I am starting to think that flat braids are superior for the sling. Flat vs round is an interesting discussion.
With round cords, whether twisted or braided, the sling cords could be twisted (not around each other but twisted on their own axis) without you knowing it. That's why after every shot with a single cord-paracord sling, you kind of have to keep the sling up in the air and let the cords untwist and straighten out, but since round cords move much more freely about on their own axis than flat or square cords, I think it is worse for controlling the the pouch with the wrist. Of course you can stiffen or thicken round cords up but the fact remains, round cords twist around their own axis more easily.

On the contrary, a flat-braid or square braid sling has 4 corners. You easily notice it if a flat cord is twisted around its own axis the sling won't even work properly. A thick flat braid like a Balearic sling can not even twist around once its own axis without springing back into its original shape. For accurate slinging this is very beneficial I believe.

I made a flat braid hemp sling yesterday with thin cords. And even though the cord is not much bigger than paracord, I have much more control over the pouch angle than in comparison to a round cord of the same size. That leads me to believe that for thin and efficient slings, flat cords are still the better option. It makes accurate rifled shots everytime. With flat cords you know that its not twisted because you can see it. With round cords you cannot really be sure unless you take a lot of time to check it out after each throw and even then it's more prone to twisting on itself when throwing.

So now I am a flat-corder...

NooneOfConsequence wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2021 at 1:42pm:

I wouldn't be surprised if flat cords are actually more aerodynamic than round cords, as long as the flat braid has a high strand count (the more strands, the thinner and wider the proportions of the braid become). Although round cords are superior under wet conditions, I'd say flat braids have more pros. But that's just me.

Here's some slow-mo with two slings.  Both are 550 paracord, but the blue-pouched sling has the core strands removed.

There is quite a difference.  I don't know if I would go as far as using the word "floppy", but I definitely see where J got that description.  The paracord with a core has a much more rigid feel (obviously).  But the throw also feels tighter and more controlled.  I completely admit that my go-to sling uses 550 paracord, so I'm used to it.  If I went coreless for a while, the normal stuff might start feeling too rigid.

This was my first go with slow motion recording.  The video length went way longer than planned, but I wanted to get the rotor as part of the recording.  When I watch these, I think I see a little more wobble in the pouch with the coreless sling.  Specifically when the sling is flipping over as it rotates between my left and right.  I've watched the recording many times now, so I might just be convincing myself that I'm seeing it.  Curious to hear if other notice any differences.

One last observation.  For a release knot I usually use a basic overhand knot.  After the core strands are removed, this knot is super tiny!  Completely logical result, but the thought never occurred to me until I tied it.

Overall I prefer the paracord to have the core.  But as mentioned, I think a big part of that is because I'm used to it.

https://youtu.be/Nbg4B0bFAMA

JudoP wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2021 at 2:39pm:

100% yes.

Although once upon a time I thought I had no chance of messing up the Pepsi/Coke Challenge, and I failed that. 

So maybe I need to give it a try.  I'm fairly certain I would be able to though.  The difference in how the throw felt was more than I expected it to be.  For a test I'll need to make a new sling.  The leather of the two slings I use also feels different.  I would know which one I had just by loading it.

JudoP wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2021 at 2:22pm:


Fair enough that there is a point of having cords "stiff enough". 
Although, I would wager that if one made a sling with a rod as the retention cord, other than a strange feel after release, the sling would operate best for the power stroke to the release... I sense another test and video may be looming

JudoP wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2021 at 2:22pm:


It does exit out of the side and front of the pouch. But from the frames that I was looking at, there was still some cord interference during the final moments of exit on the back-side of the projectile.  I've looked at a number of slo-mo videos of my own, as well as Davids, and some cord intereference always seems to be present for a short time (at least in my sling designs).  The slings that have the least interference are the lightest and most flexible release cords. This is from a limited set of data (Maybe a couple dozen throws total), but consistent within the data I've examined.  But I have limited it to one style, and about 3 slings.  Perhaps there are differences if the wrist motion changed during the power-stroke. There would likely be differences with sling length too. I only used 24-28" slings.

Edit: This video actually shows it pretty well, if you go frame by frame. The back-end of the projectile is in contact with the release cord. This is my experience with the slings I use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMWnjHKbZRM

HAHAHA. Oops. Joe I just went back and watched the intro. I had it backwards. Blue is the floppy one (edit: blue has the core removed). It is the one that isn't twisted.

So, maybe I'm just full of hot air. LOL.

@IronGoober - That was a good catch either way.  I didn't notice that twist happening.  The leather of the blue pouch is a bit thicker than the red one.  That could be contributing to the lack of twist.  Although I never would have guessed that happening.  Whether a pouch was rigid or not, I'd think it would twist the cords the same.

I have some more in that same piece of blue leather.  I can cut out another pouch and try to get the slings as identical as possible except for the core strands.


NooneOfConsequence wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2021 at 9:14pm:

I definitely felt that way when using it.  Not in the release, but just getting it going.