HI Jorg, It was good to meet up at last and of course fun to shoot some stuff, so hopefully we can repeat it again some time and thanks for showing me the crazy long slingshot
I think if it were possible to have rubberized slingshots in the medieval period, I think the slingshot would have won out over the long bow just because a slingshot is faster and easier to use, plus you have ammo everywhere if you use rocks. The accuracy, distance, and damage would have been very similar to a bow and arrow from medieval times. We may have gone a long time before anyone invented a bow and arrow, or it may never have been invented.
I noticed that the way Jörg pinches the pouch puts a twist in the rubber, so that after it's released, it untwists and puts a slight spin on the ball. DIY rifling lol
It's also much safer to shoot that way. I'm using it too. If you accidentally not keep your thumb in straight position (thumb under the ball), that will cause the speed bump effect. If you have low fork the ball can hit your hand or a fork. With a twist ball flies safely above the fork if you level up your thumb during the release. In target shooting it helps to get my hand more neutral position. I can use my thumb knuckle against corner of my mouth as a anchor point.
@@rikulaatikainen1929 This When I shot slingshots with a normal pinch grip I'd have shots hitting the fork occasionally. Twist grip however came right back at me and grazed my face once though.
@@daviddavidson2357 I'm using small pouches that are not big and saggy so projectile can exit more easily from the pouch. Return to sender shots are the ones I'm nervous when shooting darts. I mostly shoot 11mm steel with the heavy hunting band setups and I have once got a ricochet from the fork to my thumb. My thumb was sore for 1-2 weeks. Slingshots can be dangerous and I treat them with the respect.
Someone good with music software please make this happen! Replace snares with a gelatin slap :D Clearly need a narrative around making something to break stuff and samples of: "I don't know, let's find out" "Let me show you its features"
Was watching a guy on his channel who practised pretty much every day with a sling for a year or so, until he could reliably hit a milk jug or small prey sized target most of the time. He said (I paraphrase) "I'm now at about the level of competency of a young child from the era when these were used regularly... Those people could use a sling well."
You guys are going to love traditional Guatemalan slingshots! Medieval Europe might not have had rubber, but Mesoamericans were crafting all sorts of things from the material for centuries at the time: foot models & molds, custom rubber boots, waterproof cloaks, sandal soles, rubber bands, glue, stamps, rubber balls, & tons of other things. Sad that’s not really mentioned or portrayed in popular media when they’re talked about.
Thats pretty interesting. Is there any evidence or are there records about their use in war? A cuirass from a thick rubber that does not get degraded in the tropical weather of Central America seems very interesting, or a slingshot.
@@tambarlas5248 Joerg did a "speed" test with this slingshot back in 2013 with something like a 50 to 60 gram steel ball with the intention of setting an kinetic energy record for a slingshot. Don't know how it's holding up, but he reached ~130 joules. Assuming similar performance, that would be a good ending point for destruction testing. Starting with stones of various hardness (limestone, granite), then lead, then anachronistic steel balls if nothing else gets us the desired smashing! What do you guys say?
@@tods_workshop (I have been a Joerg fan for a while) I'd like more of a collaborative video where both parties learn from the other's experience, with a bit of competition.
As a slinger: Slings can be much more powerful than a powerful slingshot that you can draw. Slinghots can be aimed,and are much much much easier to be accurate with. A powerful shot with a sling can reach 300-400J,wheres world record shots from a slingshot drawn with one hand, barely exceed 100 joules. Slings don't loose power in cold,like slingshots,but they truely need more space between slingers,than slingshotters. The spacing however ,I don't see it as a definite disadvantage,unless we're talking uppon a castle wall. In a open field,exposed to other missile troops,being spread out is an advantage. A sling is probably more durable than the rubberbands,unless you sling with jagged stones. Both have pros and cons,I use them both,love them both,but the power I can generate with slings has my total respect.
The drawback of slings is that your fire is harder to concentrate in one spot to take advantage of a weakness, create one, or break morale with the men all spread out. Having half your mates drop around you is more likely to have a unit start to route than scattered losses and injuries.
@@washellwash1802 Kind of agree. Most effective skirmish tactic,that I had first hand experienced in reenactment battles was when I was a slinger among late roman infantry,which was chucking plumbatae volley,and as the enemy was holding their shields up,to protect from the plumbatae falling from a steep angle at 50 meters,I was slinging them flat with tomatoes to their legs,and they were jumping from the pain of tomatoes exploding on their legs. Now egg sized stones and up brake femurs,and all kinds of bones. A warrior in chainmail,helmet,and shield,sword, and with a broken leg,doesn't fight much lol.
Yeah but the slingshot can fire smaller ammo much faster, making it much more accurate and harder to dodge. You can also store a bag of ammo in your pocket.
@@zzasdfwas I can sling 2oz lead shot at 250 fps. I don't think anyone can dodge that. People standing next to me never see it go,I can see them zip,when I sling towards the light sky. I could put like 20 pieces in my pocket. Slingshot ammo is usually much lighter,than light sling ammo though.
Hello Tod ! I love your work. I was wondering if you could make a video to talk about the type of wood used for shields or maybe other stuff in medieval times. There seem to be a lot of videos about different types of steel used for weapons, but even though wood surely was a big component of medieval warfare (shields, arrows, fortifications...), I don't recall anything on wood types (or how thick the different historical shields were, for example). It seems to me that your channel is the most relevant for this and I believe I'm not the only one who would love to see you cover the topic :)
I think this is absolutely worth a video. But the quick run down is that the best wood for shields is stuff with cross grain, Poplar is good example, and for things like spear shafts Ash was a popular choice in Europe.
4 knaves riding along in a cart real slow. Band of minstrels spitting some mideival battly-rhyms. They roll down the canvas as they creep up on some unsuspecting peasant from some other lord... The rest is history.
I think there was a missed opportunity there to test slingshots vs medieval armor and shields. Also along with explosives channel to build a new slingshot cannon 2.0 that launches explosive shot. Still love the content, both of you build amazing things that I love watching.
