AncientCraftwork wrote on Aug 3
rd, 2020 at 4:03pm:
I understand what you say now Mersa. You are right about a taper hastening a release.
That does not mean that an extremely tapered cord (i.e. very thick a the base) would release quicker than just a straight thin cord (the misunderstanding). And if there's a fluffy end it will slow it down again.
Before I tied a little weight I had a knot. To my mind it felt as if it released quicker with the tiny weight. I added a larger weight and it slowed down again. That means it can't open up quicker with more weight at the end. It is counterintuitive.
But now that I have removed both the weight and the knot it feels as if that gives the quickest release. No knot, no weight, no tab, no fluffy tail. Just the thinnest cord possible
I quite enjoy reading your posts. It's almost like a stream of consciousness.
I was thinking that a weight on the end should impede the sling from opening faster, but I held my tongue in the occasion of you coming back with video evidence proving me wrong
Actually, I was thinking that if you had a small weight on the release side of the pouch might help with opening. Because the weight is out at a larger radius in the rotating reference frame (with the same angular velocity), the force on it should be larger, allowing more acceleration and hence the pouch should open faster. So the balearic sling design may actually be something the helps to open the sling, given it's overall large mass. Of course thin and light should "open" faster. And I say "open" because it simply means that the sling is out of the way, enough for the projectile to get by. A heavier sling has more inertia and can affect the projectile more by being in contact with it.