~ * { S L I N G S ~ & ~ S L I N G I N G } * ~:

This is a very old gadget indeed and maybe not such a useful one, unless like me you use it for slinging paint ball clusters at vehicles to mark them. However be that as it may I do hope that you will allow me this little indulgence, as I feel this very old gadget is still worthy of a mention on our board and who knows one of you may come up with a valid use for it even after all this time.

I have been prompted to produce this piece because I am somewhat marooned here on Eivissa, at the moment due to a severe case of food poisoning and taking bit of time here has brought back a few childhood memories.

As a child I was fortunate {although I felt quite unfortunate at times} enough to have a very New Age mother who was a Doctor then a professor of Clinical Psychology, who worked at a University,

I was also fortunate that in her divorce settlement from my father she got a small two bedroomed Spanish house on the small Balearic Island of Eivissa in the Mediterranean {incidentally Nostradamus predicted Eivissa would be the last Sanctuary of man and I can understand why}.

This meant that all through my childhood I spent my long summer holidays {10 weeks in England} living there, swimming, diving, sailing and having adventures in the islands beautiful pine forested hills. It was an extremely wonderful time for me, however one of the really wonderful thing was a friendship I struck up with our Spanish/Eivissian gardener Jose.

The Balearic Island had and still does have a strong tradition and even sport of Slinging, this is the old fashioned piece of braided rope with a pouch in the middle in which to place a projectile.



Jose was an expert with the sling and made me my first ever sling and tutored me in how to use one, I think he felt it only apt with my name being David after all. LOL.

The Slingers of the Balearic Islands have always been famous for there extraordinary accuracy, slingers join a society or union, and acquired the title of “foner” {slinger} if they passed the following test: fire nine shots each hitting the crossbars of a traditional gate.



Nevertheless to develop that skill is not an easy task. After intense training, that can last years, one probably will have developed respectable accuracy and the automatism of the firing. The sling will become one with our body, like an arm, and just like how we do not focus on our arm when we throw a stone by hand, we would not concentrate on the sling either. Instead, our focus shifts to the objective and we "sharpen our aim" and automatically shoot.

The accuracy of a sling cannot be controlled in the same way we can with firearms or modern bows. One visualizes the target and knows that one must aim and immobilize the sights on it, to tighten the trigger very slowly, and so forth. It is a static shot, where the precision and care of movements are fundamental.

Casting a rock with a sling is a very different more dynamic exercise that is developed to high speed, and where the slinger doesn't control voluntarily the moment of release and the exact alignment of the trajectory with the target. All these tasks have to be given to the unconscious, with their hidden mechanisms of precision. Consciously, we must only take care in listening to the voice of the unconscious to guide us to a successful release.

Over the years I have always made and practised with slings and although now I am still no where near the legendary accuracy of a Balearic Foner, I consider myself very proficient, and although because of my Naval career I have come in to contact with many cutting edge firearms, the simplicity and spiritualness of the sling always draws me back to it.

I now make mine by braiding black paracord and always carry a smaller one with my keys clipped to the end, I feel kinda lost without it. But anyway I have put a video and some pictures here for you to consider, please forgive me my indulgence here, it just means rather a lot to me and I thought one or two of you might be moved in the same way.

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You see this to me is the way of the sling, the one of communication and harmony with our unconscious. It is a longer way, but its profits are very worthwhile; more intense, but less tired; more difficult, but simpler. And mainly, it is a rewarding, joyful and magical way, and one that is well worth taking a closer look at.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)

SLINGING.ORG

SLING FOR SPORT AND SURVIVAL BY CLIFF SAVAGE

Looks a lot different from mine. Remind me to show you a picture of mine some time.

Tothian,

Seriously old chap I would be very interested in seeing a variation of slingshot, to me anyway it is a very interesting subject. Anyway when you have five mins.

Hello Nemo,

I think i understand why using the sling is spiritual. firearms are more logic based with lining up the sights and such while the sling is more about having pure faith in your self and your ability to hit your target.

The pure and simple things in life are often the best and most rewarding.

Boy Scouts taught me how to use a sling when I was pretty young. I haven't tried in the last decade or so, but I can't imagine the skill would be difficult to pick up again.

I've never seen one with a double-braided cord for a pouch. That's pretty interesting. I assume it's only for throwing larger stones?

Hey Stoical,

I just knew that you would get the spiritual concept of this one, the point is now are you going to give it a try for yourself, how are your braiding skills????, there are lots of great instructions on how to make them at SLINGING.ORG I highly recommend you give it a try, even the braiding of the tool itself is very relaxing, anyway hope to speak to you soon, {hopefully on Skype, {cheeky titter me not}}

I might give it a go but at the moment, its the braiding of one that seems more fun to me as i like doing art based crafts lol.

Hey Simon,

I assure you, you will not have forgotten the skill, but what you will have forgotten as most people tell me is the really spiritual and relaxing side to making and practising with one, I know this not really a valid gadget, but it is still really fun, and can help in developing a lot of skills.

The double braided ones are the ones I make, and you can make them any size, depending on what you use to braid them with, personally U use different sizes of paracord, which once worked does really nicely and of course it make the really waterproof. The basic principal is that the thinner the cord and the smaller the sling the smaller projectile and consequently the the less speed and force it can be cast at.

But as I said to Stoical half the fun {and at time frustration} is in the making of them, braiding/weaving have always been therapeutic hence the term, basket case.

But I really think you should give it a try again, as it can actually be quite good mild exercise that can be fun to do with the kids, particularly if you have a larger sling and especially with all the bending down to collect stones.

Speak to you later on Sunday chap,

I may have to give it a shot. After all, I live in southeast Kansas. Finding a place to practice around here shouldn't be all too difficult.

EDIT: I'm horrible at braiding, though. I'll probably have to stick to a corded pouch.

Cool Chap, I really hope you do,

but stitched leather pouch ones work just as well, and you only have to do a bit of cutting a couple of stitches and a bit of binding, done in an hour, or less!

The ancients seem to think like I do in regards to collecting and storing energy. What you're seeing in a sling is accumulating kinetic energy via centripetal (sp?) acceleration and releasing it in one instant. Even with a bow, there is really no other way to impart as much kinetic energy into a mass in such a small space. The bow might be able to deliver more force at a single point, but the sling makes a much better 'mass driver'.

Yo Nemo! I just remembered I already had a picture of it on my photobucket.

It folds in half, too. The angle you're looking at it from, keep the bottom part where it is, and the top part bends forward and under.

Anyway, here's the picture of it:

sounds interesting enough to try.

Thanatos,
Yep.

Big Simon,
Cool. Do you ever use anything like copperhead bb's or just rocks?

Small rocks, ball bearings, I could see. Marbles might be too big, as well as pepperballs.

The bigger ammo you're using, the less farther and less accurate your shots will be.

But yeah as for pepperballs, would make a good weapon in a paintball gun, but a sling shot isn't something that would make a useful weapon.

Good for shooting targets for fun - or if on patrol, it would make a good tool for distracting people.

Did the paintballs puncture or break when you were slinging it back to aim? If so, then that would really not be a good idea to use pepper balls with them. Haha.