1) I feel like Joerg has worked very hard here to find something that is 100% in the wheelhouse of Tod's channel, and that speaks very highly of him. 2) I can't get the image of hundreds of hulking, heavily armoured Teutonic knights all lining up with War-Slingshots, and just how gloriously, hilarious silly that would have looked for the moment before they utterly obliterated whatever they were fighting. =D
The only thing there is you'd need to make it possible to move your arm around on the other side of the shield. Which a design similar to the one in this video might not do so well. But perhaps doable.
@@chromarush1749 Center grip shield my friend. You can always add more rubber for a shorter draw. Also having a longer band would be more of a hindrance when not in use. Just cut a hole in the middle of the shield and have a sliding plate or hinged flap to cover the hole when not in use.
Damn... You can clearly say by only watching the way both Jörg and Tod draws that sling who can't just drop longbow drawing technique habit... Absolutely blastin' xD Cheers! I.
I like the twist that they put in to the rubber to get the ball spinning. Also, the massive lump of cast iron they've got to hold the target in place. "The Aesthetic of Destruction!", Jörg sounds like he is channelling Werner Herzog. It is great to see Tod and Jörg having fun, discussing things they are both enthusiastic about, and sharing ideas. The photography for this episode was really cool too.
I can’t wait to get hone and watch this . I’m increasingly getting into Slingshot shooting . I’d love to see Tod build a full sized Trebuchet though . A series of videos capturing the build would be fantastic .
While Jörg may be the more entertaining or imposing figure, you really really can see the difference in the editing and filming that is much better here than in his videos. Also I love the different shooting styles they have.
I imaging some monk could've been tinkering around with dandelions in the garden and just whomped on rubber pretty easily. I think the only thing that might've held it back is making and shaping enough rubber to make mass amounts of them.
Shooting guns, bows, slingshots, playing golf, baseball, any other sport requiring physical effort or dexterity, it's all about the satisfaction of handling something powerful and controlling it well enough to hit a target.
At the beginning I realised Jorg was emitting bird chirping when speaking :D I appreciate the sound design for the slow mo bit! :) And thank you Tod for answering the question "What would they use for a rubber band?". Also, how did no one boil some dandelions, duh... (I imagined someone lucky enough to have an access to a library going through massive books, checking which flowers were already boiled and which were not...)
It's so interesting seeing how Tod draws the slingshot, almost like how Joe Gibbs draws the longbow, swinging it up and drawing right away, like he's brought that knowledge to this and it is so fascinating to see that crossover of knowledge here. Meanwhile Joerg is just such a beast he just makes it look easy. It's really cool to see this crossover, I've been watching Joerg for years, so to see him here is so cool It is interesting to think about the implications of what Slingshots would have done in the medieval world. I feel like assassins would have adopted them pretty quickly, you could shoot someone up close in the same sort of range you might have used a pistol of that time, but silently. Or possibly contraptions for artillery similar to the style of Joerg's Smaug Perferator, shooting the big spears and such. Of course hunters would have loved to have something so compact for small game hunting. the possibilities are fascinating.
Todd + Jörg = sweet, sweet Heaven. Side note - Holy crap that Slingshot. I love it. Edit - Todd, you should get Jörg to make one for your mate that shoots the English Warbow, Imagine the power on those shots... :)
Interesting. Would the muscle groups be similar for drawing a bow as to drawing a slingshot? I recall him having a bit of trouble with the sideways Instant Legolas, so that might be a difference. The overall pose looks similar, though. Curious just how much rubber he could handle.
@@BobT36 I'd imagine sort of, but a lot of his muscles are just for avoiding the crumpling, whereas a slingshot is just straight across and much better suited to modern targeted weight training.
@@BobT36 i guess you could adjust the handle arrangement so it uses similar techniques for drawing. with the ultra high drawweight war-slingshot i suggest trying one inch tungsten cubes for ammo, and then see if it cuts through brigandine mail or plate.
The magic of video editing, that is to say all the videos of muskets or guns going off have had their volume reduced to make it safe for hearing, otherwise they could potentially get sued.
@@KageRyuu6 It isn't as if you can just capture the sound of a sperm whale click at 230db, play it back to someone and instantly rupture their ears. Both microphones and speakers have their limits. If you reach that limit, the sound "clips". The recorded sound doesn't get louder than it's limit, and the same goes for speakers. If you put a speaker to it's maximum volume and raise the gain on your input device, it doesn't go above the limit. Everything that was less loud than the limit would be louder than it was before, but not louder than the maximum volume it had before. A gunshot at 140db would sound just as loud as a sperm whale's 230db click on a recording.
What I find very fascinating about this, is how the motion of pulling back the bands, causes a slight twist, which in turn imparts a gyroscopic spin onto the projectile, much like fletching on an arrow, or the rifling of a barrel.
Would that help with a spherical projectile? Spinning is to stop it tumbling in mid air, but a sphere looks aerodynamically the same from the front no matter which way you turn it/it tumbles. as opposed to a an arrow or bullet which has a way you want it to keep pointing, and a way that's bad (side on)
@@AngDavies I've shot smoothbore & rifled with both ball & piquet bullets, accuracy in all combinations improves with rifling & spin, I was just wondering if it aided at the lower velocities from a slingshot ( B.T.W. I am not willing to stand in front of any of them ! ) I don't think Samuel Colt would have rifled revolvers which, at the start, probably shot mostly ball if there were not an advantage.
I think you're thinking of bullets, which are spun for stability. This is because a bullet is long and pointy, and you want it flying and hitting the target with the pointy end forward instead of tumbling through the air and slamming into the target sideways. With spherical projectiles, spin around that axis does almost nothing (I think there might theoretically be some effect in reducing topspin/backspin/sidespin, which do affect the trajectory, though I doubt it's observable in this case). The twist here is purely the result of the way they grab the ball and slingshot: you grab the projectile with your palm facing down, and as you pull back you naturally rotate your arm to palm away from you.
