the strands to add strength and durability, right?  Generally recommended for fibers like sisal, esparto, cling wrap 😆, etc.  Maybe to tidy up inconsistent or messy material into neat strands.  But most synthetic materials are consistent, abrasion resistant, and much stronger than the forces we subject them to.  Does the twist contribute something I'm not seeing?  Or can it be forgone depending on the material? 

ScantPalaver wrote on Feb 16^th, 2025 at 1:20am:

Yes, but it's important to think about why.  There are multiple reasons but here are a few.

With individual fibers, the twisting is what effectively combines them into one.  With a tight twist, the friction between the fibers holds them together.  And if you think about a rope stretching, the diameter of the rope gets smaller.  Which means those fibers are getting pressed against each other even harder, and the friction holding them together is stronger.

Another thing about the strength, when fibers are twisted that means an individual fiber isn't taking the shortest path from one end of the cord to the other.  It's going around in kind of a spiral pattern.  That in turn means there is more material in the same length if we are comparing a twisted cord vs. individual fibers lined up in a bunch.  More material over the same distance equals more strength.

And finally if we look at both of those previous points together, we have more material that is essentially pulling on itself when tension is put on the cord.  It's not just individual strands working independently (at full tension).  This is very much a system that can be described as 'greater than the sum of its parts'.


ScantPalaver wrote on Feb 16^th, 2025 at 1:20am:

Now getting to this part, do you have an example of what you're thinking about?  If we look at synthetic cordage (whether it be paracord, dyneema, kevlar, etc.), most of the time we're already not working with single fibers.  Even very thin ones are typically a braid if some sort.  As an example, I have some .5 mm dyneema that's still made up of a 12-strand braid (I think).  So stuff like this doesn't need to be twisted (unless you're joining it with something else).  All that said, if you do have synthetic fibers that are single fibers, then I would probably twist them.  They'll get the same benefits as well as look nicer.

joe_meadmaker wrote on Feb 16^th, 2025 at 10:26am:


Both UHMWPE and Kevlar, when deconstructed from the rope they generally come as, demonstrate a much finer, fibrous, quality.  When  working those strands into a braid, twisting seems unnecessary.  They weren't twisted into the rope, just braided.  And the individual fibers are surprisingly strong (ripping a few when the get stuck on something can be difficult).  When I work the strands back into a sling, I've twisted them into shape 'cause tutorials generally include it, but I've got to wondering if it's necessary?

Does anyone else's sisal twine smell like kerosene? Ive read online that its due to the mineral oil that is used to finish the cords and I was wondering if its safe to inhale.