Construction

I am working on the pocket section of my fiber sling, Instead of wool yarns I used #18 nylon seine cord in yellow and white. I'm afraid that it's much too slick to use the 16 strand braid worked up as mentioned in the book on sling braiding. So,after making the finger loop, I separated my strands into 4 bundles of four strands each and did a 4 strand braid worked down until I had a length long enough for the retention cord. For making the pocket I'm using a separate length of yellow seine twine and the finger weaving pattern copied from the article on a sling pocket of the Paleo Indians found in Lovelock cave here in Nevada. I'll let you know when I'm done.

James Burdine
jburdine@pipeline.com

When we kids made slingshot pouches out of leather (invariably castoff shoe leather and hence a bit stiff) we cut two slits in them, about one-half of the distance between the center of the pouch and the attachment points for the rubbers. This made the pouch fit more closely around the rocks or marbles we used for ammunition. Sometimes we connected the two slits with a third slit, creating an H-shaped slit in the middle of the pouch, to allow a rock, especially an irregular pebble, to settle even deeper into the pouch. The split pouches on traditional slings undoubtedly are meant to do the same thing: contain a missile snugly and securely until the instant of release. (I can imagine an ancient hunter being seriously irritated when dinner got away because the stone fell out of his sling.) You could even gauge the size of missile the slingmaker customarily used by measuring the gap in the pouch.

Sackett
sackett@dbo.eng.wayne.edu

The slit or hole helps the stone nestle in the same spot in the pouch throw after throw. Without the slit, the stone can end up to the left or right of the pouch's center line and make the throw a little less consistent. What keeps the stone from falling out of the slit is the size of the stone. If the stone is too small for the slit, or you make the slit too big for the ammo you will throw, then it will fall out!

Matthew Rapaport
mjr@crl.com

When I was a wee lad my dad made a sling for me. The pouch was from leather that you get in the harness repair bundles at the co-op. The strings were woven nylon parachute cord. the pouch was eliptical in shape around 4.5" major axis and about 2.5 " on minor axis. A small hole about the size of a dime or nicle was cut into the center of the pouch. The lenght of the strings were the lenght of my arm. a loop for the middle finger and a large knot that was held between the thumb and index. As I recall, the hole helped hold rocks in place and made it a little easier to load. Must have been something he learned as a kid (born in 1897)

Carter Mesick
hmesick@GOLDINC.COM

Generally, I measure the sling folded in ready to load position from my heart to the end of my arm stretched out to my side. However, close range or long range shooting also dictates the length of a sling. As far as length I like measuring my sling on the average from the heart to the end of my arm held out to my side (folded). Historically, for warfare, slingers carried a short sling for close range, a medium length for medium range and a longer one for distance.

Benjamin Pressley
benjamin@perigee.net

Been slinging, on and off, since the age of 7. In general, my slings (after the first one my dad made me) are made out of any material that will work. I like the thongs to be flexible enough to roll up, but have used stiff thongs with success. Folded, I like my slings to be of a length to clear the ground when my elbow is at my side and bent 90 degrees. My current slings use leather boot thongs and a piece of leather 2" x 3" for the pouch, with the thongs tied snug against the 2" sides. I've used both rectangular and oval pouches without noticing enough difference in performance to worry about it. I'm not sure, as I'm deaf, but I think that the ovaled pouches are quieter. Sometimes the rectangular ones seem to vibrate as I whirl them. I like the leather for durability, mainly.

Bill Blohm
bblohm@BOI.HP.COM

I'm still learning the sling. I've made my first fiber sling from yellow and white nylon #18 seine twine(or what we would have called trotline cord in Oklahoma) It turned out very nicely and I'm proud of it. My only problem is that the socket is rather small in comparison to my leather sling 2.5 x 3.5 inches fiber as opposed to 4x6 inches leather. On the other hand, the fiber socket seems to grip projectiles fairly securely in comparison to the leather socket. This allows me to throw some smaller projectiles fairly well and continues to hurl golf ball sized rocks fairly well too. It does balk at the larger tennis ball sized rocks.

Jim Burdine
jburdine@pipeline.com