These collaboration videos are so great to see!! I already love and follow both of your channels so it is so cool to see you guys actually meet up and work together!
Heh those slo mo shots were like something from a movie. Glad you enjoyed yourself, Todd! Grinning from ear to ear. Can certainly imagine medieval skirmishers using those, they'd cause alsorts of havoc. Wonder if they'd go through curved shields just as easily as they blew through that flat ply? One downside of course though would be the European winter. They'd have to be a seasonal weapon by the sounds of it!
It's great seeing two such respectable, creative individuals together. One the "What if I..?" approach and the other "It would appear that..." but both craftsmen in your own rights. The fact that you mention both of you love shooting odd things just makes you more akin to a rather large part of the male population :) I was trying to think if I'd ever managed to make anything half as bonkers as Jörg (I already know I haven't crafted anything as well as either of you) and could only come up with a baby trebuchet made around 30 years ago using 15 foot poles and rope. Oh well, there's time yet!
When I was a kid we made mini-versions of that contraption using rubber/elastic bands and clothes pegs pinned to a board and firing small stones. We called them 'gats'. Easy to lose an eye (nearly did) and I nearly took another kid's.
With the whole “could have made medieval rubber” thing, it’s so interesting how many things could have been made back then but didn’t think of it, proves human aren’t as good at thinking outside the box as some might think
I would love to see Jorg, Tod, the first main blacksmith from Man at Arms, and Adam Savage together on a well funded series called "Creating Destruction".
There is many videos about that on my channel : rubber IS good for crossbows, but they need to use elastic rope, not flat rubber bands, and it will work very well ! Good film anyway, this slingshot shooting demonstration was interesting ! And the slo-mo footage is amazing !
Excellent video, I hope the both of you have some more collaborations soon. Or at least one sitcom sketch, you guys make a great team. Thank you for the video.
Hi Tod, thank you for your videos. You are definitely my favourite youtuber. I would love to see more videos about your craft and the items that you make.
Can you imagine a medieval "Rubber Corps"? Rubber powered light artillery shooting large rocks to knock some heads Long range handheld small rock harrying squads Short range lead projectile squads for armour penetration This would definitely speed up the development of plate armour and possibly even slow the adoption of gunpowder for muskets etc.
4:21 I don't know either. When I was a kid I loved shooting things with slingshots. I never killed anything. Once I shot at a big pigeon once, but I was so afraid of killing it that my shot bounced out of his wing(he didn't even move). I felt so guilty that I didn't shoot for months. Also one thing that I loved doing was knocking off mangos out of the tree with the sling. Delicious! The tree the pigeon was on was a "Jambolão" tree. I don't know how it is called in English.
These two are my favorite TH-cam friendship duo. I hope that the correspondence we see on TH-cam is a small fraction of the hangout they get off the air.
Yes, a line of slingshotters could be much more closely spaced than slings - 4 or 6 times as Tod points out. But they could also be (maybe prone plus) kneeling and standing in ranks for even greater density. I'd prefer being prone and presenting less of a target - something you can't do with a sling, bow, or whiel reloading a crossbow. But the advantage of slingshots over slings that stood out to me is that one could be shielded almost completely whether through a line of shields or an arrowslit in a castle or other fortification. And if you're firing from a fortified position, the front end of the sling shot can be fixed to the walls and then one can draw even further back, putting even more energy into the projectile. I noticed that both Tod's and Jorg's draw turns the sling pocket 90+ degrees which then untwists upon firing and spins the projectile. So this isn't a rubber-powered 10-gauge-slug shotgun, it's a .79 caliber rifle! Any measurements on the speed and therefore kinetic energy of the projectile? 50 pound draw weight for the most extended foot of draw? Then 40, 30, 20, 10 pounds for the subsequent feet of its acceleration? Adds up to 150 foot-pounds = 203 Joules. That's more than .22LR, .25ACP and as much as .32ACP. Any of which can really ruin your day. Or maybe, being Jorg, it's 60+50+40+30+20+10 (crudely integrating each foot of draw length) = 210 foot-pounds = 285 Joules giving it the energy of a .380 ACP round.
OMG! Todd's Workshop and Slingshot Channel together at last! I don't even need to see this video to already know I'm going to love it! Now let Jeorg show us it's features!
The whole thing seems like it can be easily attached to a spear or any other polearm without adding any significant weight. So all of your infantry can do crazy ranged attacks without losing their melee capabilities. In fact a formation could unleash a volley and then immediately charge into the enemy.
General rule with rubber is you make the bands 1/3 of your draw length for maximum power from your bands. I certainly like using light tubes since my slingshot use is mostly for target practice and training hand eye, also using Simple Shot clip frames means I can be lazy and make "larks head loops" since bands at 1/3 size tend to wear out quick.
I''m looking at the plank used for the body of the weapon, and I can't help but feel like it would be a great place to store ammo. I have to wonder at the viability of making a spring-fed magazine tube and thumb-operated dispenser mechanism using medieval technology.
I'm a long-time subscriber to both channels, and absolutely loving these collab videos. Gotta say, Tod looks kinda tiny next to Joerg. Wiry guy vs straight-up tank.
Really interesting video getting both your opinions together. Would be interesting to see you both design a weapon that you believe would be the most perfect for large warfare formations as a replacement for archers
7:50 The sling shot, throwing sling & gun all are just different ways to throw a specialized stone. The easy thing to forget is the bit about guns. The variables are speed & accuracy. Range of course being a product of those 2 things.
The most usefull thing to my mind is actually the little slingshot. Like plumbata you could equip every soldier with one, and thus have heavy infantry with withering firepower, without sacrificing formation like you would with a sling. Ammo is light, so just shoot like a madman.
A thought about the number of slingers you could get. I know that some slingers spin up helicopter like, but isn’t it also possible to sling vertically? Similar to a hammer throw with a disk in ultimate?
