I’m looking to order spare rubber for a slingshot. I’m under the impression that flat bands are better. What thickness do I want? I’ve seen thicknesses range from 0.8MM to 2.0MM.
Slingshot Rubber
- Thread starter Caribou
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Depends in how heavy you want your drawwight to be and how long you want em- the general consensus is that theraband gold flat bands are best- but I've found that they are the best from a performance standpoint, they leave a bit to be desires from a durability standpoint.
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I've been dabbling with slingshot. a bit lately. There is a guy on YouTube and he wrote some articles for backwoodsman magazine. His name is Madison Parker. He's retired now though.. he had some strong opinions on what to use for bands. It's worth a look
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Here's a link
I haven’t played with mine for a while. Guess I’m a fair weather sling shotter. Hadn’t given much thought to extra rubber. Thanks for the reminder.
The place to ask is here:
https://www.slingshotforum.com/forums/
If you are going to be cutting your own bands from wider pieces, do it on a good cutting board surface with a single straight stroke of a razor blade (Exacto knife). Not scissors. One little nick or uneven spot and the bands you are cutting will be ruined. It's like the bagged noodles, mashed potatoes, whatever you get at the grocery store. They have an intentional little nick where you can easily tear open the package. But without that nick to get your tear started, those bags are impossible to just rip open with your hands. Or you can just buy pre-cut bands.
https://www.slingshotforum.com/forums/
If you are going to be cutting your own bands from wider pieces, do it on a good cutting board surface with a single straight stroke of a razor blade (Exacto knife). Not scissors. One little nick or uneven spot and the bands you are cutting will be ruined. It's like the bagged noodles, mashed potatoes, whatever you get at the grocery store. They have an intentional little nick where you can easily tear open the package. But without that nick to get your tear started, those bags are impossible to just rip open with your hands. Or you can just buy pre-cut bands.
p.s. - Flat bands start on the front of the forks and go up and over the top. Never attach them only to the back of the forks or they will come right off and slap you in the face when you draw them.
I think that I bit off more than I was expecting. As with many things, if you want to be good there is a lot to learn. Looks like I’ll have to buy multiple sets of bands and see what works for me. Thanks to all.
I made a bolo for a guy who told me that after 6 mths or so he became pretty good at it
I have made and used blow darts before
But never a slingshot. Interesting conversation.
I have made and used blow darts before
But never a slingshot. Interesting conversation.
Wow, found an old picture
Monkey fists and bolo I made and sold back in the day
Monkey fists and bolo I made and sold back in the day
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Then there is the Ron Hood delbow made from a carabiner and rubber tubing. Not my picture
After reading the thread about slingshots I have been looking at videos.
There are so many choices it's hard to make a decision.
I might but me a new slingshot just to play with.
If I do it will have flat bands.
There are so many choices it's hard to make a decision.
I might but me a new slingshot just to play with.
If I do it will have flat bands.
Get a hathcock and you can use both on the same frame. You can also shoot arrows. It was my favorite when I was into it and I had a few pricier ones back in the day... I'll see if I cannot dig up some pictures sometime.
For a short time I carried a sling shot while still hunting.. The thought being to lob an occasional marble size stone into the bush distracting any game that may be watching you and getting them to move and reveal themselves.. In a slight way it seemed to work..
My BIL used me and his son to birddog till we figured out what he was doing.
You could also get silicone plugs to make a tubing slingshot work with flatbands:
https://www.dankung.com/product/3-p...oop-band-slingshot-to-flatband-slingshot_3302
This is my personal favorite slingshot. The "Palm Thunder". Smaller works better for me than larger (there is less torque on your wrist that is caused buy the pull on higher forks):
https://www.dankung.com/Gcontent/black-palm-thunderusa_1263
Here is the main page for slingshots from Dankung - this is the company I buy from in China, the one that has a good reputation:
https://www.dankung.com/outdoor-products/field_category/dankung-has-best-slingshots?v=menu
Many people will grab a slingshot by it's handle, with a large part of it sticking up above your hand. Like you would hold a hammer. But much better is to hold it very high up, with your fingers supporting the forks. This type of hold leaves you with very little torque on your wrist. It is much easier to shoot, and more accurate. Your index finger wraps around the frame (thus the frame presses on your proximal phylange). Your thumb pushes on the frame.
