In that we have a lot of new members I'll mention this.  When I was new to slinging I had just discovered how to get the bullwhip crack.  I liked this and figured if a two inch cracker (the cord after the release knot) gave a nice loud snap then a five incher ought to really kick butt.  Consequently I made a sling with a five inch cracker.  It's a mistake one makes only once.   It cracked across my right palm causing more pain than you would expect, leaving a nice welt.  It also caused some very colorful curse words.  Too big a cracker is not a good thing. 

   From my experience I'd say the sling weight doesn't effect the crack much unless you use an exceptionally light sling.  I get my best cracks from medium weight slings made of natural materials like jute, hemp, sisal, etc..
    Sort of on the same topic, if you want your sling to be stealthy and not crack you can put a wooden bead upstream from your release knot.  Wooden beads aren't made to travel at supersonic speeds so eventually it will break up and have to be replaced but that's no big deal.

joe_meadmaker wrote on Jul 11^th, 2024 at 11:37pm:


Does this mean you're basically trading speed/power for crack?  Or would it be so small as to be insignificant?

joe_meadmaker wrote on Jul 11^th, 2024 at 11:37pm:

I've seemed to find differently on this. In my experience, heavier projectiles make the sling swing around slower and therefore crack softer. I get my best cracks with nothing in the pouch. I mostly use tennis balls though, so it'd be interesting to experiment and see how loud I can get it with different projectiles.

I figured the material used had the most to do with it (recently found out about "sinew" though I'm still not entirely sure what type of material it is), or is at least very important, but maybe that's wrong?

Tested two slings today at the beach and the braided innards of a cord (on one) sounded decent enough (palm length braid and then slightly spread tassle at the end). Probably best cracks I've achieved so far (figure more tassles would've made it better though) followed by just a gutted piece of paracord. Don't particularly like LOUD cracking though; too sensitive to sound. 🙄 That and it's difficult to be stealthy if it cracks which may be good/bad depending on the situation.

The other sling I had done nothing with the end... It whipped around and hit me in the face (sling being way too short as well; guess it'll be a gift to suitable child). Maybe worth experimenting with just a "ball knot" (whatever a "ball knot" is but I saw a guy talk about an afghan kid making one ending in that) on that one just to try it (?).

Have some diabolo/yoyo string I figured I might wear out and then test as crackers but also a bit scared that those will whip around even harder (?). Used to whip to test sound when those diabolo strings broke in the past and, at least connected to a stick, they'd crack somewhat loud.

ScantPalaver wrote on Jul 12^th, 2024 at 2:12am:

Nope.  It all depends on the projectile, the sling, and obviously the slinger.  I've never used a chronograph with them, but I bet I can sling an ice ball at higher velocity than a tennis ball.  Actually that might be an interesting test.

One thing to keep in mind is that it's mostly the slinger.  An easy example is Channing (Practical Paracord).  If you watching him sling, he has loud cracks every time.  When using his slings, I don't see anyone else that does it as loud or as consistently.


Teeth wrote on Jul 12^th, 2024 at 7:13am:

Don't take the term 'heavier' too far.  I'm not talking about 300g stones.  Although you can still crack a sling with those.  In my example I'm comparing a tennis ball and an ice ball.  I can sling both of tosre without any real adjustment to sling speed or form.  If a projectile is heavy enough that the sling's movement needs to be slowed down, then yes, getting a crack can be more difficult when the goal is to get the end to break the sound barrier.

I know a guy in Austria that make very good cracking slings.  His are similar to what you said about your own, he can swing them empty just like a whip and they crack really loud.

ScantPalaver wrote on Jul 12^th, 2024 at 8:25pm:


That looks pretty nice. How does it sound?

Slings made of jute and/or other natural fibers don't last forever.  Depending on how often you sling every few months you'll need to make new ones.  I still like using them though. 
    On the other hand slings made of Polypropylene will last almost forever.