Slinging vertically underhand is standard, but achieving good power involves movement of the entire body in a way that requires significant space. Think of it like a baseball pitch. It's not just your arm and hand doing the work. Still, a staff sling is used with an overhead swing, and that doesn't necessarily require much space. Theoretically, you could be shoulder-to-shoulder.
in the subject of the arrow. there is the front hooked arrow or dart. that would make it possible to still make a full draw on the slingshot. and get a very long range shot with something pointy.
How about using rolls at the front of the slingshot to counteract the initial length of the rubber and make the lever of slingshots with even longer drawlenghts more manageable? You could also have the rolls prestretch the rubber to have a greater initiall drawlength. To counteract the problem of gradual temperatur loss you could prestretch the rubber to the rolls just before each shot. Basically, you attach the rubber rather far back on the plank slingshot and attach a pair of rolls at the front. That way one could use far shorter arrows when shooting with a slingbow.
I loved how you two had different shooting techniques with the braced slingshot. Jörg shot it like a modern compound bow - braced arm outstretched & then pulling the other back. You shot it more like you 'swung' into it, perhaps more like with a more traditional bow?
Have you considered putting Sgian Dubh's on the Tod Cutler line? I'm putting together a kilt setup, and I've been eyeing the Cutler line for a while so I thought I might get one of your eating knives and sand down the handle, but the idea of doing that hurts my soul as an appreciator and craftsmen.
Great stuff as always Tod. I was just thinking in the very last clip, of the ball going through the ply in slow mo, that it'd be interesting to test, on that example and others, that if you took a speed/energy reading immediately before the target and then one immediately after the target, provided of course that you get a pass through. It wouldn't prove anything but it might be interesting.
I'd love to see the science of this, how much energy does the metal ball game compared to an arrow? How fast does it bleed energy compared to an arrow? How effective is it against various types of armour? I feel arrows have some advantages due to potential energy as well (an arrow falling at terminal velocity is probably more dangerous than a steel ball falling at its terminal velocity). Fundamentally, how effective would a rubber sling shot be on the battlefield.
Eye opening video. Such a simple weapon that would have made a difference in ancient times. I would not want to get smoked with one of those projectiles, with or without armor.
That was a fun day, and a great video!
Indeed 👍
HI Jorg, It was good to meet up at last and of course fun to shoot some stuff, so hopefully we can repeat it again some time and thanks for showing me the crazy long slingshot
I think if it were possible to have rubberized slingshots in the medieval period, I think the slingshot would have won out over the long bow just because a slingshot is faster and easier to use, plus you have ammo everywhere if you use rocks. The accuracy, distance, and damage would have been very similar to a bow and arrow from medieval times. We may have gone a long time before anyone invented a bow and arrow, or it may never have been invented.
How long until the rubber crossbow??
I hope you are enjoying the UK Joerg! Well, as much as you can at the moment.
I noticed that the way Jörg pinches the pouch puts a twist in the rubber, so that after it's released, it untwists and puts a slight spin on the ball. DIY rifling lol
It's also much safer to shoot that way. I'm using it too. If you accidentally not keep your thumb in straight position (thumb under the ball), that will cause the speed bump effect. If you have low fork the ball can hit your hand or a fork. With a twist ball flies safely above the fork if you level up your thumb during the release.
In target shooting it helps to get my hand more neutral position. I can use my thumb knuckle against corner of my mouth as a anchor point.
@@rikulaatikainen1929 This
When I shot slingshots with a normal pinch grip I'd have shots hitting the fork occasionally.
Twist grip however came right back at me and grazed my face once though.
@@daviddavidson2357
I'm using small pouches that are not big and saggy so projectile can exit more easily from the pouch. Return to sender shots are the ones I'm nervous when shooting darts. I mostly shoot 11mm steel with the heavy hunting band setups and I have once got a ricochet from the fork to my thumb. My thumb was sore for 1-2 weeks. Slingshots can be dangerous and I treat them with the respect.
4:24 "The aesthetics of destruction". If Tod and Jörg ever form a death metal band, we have a name.
Someone good with music software please make this happen!
Replace snares with a gelatin slap :D
Clearly need a narrative around making something to break stuff and samples of:
"I don't know, let's find out"
"Let me show you its features"
Such a great phrase and a great name for a band
@@MyFriendsAreElectric I'll love to hear some also
What would Bardcore Metal sound like? Steel string lutes?
@@hanelyp1 More like Electric Lutes! Now I've mentioned that, I want someone to make one so I can hear what it would sound like.
Was watching a guy on his channel who practised pretty much every day with a sling for a year or so, until he could reliably hit a milk jug or small prey sized target most of the time. He said (I paraphrase) "I'm now at about the level of competency of a young child from the era when these were used regularly... Those people could use a sling well."
OK, now I want to see a homemade dandelion milk rubber slingshot
word
Try it.
@@simonrmerton Tbh that sounded quite aggressive 🤣
@@kennethg9277 Oh dear.
I'd be curious to see how many dandelions it would take.
You guys are going to love traditional Guatemalan slingshots! Medieval Europe might not have had rubber, but Mesoamericans were crafting all sorts of things from the material for centuries at the time: foot models & molds, custom rubber boots, waterproof cloaks, sandal soles, rubber bands, glue, stamps, rubber balls, & tons of other things.
Sad that’s not really mentioned or portrayed in popular media when they’re talked about.
Thats pretty interesting. Is there any evidence or are there records about their use in war? A cuirass from a thick rubber that does not get degraded in the tropical weather of Central America seems very interesting, or a slingshot.
I saw a program about a Chinese triple crossbow that supposedly could send an arrow about 1.5 kilometers.
When a big German guy says hes into rubber and latex you need to run because things are going to get real kinky if you stay.
Chuckles
Rubber, latex and penetration.
@@DavidThomas-sv1tk That would be Joerg+Matt, not Joerg+Tod
Run towards him you mean, I guess. Sounds like a party.
@@DavidThomas-sv1tk Also, destroying your target utterly.
I like how you can see the spinning effect in the slow-motion firing of the slingshot.
