Hello all!

I return once again, a wiser, and more accomplished maker of slings!

My latest idea is that my finger really hurts while slinging for extended sessions with my usual slipknot finger loop, therefore, I have made a loop out of leather!

It's much better.

I suspect my accuracy will be better too as I feel that I've been pulling my throws a lot unconsciously due to finger-related pain.

I essentially measured the leather to my finger so it's quite a good fit! and has none of the blood stopping or pain of a slipknot!

Looking good my man! I love leather finger loops and and a good tab. So long as they are made right at least to me they really seem to help.

Hi ricky,

You're right that a thin retention loop will not distribute the weight properly. A thick fingerloop is desireable in my experience.
You can also try out two finger loops for even better weight distribution. I place one on my ring finger and on on my middle finger.

Now that you have figured this out on yourself, look into improving the release side of the sling.
Ask yourself this question, what is required for a clean release of a sling?

A) the projectile must release from the pouch without being knocked off course due to large interferences in the pouch or projectile, but still with the required spin for a good flight.
B) the release cord must release cleanly from the hand so that your 'mental' release is inline with the release of the sling.

The answer to A lies in a good projectile shape and a good sling pouch design.

The answer to B lies in a lot of personal experimentation. For me, a knotless tapered release cord does the trick. While a big knot can give a good hold on to a cord in my experience it can interfere with a clean release from the hand. Thats why I swapped to knotless release cords, which is pinched by the thumb and index and than held on to by the rest of the hand. This of course requires that your release cord is grippy by its own nature, which is naturally provided for by course vegetal fibres. For smooth 550 cord I still require a small overhand knot to be pinched-- however, for thicker paracords beyond 4mm I can drop the knots and just go with smooth release cords. The release from the hand feels insanely clean after swapping away from big knots, while the full fist grip still provides excellent hold on to the release cord.

Following up to on my previous post I just want to show you this picture of how Luis Pons grabs his sling.
That is what I mean by a knotless release cord that is grapped by the whole hand , which gives very good grip but also immediate release of the release cord once pressure on the release cord is let go of.

On the contrary, once the pressure on a thick release knot is dropped, the knot can still ''hook unto'' your fingers even if only for split miliseconds, causing inaccuracy.
Making the knot smaller or getting rid of it all together helps in my experience.
I believe this is also why the Balaerics call such tails/release cords as a benefit for precision.

The Balearic slings have attained an almost mythical quality. I'm skeptical Of the superiority but they are truly excellent slings. Luis' sling is the one I need more than any other for my collection.

Morphy wrote on Dec 14^th, 2020 at 7:38am:


Nothing mystical about it Morphy. We have determined these certain qualities that make a good sling. Lateral stability, so that the pouch angle can be controlled by the wrist, and so that the sling is quick to reload and doesn't tangle all up on you after a shot. A stiff split pouch, so that a wide range of ammunition can be shot and adaptability to different shapes and sizes. A grippy release but smooth release cord, so that you can use the full hand and no knots are required for a clean release out of the hand. A repairable release cord, because that is the part that wears out the quickest. The Balearic sling has many of these qualities build right in. Natural fibre construction, that synches you to the past and makes you independent from the system.

However, it comes at a price, the sling becomes heavy and it loses some speed in the aerodynamic departments.

If you can combine the qualities of a Balearic sling in a thinner, more efficent set up you hit the gold mine of slings.
I think I just did....

AncientCraftwork wrote on Dec 14^th, 2020 at 7:58am:



My dude this is wicked! Nice work