The picture below shows where the forks will press against your hand if you hold the slingshot as in the picture above:
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When I was a kid I had a wrist rocket. I took it everywhere with me, until the rubber tubing broke. I was never able to replace the tubing. I'd like to get another one some day. Only now I could afford to buy a whole roll of tubing for it.
The most expensive slingshot I owned was a "SERE" something slingshot- I hardly remember. It could be broken down and stored flat made of aluminum. It had a removable arrow rest and the flatlands (it could also do tubes) were quickly changeable via thumb screws which allowed for an arrow specific set of bands to be utilized- I don't have a picture of the simple hook release I made from aluminum.
Cool concept- didn't work nearly aswell as you'd think.
The far superior option was the hathcock.
Just had a little divet rest for arrows- which worked surprisingly well. for carved wooden shafts you just made a little pinch grip knock like the plains Indians and didn't add a knock. I messed around with a few other things- like for modern arrows using a screw in insert where the knock is and then screwing on a small gumball sized wooden spherical bead so I didnt have to use arrow specific bands and a release.
There was another divet on the frame that the rubber would mold into when the bands were stretched acting as a rudimentary front sight sight- I found as long as my form was good and my bands were straight (not difficult because I was an archery nerd) the front sight was surprisingly accurate. The hathcock was far superior imo.
Cool concept- didn't work nearly aswell as you'd think.
The far superior option was the hathcock.
Just had a little divet rest for arrows- which worked surprisingly well. for carved wooden shafts you just made a little pinch grip knock like the plains Indians and didn't add a knock. I messed around with a few other things- like for modern arrows using a screw in insert where the knock is and then screwing on a small gumball sized wooden spherical bead so I didnt have to use arrow specific bands and a release.
There was another divet on the frame that the rubber would mold into when the bands were stretched acting as a rudimentary front sight sight- I found as long as my form was good and my bands were straight (not difficult because I was an archery nerd) the front sight was surprisingly accurate. The hathcock was far superior imo.
Here are my slingshots. I put the Palm Thunder in all of the pictures to use as a size reference. The Marksman 3040 in the bottom picture is one of the "wrist rocket" types that has the support that swings up and goes on top of your forearm. The Palm Thunder is my favorite, by far. My least favorite is the Marksman. The PFS ("Pickle Fork Shooter") is a fun toy that was made by a member of SlingShotForums.
Here is the contraption I made to make it easier to tie the pouches onto the band sets (you usually need several more hands than the average human has to do this!)
That PVC contraption and clamps does many different things besides just a slingshot band maker. It holds my spotting scope. And it's a rifle stand for cleaning Mosin-Nagants!
Here is the contraption I made to make it easier to tie the pouches onto the band sets (you usually need several more hands than the average human has to do this!)
That PVC contraption and clamps does many different things besides just a slingshot band maker. It holds my spotting scope. And it's a rifle stand for cleaning Mosin-Nagants!
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This morning I ordered 2 Saunders SR7 wrist rockets, with spare bands. One for my grandson and one for me. They were a little expensive at $38 each, but they are made in the US and are almost identical to the one I had as a kid.
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We used inter tube from an bike tire as a child, but now we use surgical tubing for sling shots.
If you use the leather pouch shepherd sling, then no tubing is needed. Also the atlatl spear is alone the same line.
That is what I grew up with. I read a couple articles where people favoured the flat rubber so I decided to try that this time. Some slingshots are designed to take either.
People say the flat rubber is more accurately.