Yeah, that was interesting
"I know rubber is your thing, and you know the Medieval world is mine"
- Tod, 2021
Rubber is DEFINITELY Jorgs thing
@@tods_workshop you should shoot medieval armor with some rubber weapons :)
@@Atillatzke Shooting at medieval armor with a rubber powered crossbow : th-cam.com/video/qI6rA4CSjvk/w-d-xo.html
To each his own fetish! ❤️
How about shooting some of your armor, Tod? Still got your soft armors, mail and brigandine?
That would be awesome, I'd love to see what kind of damage one of Jorg's slingshots would do to a helmet, as well as various body armors.
Holy shit! Yes!
Destructive testing!
And determine the velocity
@@tambarlas5248 Joerg did a "speed" test with this slingshot back in 2013 with something like a 50 to 60 gram steel ball with the intention of setting an kinetic energy record for a slingshot. Don't know how it's holding up, but he reached ~130 joules.
Assuming similar performance, that would be a good ending point for destruction testing. Starting with stones of various hardness (limestone, granite), then lead, then anachronistic steel balls if nothing else gets us the desired smashing!
What do you guys say?
@@adampalamara cast iron balls would make a good historic hard shot to test instead of steel.
I really hope you two make lots of videos together in the future! Really great chemistry
I hope so too! A great day
@@tods_workshop (I have been a Joerg fan for a while) I'd like more of a collaborative video where both parties learn from the other's experience, with a bit of competition.
As a slinger: Slings can be much more powerful than a powerful slingshot that you can draw. Slinghots can be aimed,and are much much much easier to be accurate with. A powerful shot with a sling can reach 300-400J,wheres world record shots from a slingshot drawn with one hand, barely exceed 100 joules. Slings don't loose power in cold,like slingshots,but they truely need more space between slingers,than slingshotters. The spacing however ,I don't see it as a definite disadvantage,unless we're talking uppon a castle wall. In a open field,exposed to other missile troops,being spread out is an advantage. A sling is probably more durable than the rubberbands,unless you sling with jagged stones. Both have pros and cons,I use them both,love them both,but the power I can generate with slings has my total respect.
The drawback of slings is that your fire is harder to concentrate in one spot to take advantage of a weakness, create one, or break morale with the men all spread out. Having half your mates drop around you is more likely to have a unit start to route than scattered losses and injuries.
Thanks for the insight!
@@washellwash1802 Kind of agree. Most effective skirmish tactic,that I had first hand experienced in reenactment battles was when I was a slinger among late roman infantry,which was chucking plumbatae volley,and as the enemy was holding their shields up,to protect from the plumbatae falling from a steep angle at 50 meters,I was slinging them flat with tomatoes to their legs,and they were jumping from the pain of tomatoes exploding on their legs. Now egg sized stones and up brake femurs,and all kinds of bones. A warrior in chainmail,helmet,and shield,sword, and with a broken leg,doesn't fight much lol.
Yeah but the slingshot can fire smaller ammo much faster, making it much more accurate and harder to dodge. You can also store a bag of ammo in your pocket.
@@zzasdfwas I can sling 2oz lead shot at 250 fps. I don't think anyone can dodge that. People standing next to me never see it go,I can see them zip,when I sling towards the light sky. I could put like 20 pieces in my pocket. Slingshot ammo is usually much lighter,than light sling ammo though.
"If you need something really powerful, you just put another rubber on it."
- Joerg Sprave
That's what she said
wha-BAMB! That's a sound.
And the high-speed really shows well how the twist imparts rotation to the projectile. Very cool.
As impractical as it would be... Now I really want to see Jörg shooting a full butterfly slingbow with 6+ foot arrows.
Hello Tod ! I love your work.
I was wondering if you could make a video to talk about the type of wood used for shields or maybe other stuff in medieval times. There seem to be a lot of videos about different types of steel used for weapons, but even though wood surely was a big component of medieval warfare (shields, arrows, fortifications...), I don't recall anything on wood types (or how thick the different historical shields were, for example).
It seems to me that your channel is the most relevant for this and I believe I'm not the only one who would love to see you cover the topic :)
I will be coming back to shields
I think this is absolutely worth a video. But the quick run down is that the best wood for shields is stuff with cross grain, Poplar is good example, and for things like spear shafts Ash was a popular choice in Europe.
Linden wood wassaid to be relatively shatter proof, for shields,in1066 a.d.
,
"Shoot it gangsta' style."
Now I'm imagining medieval drive-bys with slingshots.
4 knaves riding along in a cart real slow. Band of minstrels spitting some mideival battly-rhyms. They roll down the canvas as they creep up on some unsuspecting peasant from some other lord... The rest is history.
Ride-by.
You and Jorg have to make a ballista together. It would fit perfectly with both of the channels. That would be so awesome!
"The Instant Balista... let me show its features... hahahaha"
No, a Roman repeating ballista that shoots pencils and is powered by a drill
I think there was a missed opportunity there to test slingshots vs medieval armor and shields. Also along with explosives channel to build a new slingshot cannon 2.0 that launches explosive shot. Still love the content, both of you build amazing things that I love watching.
1) I feel like Joerg has worked very hard here to find something that is 100% in the wheelhouse of Tod's channel, and that speaks very highly of him.
2) I can't get the image of hundreds of hulking, heavily armoured Teutonic knights all lining up with War-Slingshots, and just how gloriously, hilarious silly that would have looked for the moment before they utterly obliterated whatever they were fighting. =D
The crossover we all wanted is finally here!
* In medieval times * people could have mounted the slingshots in the inside of their shields
The only thing there is you'd need to make it possible to move your arm around on the other side of the shield. Which a design similar to the one in this video might not do so well.
But perhaps doable.
@@chromarush1749 Center grip shield my friend. You can always add more rubber for a shorter draw. Also having a longer band would be more of a hindrance when not in use. Just cut a hole in the middle of the shield and have a sliding plate or hinged flap to cover the hole when not in use.
