Quote:


Yes a lot of assumptions on my part.

Assuming they were describing the problem of the stone getting deflected by the release cord.
I and plenty others here know how to solve this problem of the conventional sling with adjustments to technique and grip without changing the core tenants of the design, so I can believe they were using a normal sling just with better a understanding of technique, pouch angle and spins while possibly utilizing a more efficient design.

A lot of Greek slinger depictions give me the impressions they used real cords instead of thicker braided or leather strap designs.
And many Greek slinger depictions also show the wide grip in the hand being utilized.
So these things could back that theory up.
And if we assume the Greek style actually existed, then using solely one quick rotation also seems to solve all problems of cord twist and and the infamous 'loss of pouch orientation control' in my experience. Which then prevents this aweful effect of the projectile running down the release cord from ever happening.

At the same time I could believe they were using a Y-sling.

Copy paste the latin quote in google to get all the background informations

Is the latin passage by Vegetius?
Talking about greek slings, why not ask greek Authors
There is another passage in the Anabasis by Xenophon.
There he talks about the retention cords made from νευρα which can mean a lot of things. Probably not vegetable origin though. Might be nerve strings, or sinew. I could well imagine sinew hammered and torn into thin fibers, and corded or braided or both is thin, though and flexible, like a bowstring. The basic protein is collagen, which is also the main protein in maby other tissues. My construction suggestion is thus a intestines twisted and dried, commercially available as tennis string. Main Protein is collagen. Ethnographically Yamane slings cords in south Chile are made of Walrus guts.  As a pouch simple leather pouch like Vindolanda sling. Goes off as hell. Very light. And quite silent. 30 g bicobic clay bullet like Pförring  or Carnuntum 200m easy. Would work great with lead bullets.
The pouch could be braided or corded with sinew fibers as well I guess...

I so far don't seem to have a problem with putting a spiral spin on my Y-slings granted I can control the orientation. The spin rate is reduced but more consistent per throw I think.

That said I don't think the orientation of the stone in the pouch required for such a release gives the quickest release, but
it can be done. Yesterday I threw some small oval stones very far with my Y-sling placing them in the pouch so they would spiral with the correct orientation, I couldn't see them anymore, they were
flying point first.

I think pointy biconicals wouldn't work the best in the Y-pouch for spiralling but dull ovals can be slung point first.
I've tried such stiff pouches that don't cradle the projectile, on both the conventional and the Y-sling, I don't like it.

I agree that point first flight has significant advantage for increasing range. But it is for overstated importance at close distances. Here a direct release I think is of much greater value. The target isn't going to care on what axis the 200g stone is spinning.
150+g stones also also much less affected by magnus effect.

Doing this inline spin however, with a conventional sling, can result in dangerous deflections by the release cord and a lot of wear,
and a spin rate on stones that is so high that I can not think it it makes sense anymore.  The Y-sling solves this problem, in fact this sling is a result of seeking a solution to this problem of the projectile being fouled by the release cord when throwing inline. So I would say the Y-sling is definitely superior to a conventional sling when the users desires to throw with an inline spin. Only when a spiral spin is correctly utilized and put to practice, I think the conventional sling can still hold an edge over the Y-sling in certain areas.

Archaic Arms wrote on Sep 30^th, 2021 at 2:35pm:


Hi

I see not a extremely big difference between an Y sling and this one (tematlatl) but with a bit enlargued holes.



Also is has a three part pouch strenghtened by several stitches. And when the relese strap is released if the stone or sling bullet scapes by the hole without touching the string it would be dischargued like shot from a bowstring.

The stone pouch must be made just as the stone placed on it is kept under the plane of the rest of the sling when you release the strap.

It would be much like the Y sling but in my opinion more elegant and less cumbersome and strange.

thabaill wrote on Mar 6^th, 2023 at 6:18pm:

If the projectile was small enough that it could pass through the hole of the pouch, then the sling you posted would effectively be working similar to a Y-pouch.  But it still really isn't one.  A Y-pouch can release any projectile with essentially no interference from the pouch or release cord(s).  And you don't need to worry about the projectile passing through a hole cleanly.  There are definitely pros and cons to the Y-pouch.

thabaill wrote on Mar 6^th, 2023 at 8:30pm:


I've experimented with such designs as you are talking of above and personally had no luck with them.
There is a very simple way to reduce the magnus effect with conventional slings, without having a slip-through pouch y-sling, which is simply increasing flexibility of the sling pouch, so that it opens more easily, and by reducing the weight, size and thickness of the releasing cord. A light and efficient conventional sling with thin round flexible cords and a lightweight flexible leather pouch is a world of difference compared to slinging with a thick leather strap or belt or a sling with heavy stiff cords.

The downside of these slings is that they don't make good selling. It means that the simple slings that can be made in 5 minutes with some scrap leather and bits of string out perform the ones that take 40 hours to braid. And a lot of us have invested so much time in perfecting those braiding skills. And a thick beefy sling looks more powerful and aesthetic and makes a big noise. But the opposite is true regarding power in my experience.

Going slimmer and slimmer has its limit too, due to durability issues and tangling issues. I am finding that around 2-3mm round braids to be the optimal for my type of slinging. There are some including me who experimented with stiff retention cords and very light release cords to control the pouch angle. Or stiff retention and release lines and flat braids, But I am discovering that this is fighting the machine. A sling gets its strength from rotation. Let the sling be a sling. And, no such design elements such as stiff cords and flat braids are required to control the pouch angle either. Here is where reloading without overly twisted cords, and proper utilization of technique and the wrist (not too much, not too little.) comes into play.

I wonder how ancient Greek slings were made.

I remember I have read here they used braided wool.

Et est non simplicis habenae, ut Baliarica aliarumque gentium funda, sed triplex scutale, crebris suturis duratum, ne fluxa habena volutetur in iactu glans, sed librata cum sederit, velut nervo missa excutiatur.

This is a Google translation

And it is not of a simple band, like the sling of the Balearics and other nations, but of a triple scutum, hardened by frequent stitches, so that the loose band does not roll about in the throwing of a bullet, but when it sits balanced, it shakes like a mass of strings.

What I understand from this is that the pouch for the stone was made of three bands or braids. Like a Phi sling. But if you sew them to form a flat wider spot it actually wouldn't be different from any other common sling.

So a possible interpretation of the text is that they made something like a rail or channel when they sewed the "triplex scutale" where the stone could be placed along instead crossed sideways like in most slings.