The blue and yellow was my first sling, made for my girlfriend in the colors of her choice. I followed a YouTube video that used crown knots to reduce strands. We later discovered that the crown knot at the six strand to four strand reduction interferes with the release of the projectile.

Here is the video I followed for the first and third slings: https://youtu.be/7SsEmSyphkw?si=Y5drUJdxSx6pwouE

The second was made with scrap leather and leftover blue paracord. I made it with long strands with the idea of experimenting with the length by adjusting the finger loop and release knot positions. The leather is stiff, so it didn't hold the projectile well until I dampened and shaped it.

The third sling I call my "Avocado Sling" (because of the color, I haven't tried slinging avocados with it.) I made a critical error in starting with strands that were too short. Since it is paracord, I was able to fuse extensions where needed and I staggared them to reduce the chances of a critical failure. Both the and the blue sling were made with a simple split pouch and I later added a Practical Paracord style "smiley" to each to help with retaining the projectiles (beach stones and black walnuts at that point.)

With the orange sling, I took my observations of the failings in the design of the blue and avocado slings and applied techniques I learned in making paracord whips to gradually taper from a six strand (three pairs of two) plait to a round plait, dropping strands to the core until I got to four strands with no core, finishing with a fall hitch as a retention knot. I left one strand long and added a popper to it, but haven't been getting cracks when I sling. (I'm still learning to sling, I'm focusing on accuracy more than power, so I'm not concerned about cracking.) This one grips the projectiles well, so I didn't add the smiley.

Sling number five. My girlfriend liked the orange sling, and had me make the black one for her, with a "smiley." Noticing that the part of the smiley that connects the two strokes of the "X" would sometimes wrap around (a minor annoyance, but could interfere with the ammo) I added a stitch to the middle of it. It kinda puts a snaggletooth in the smile.

Noticing that the plaited slings were heavy and a little stiff, I took another page out of the paracord whip making book and removed the cores from the paracord. I like how this one turned out, but the lack of the cores did change the way the six strand (2x3) plait laid making it rounder than the others. I also tried a six strand plait from the pouch to the release, but it wouldn't lay flat (I suspect due to an even number of strands vs. an odd number of strands. I unbraided the flat braid and replaited it 2x3, the transition to a five strand round plait, and reduced strands in the same way as the orange and black slings. Although the split pouch is the same length as the orange, tennis balls fell through the slit, so I added a "snaggletooth smiley."

Not pictured are my two attempts at an Egyptian style sling made by twinging over twigs. I'm not really happy with how they came out...

Welcome from California! Very nice slings!

That's cool that you came from whipmaking; I've always wanted to try making a paracord whip but I've never gotten around to it. Might be a handy skill for me to pick up hehe.

Indeed, slings do have a rich history across many many cultures throughout the world with fascinating differences. Could study slings for ages and still have things to learn!

Glad to have you here!

Welcome, and great looking slings!