Fantastic video guys and I love how humble Jőrg is. Humility is a very good trait to have
The slow mo shots here are amazing! They look so clean and well lit, and the sound editing is really spot on. Love it!
Damn... You can clearly say by only watching the way both Jörg and Tod draws that sling who can't just drop longbow drawing technique habit...
Absolutely blastin' xD
Cheers!
I.
1:22 I just imagine this guy in a zombie infestation holed up on the roof of a ball bearing factory with a box of elastic bands.
Reminds me of the character 10K from Z Nation.
Going by the number of holes on that board I can imagine that you've been having quite a lot of fun with that thing before you even started filming.
Gotta love Jörg's ingenuity. The design is so simple yet extremely effective!
I like the twist that they put in to the rubber to get the ball spinning. Also, the massive lump of cast iron they've got to hold the target in place.
"The Aesthetic of Destruction!", Jörg sounds like he is channelling Werner Herzog. It is great to see Tod and Jörg having fun, discussing things they are both enthusiastic about, and sharing ideas.
The photography for this episode was really cool too.
I can’t wait to get hone and watch this . I’m increasingly getting into Slingshot shooting . I’d love to see Tod build a full sized Trebuchet though . A series of videos capturing the build would be fantastic .
Caerphilly castle, has a beauty, and a tripod balista crossbow. They give regular demos, firing into the mote :)
@@markhuckercelticcrossbows7887 Ah great . Cheers Mark . I’ll have to take the other half when it’s open again 👍
I love the Slingshot Channel. Jörg has done some awesome work with slingshots
Indeed. Sadly, he does not make many slingshot videos nowadays. It's all instant legolases and crossbows.
I’m really loving having both of you guys in the same video! It’s just so fun!!
Tod+Jörg = pure joy
While Jörg may be the more entertaining or imposing figure, you really really can see the difference in the editing and filming that is much better here than in his videos. Also I love the different shooting styles they have.
Really enjoyed the talk.
Now I´m waiting for Tod to make a dandelion-rubber repeating plumbata slingshot that could have conquered the world :D
I imaging some monk could've been tinkering around with dandelions in the garden and just whomped on rubber pretty easily.
I think the only thing that might've held it back is making and shaping enough rubber to make mass amounts of them.
Dandelions are weeds I'm sure they had plenty I think its just the lack of knowledge in how rubber is made.
Shooting guns, bows, slingshots, playing golf, baseball, any other sport requiring physical effort or dexterity, it's all about the satisfaction of handling something powerful and controlling it well enough to hit a target.
Considering that it used to be a vital survival skill, I'm not surprised it feels satisfying to shoot things accurately/skillfully.
this may very well be the collab video we have all needed. thanks guys and thanks community.
At the beginning I realised Jorg was emitting bird chirping when speaking :D
I appreciate the sound design for the slow mo bit! :) And thank you Tod for answering the question "What would they use for a rubber band?". Also, how did no one boil some dandelions, duh... (I imagined someone lucky enough to have an access to a library going through massive books, checking which flowers were already boiled and which were not...)
It's so interesting seeing how Tod draws the slingshot, almost like how Joe Gibbs draws the longbow, swinging it up and drawing right away, like he's brought that knowledge to this and it is so fascinating to see that crossover of knowledge here.
Meanwhile Joerg is just such a beast he just makes it look easy.
It's really cool to see this crossover, I've been watching Joerg for years, so to see him here is so cool
It is interesting to think about the implications of what Slingshots would have done in the medieval world. I feel like assassins would have adopted them pretty quickly, you could shoot someone up close in the same sort of range you might have used a pistol of that time, but silently. Or possibly contraptions for artillery similar to the style of Joerg's Smaug Perferator, shooting the big spears and such. Of course hunters would have loved to have something so compact for small game hunting. the possibilities are fascinating.
Todd + Jörg = sweet, sweet Heaven.
Side note - Holy crap that Slingshot. I love it.
Edit - Todd, you should get Jörg to make one for your mate that shoots the English Warbow, Imagine the power on those shots... :)
Now that is a thought.......
@@tods_workshop My day is made. :)
Interesting. Would the muscle groups be similar for drawing a bow as to drawing a slingshot?
I recall him having a bit of trouble with the sideways Instant Legolas, so that might be a difference. The overall pose looks similar, though.
Curious just how much rubber he could handle.
@@BobT36 I'd imagine sort of, but a lot of his muscles are just for avoiding the crumpling, whereas a slingshot is just straight across and much better suited to modern targeted weight training.
@@BobT36 i guess you could adjust the handle arrangement so it uses similar techniques for drawing.
with the ultra high drawweight war-slingshot i suggest trying one inch tungsten cubes for ammo, and then see if it cuts through brigandine mail or plate.
What a combination, these collab videos are great. I like Tod's bow drawing technique. What a beast of a slingshot.
The steel ball is hitting the wood so hard that it sounds like a musket going off. Crazy.
The magic of video editing, that is to say all the videos of muskets or guns going off have had their volume reduced to make it safe for hearing, otherwise they could potentially get sued.
@@KageRyuu6 most likely,the noise is so loud you can't capture it with a camera
@@KageRyuu6 It isn't as if you can just capture the sound of a sperm whale click at 230db, play it back to someone and instantly rupture their ears. Both microphones and speakers have their limits. If you reach that limit, the sound "clips". The recorded sound doesn't get louder than it's limit, and the same goes for speakers. If you put a speaker to it's maximum volume and raise the gain on your input device, it doesn't go above the limit. Everything that was less loud than the limit would be louder than it was before, but not louder than the maximum volume it had before.
A gunshot at 140db would sound just as loud as a sperm whale's 230db click on a recording.
I Hope you come up with some awesome new constructions together or inspired from this collab
What I find very fascinating about this, is how the motion of pulling back the bands, causes a slight twist, which in turn imparts a gyroscopic spin onto the projectile, much like fletching on an arrow, or the rifling of a barrel.
I notice that the rubber / pouch twists on release, do you think it is enough to improve the stability or accuracy of the shot ?
