Hi everyone,
I'm a big fan of braided, split pouch slings. But, they take forever to make -- my last one probably took 15 hours of braiding (but the retention and release cords are each 8 strands). So, I decided to try reverse-twisting the cords to speed up construction, and I'm super happy with the result.

Here's the final product:

I haven't yet measured it, but I guesstimate it's about 38" long. I'm 6' tall, and the sling is longer than I am tall when it's unfolded. Despite its size, it took maybe 2 hours to make. At least 30 minutes of that was untangling a total mess from careless cord management. I haven't gotten a chance to test it out yet (like most of my slings, it was built late at night), but I did document the construction. I'll reproduce it below:

Cut 3 pieces of twine longer than you think you'll need. I used 5 wingspans, about 30', of cheap sisal bailing twine for each piece.

Find the middle, and secure with a small knot:


Organize all the excess twine:


Begin braiding the finger loop with a simple 3-strand braid:


Test for size on your preferred retention finger:


Remove the marker from the middle of the twine, and bring the two ends of the finger loop together:


Secure the two ends together with a wall knot. Be careful not to over-tighten and pull the braid in funky ways:




Organize the strands into two groups of three, and begin reverse-twisting them together. I use my hands to get it started:


I then switch to leg-rolling because it's much, much faster than doing it by hand (and I got blisters on my finger from hand twisting like 15' of cordage earlier today).


Once the retention cord is the desired length, I stop twisting and separate the strands:




Tie another wall knot to keep the retention cord together and provide a better transition to the pouch:




Separate the strands by side. On one side, pick two strands and pull them tight. Weave with the third strand to begin making the pouch:


When the side of the pouch reaches your desired length, stop weaving and weave the other side:


Bring the ends together and secure with -- another wall knot! :p (I'm a fan of them.) If you over-tighten, it's easy-ish to screw up the weaving, so be careful.




Separate the strands into two groups of three:


Begin reverse-twisting them together. Again, I start with my fingers here, then switch to leg-rolling.


When I finish the release cord, I tie... another wall knot to secure the end and to prepare for the release knot. I also cut off all the excess (maybe 4-6' from each cord).




See how the wall knot makes them come out level? It's perfect to set it up for a great securing/release knot: the Matthew Walker knot. I've never, ever had success with whipping to hold the end of a sling together -- it always came lose eventually. But, I've had fantastic success with knots -- especially the Matthew Walker knot. I left a little space between it and the wall knot to provide a bit of a divot to grab (so it's not exactly a release knot).


I tied another Matthew Walker knot at the end to help keep the sling's tassel from fraying all the way down to the release knot. I haven't had problems with that before, but it can't hurt to be careful.


I hope you like this construction guide/log. I think the sling came out quite excellent looking, especially considering how fast it was to make! While it's not quite as sophisticated-looking as a good braided sling, it's not ugly either. It's certainly easier to make.

Nice!
about the twisted cords what kick said: does it have any twist? does the orientation of the pouch change under stress?
that is why I use braid.
cpman wrote on Dec 13^th, 2018 at 2:25am:

that is why I don't use so many strands , I don't get it . other than looks what else does it provide?

3 strand braid slings take 1-4hours to make depending on length and quality ( how meticulous i am).

Sarosh wrote on Dec 13^th, 2018 at 9:22am:

Now that I’ve tested it, I can solidly say that it’s a really nice sling. I had absolutely no twisting issues — the closest to that that I had was before one of my 40+ shots I took, there was a half twist (easily fixed by passing the release cord around the retention cord). The release is really clean and quick and it’s really easy to get a feel for whatever I throw. The pouch is also nice and grippy — it can hold rocks smaller than a ping pong ball, but also pretty big ones nice and securely. Even doing helicopter, I was getting decent accuracy for a sling I’ve never used (and I throw fig-8 85% or more of the time).

I mostly use the extra strands for weaving and or braiding in the pouch. I’ve never really found a satisfactory way to add additional strings if I want a woven pouch, so I do them from the start. Also, 3 strand braids are usually flat, but when you have more strands, it’s easy to change the cross section (so you can do a flat finger loop and pouch, but round cords). I probably could’ve done a 4 strand round braid instead of an 8 strand square one, but I also like the look with more strands.

I am a big fan of round braids because of the opposing twisted pairs that maintain a balance. If you coil your sling up and stick it in a pocket though, you may still get a bias.