Would that help with a spherical projectile? Spinning is to stop it tumbling in mid air, but a sphere looks aerodynamically the same from the front no matter which way you turn it/it tumbles. as opposed to a an arrow or bullet which has a way you want it to keep pointing, and a way that's bad (side on)
@@AngDavies I've shot smoothbore & rifled with both ball & piquet bullets, accuracy in all combinations improves with rifling & spin, I was just wondering if it aided at the lower velocities from a slingshot ( B.T.W. I am not willing to stand in front of any of them ! ) I don't think Samuel Colt would have rifled revolvers which, at the start, probably shot mostly ball if there were not an advantage.
I think you're thinking of bullets, which are spun for stability. This is because a bullet is long and pointy, and you want it flying and hitting the target with the pointy end forward instead of tumbling through the air and slamming into the target sideways.
With spherical projectiles, spin around that axis does almost nothing (I think there might theoretically be some effect in reducing topspin/backspin/sidespin, which do affect the trajectory, though I doubt it's observable in this case).
The twist here is purely the result of the way they grab the ball and slingshot: you grab the projectile with your palm facing down, and as you pull back you naturally rotate your arm to palm away from you.
@@daanwilmer ah, crap, yes, I forgot about Magnus
@@daanwilmer piquet bullets are almost square in dimenson ( length versus diameter ) & greatest weight is to the rear, relying on spin for stability
Loving the tag team great work guys!
These collaboration videos are so great to see!! I already love and follow both of your channels so it is so cool to see you guys actually meet up and work together!
Heh those slo mo shots were like something from a movie.
Glad you enjoyed yourself, Todd! Grinning from ear to ear.
Can certainly imagine medieval skirmishers using those, they'd cause alsorts of havoc. Wonder if they'd go through curved shields just as easily as they blew through that flat ply?
One downside of course though would be the European winter. They'd have to be a seasonal weapon by the sounds of it!
Mighty duo. I love every opportunity I get to see my two favourite TH-camrs
It's great seeing two such respectable, creative individuals together. One the "What if I..?" approach and the other "It would appear that..." but both craftsmen in your own rights. The fact that you mention both of you love shooting odd things just makes you more akin to a rather large part of the male population :)
I was trying to think if I'd ever managed to make anything half as bonkers as Jörg (I already know I haven't crafted anything as well as either of you) and could only come up with a baby trebuchet made around 30 years ago using 15 foot poles and rope. Oh well, there's time yet!
So happy to see you guys collaborating!
When I was a kid we made mini-versions of that contraption using rubber/elastic bands and clothes pegs pinned to a board and firing small stones. We called them 'gats'. Easy to lose an eye (nearly did) and I nearly took another kid's.
seeing Tod and Joerg togethor is like seeing two masters from different villiages. "you use a bow?!?!!!" "You use rubber!?!"
With the whole “could have made medieval rubber” thing, it’s so interesting how many things could have been made back then but didn’t think of it, proves human aren’t as good at thinking outside the box as some might think
Great to see the two of you together! and that is some fantastic slo-mo footage
I would love to see Jorg, Tod, the first main blacksmith from Man at Arms, and Adam Savage together on a well funded series called "Creating Destruction".
That sounds like a great idea and a great name
Dandelion milk? FETCH THE DANDELION COWS!
Joerg going off on the history of rubber, really shows he knows his stuff !!
There is many videos about that on my channel : rubber IS good for crossbows, but they need to use elastic rope, not flat rubber bands, and it will work very well !
Good film anyway, this slingshot shooting demonstration was interesting ! And the slo-mo footage is amazing !
So awesome to see you two get together!
1:37
Dayum, Jörg, that accuracy!
The Maya had rubber, and they loved killing each other. Did they ever put those two passions together?
Excellent video, I hope the both of you have some more collaborations soon. Or at least one sitcom sketch, you guys make a great team. Thank you for the video.
Hi Tod, thank you for your videos. You are definitely my favourite youtuber. I would love to see more videos about your craft and the items that you make.
Can you imagine a medieval "Rubber Corps"?
Rubber powered light artillery shooting large rocks to knock some heads
Long range handheld small rock harrying squads
Short range lead projectile squads for armour penetration
This would definitely speed up the development of plate armour and possibly even slow the adoption of gunpowder for muskets etc.
now I want to read THAT military book series
"Medieval Rubber Corp" - title of the next Vivid Video release
4:21 I don't know either. When I was a kid I loved shooting things with slingshots. I never killed anything.
Once I shot at a big pigeon once, but I was so afraid of killing it that my shot bounced out of his wing(he didn't even move). I felt so guilty that I didn't shoot for months.
Also one thing that I loved doing was knocking off mangos out of the tree with the sling. Delicious!
The tree the pigeon was on was a "Jambolão" tree. I don't know how it is called in English.
That pigeon was in fact a terminator
These two are my favorite TH-cam friendship duo. I hope that the correspondence we see on TH-cam is a small fraction of the hangout they get off the air.
Yes, a line of slingshotters could be much more closely spaced than slings - 4 or 6 times as Tod points out. But they could also be (maybe prone plus) kneeling and standing in ranks for even greater density. I'd prefer being prone and presenting less of a target - something you can't do with a sling, bow, or whiel reloading a crossbow.
But the advantage of slingshots over slings that stood out to me is that one could be shielded almost completely whether through a line of shields or an arrowslit in a castle or other fortification.
And if you're firing from a fortified position, the front end of the sling shot can be fixed to the walls and then one can draw even further back, putting even more energy into the projectile.
I noticed that both Tod's and Jorg's draw turns the sling pocket 90+ degrees which then untwists upon firing and spins the projectile. So this isn't a rubber-powered 10-gauge-slug shotgun, it's a .79 caliber rifle!
Any measurements on the speed and therefore kinetic energy of the projectile? 50 pound draw weight for the most extended foot of draw? Then 40, 30, 20, 10 pounds for the subsequent feet of its acceleration? Adds up to 150 foot-pounds = 203 Joules. That's more than .22LR, .25ACP and as much as .32ACP. Any of which can really ruin your day. Or maybe, being Jorg, it's 60+50+40+30+20+10 (crudely integrating each foot of draw length) = 210 foot-pounds = 285 Joules giving it the energy of a .380 ACP round.
Such a pleasure to watch both of you together :D
What a treat to see the two of you together!
OMG! Todd's Workshop and Slingshot Channel together at last! I don't even need to see this video to already know I'm going to love it!
Now let Jeorg show us it's features!
The rifling in my flintlock is 1 in 66". The twist Jorg puts in is like 1" in 120". How much stabilization do we think that provides?
The whole thing seems like it can be easily attached to a spear or any other polearm without adding any significant weight. So all of your infantry can do crazy ranged attacks without losing their melee capabilities. In fact a formation could unleash a volley and then immediately charge into the enemy.
I love Jörg and the slingshot channel
General rule with rubber is you make the bands 1/3 of your draw length for maximum power from your bands. I certainly like using light tubes since my slingshot use is mostly for target practice and training hand eye, also using Simple Shot clip frames means I can be lazy and make "larks head loops" since bands at 1/3 size tend to wear out quick.
This was excellent and as to be expected it was a very enjoyable video to watch.
I''m looking at the plank used for the body of the weapon, and I can't help but feel like it would be a great place to store ammo.
I have to wonder at the viability of making a spring-fed magazine tube and thumb-operated dispenser mechanism using medieval technology.
I'm a long-time subscriber to both channels, and absolutely loving these collab videos.
Gotta say, Tod looks kinda tiny next to Joerg. Wiry guy vs straight-up tank.
The sound of dozens of impacts on shields and helmets would be quite something to get used to.
No idea what I'm really saying, but I imagine all that extra noise could make it harder for the enemy to focus
How many joules do you reckon this boarded slingshot produced?
Fantastic video that is a lot of fun to think about, thanks Tod!
Thank you guys, most enjoyable and knowledgeable.
dandelions were a common medicinal herb throughout Europe, and only came to America with the pioneers who cultivated it for its medicinal uses.
Also really tasty.
I love that they twist the sling once so it spins the ball for a rifling effect. Very neat features.
Really interesting video getting both your opinions together. Would be interesting to see you both design a weapon that you believe would be the most perfect for large warfare formations as a replacement for archers
I can see baskets of stones being thrown with one of those three-person waterballoon slingshots
7:50 The sling shot, throwing sling & gun all are just different ways to throw a specialized stone. The easy thing to forget is the bit about guns. The variables are speed & accuracy. Range of course being a product of those 2 things.
The most usefull thing to my mind is actually the little slingshot. Like plumbata you could equip every soldier with one, and thus have heavy infantry with withering firepower, without sacrificing formation like you would with a sling. Ammo is light, so just shoot like a madman.
A thought about the number of slingers you could get. I know that some slingers spin up helicopter like, but isn’t it also possible to sling vertically? Similar to a hammer throw with a disk in ultimate?
Slinging vertically underhand is standard, but achieving good power involves movement of the entire body in a way that requires significant space. Think of it like a baseball pitch. It's not just your arm and hand doing the work.
Still, a staff sling is used with an overhead swing, and that doesn't necessarily require much space. Theoretically, you could be shoulder-to-shoulder.
in the subject of the arrow. there is the front hooked arrow or dart. that would make it possible to still make a full draw on the slingshot. and get a very long range shot with something pointy.
How about using rolls at the front of the slingshot to counteract the initial length of the rubber and make the lever of slingshots with even longer drawlenghts more manageable?
You could also have the rolls prestretch the rubber to have a greater initiall drawlength. To counteract the problem of gradual temperatur loss you could prestretch the rubber to the rolls just before each shot. Basically, you attach the rubber rather far back on the plank slingshot and attach a pair of rolls at the front. That way one could use far shorter arrows when shooting with a slingbow.
Make a ballista guys, with the ingenuity of your guys I'm sure something mean would come from it.
I think Jörg has already made a rubber ballista. It was one of his earliest projects as I recall.
I loved how you two had different shooting techniques with the braced slingshot.
Jörg shot it like a modern compound bow - braced arm outstretched & then pulling the other back.
You shot it more like you 'swung' into it, perhaps more like with a more traditional bow?
I didn't notice at the time, but I think you are right
This needed a Lockdown Brutality Kasarda drill. Fantastic bit of kit though.
Have you considered putting Sgian Dubh's on the Tod Cutler line? I'm putting together a kilt setup, and I've been eyeing the Cutler line for a while so I thought I might get one of your eating knives and sand down the handle, but the idea of doing that hurts my soul as an appreciator and craftsmen.
Im just waiting for the day, that jorg, walks out, with a panzershrek! Converted to a slingshot cannon 😂😂😂
the green guy with the funny ears from the meme movie?
Or do you mean a Panzerschreck? (means tank scare btw)
@@ilikeyourname4807 lol, ya das est gut, I know, im german, I just couldnt be arsed, to correct it :) hahaha
Great stuff as always Tod. I was just thinking in the very last clip, of the ball going through the ply in slow mo, that it'd be interesting to test, on that example and others, that if you took a speed/energy reading immediately before the target and then one immediately after the target, provided of course that you get a pass through. It wouldn't prove anything but it might be interesting.
I'd love to see the science of this, how much energy does the metal ball game compared to an arrow? How fast does it bleed energy compared to an arrow? How effective is it against various types of armour?
I feel arrows have some advantages due to potential energy as well (an arrow falling at terminal velocity is probably more dangerous than a steel ball falling at its terminal velocity). Fundamentally, how effective would a rubber sling shot be on the battlefield.
Fantastic!, two of my favourite youtubers meet and combine their minds in a single video :D
Eye opening video. Such a simple weapon that would have made a difference in ancient times. I would not want to get smoked with one of those projectiles, with or without armor.