Old School Slingshot - Medieval and Roman style
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2024
- About using Roman and Medieval slingshot; how to load, swing and shoot them through plywood and a quick calculation of their power.
If you want to buy a sling....you can here todcutler.com/collections/mis...
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For Balearic slingers, check this out • Balearic slinger score...
Some backstory for the stone on the right in the thumbnail: it reads the greek word "Δέξαι", which means "catch". And that's one of my favourite sarcastic moments of history.
Σεραφείμ Lightbringer reminds me of colorful phrases written on bombs, war never changes
Loll nice
This is the best
Δέξαι ?
'Dexai', _like in 'dexterity' ?_
Ahhhh!!! That's so funny X-D
I feel like I should buy a dagger so Tod can afford a new sweatshirt.
I bought one last year and that was the point the shirts became worse... 🙈
@@tods_workshop Haha, I know the feel! :D
Never trust a craftsman with shiny new clothes!
@@tods_workshop my brother has a pair of leather work gloves. Very soft and comfortable yet tough, beautifully black, and polish shine.
His friends really liked them at first, It horrified his friends when they learnt that those gloves were the same white leather gloves they all bought years prior. :')
omg now i cant unsee the state of his shirt is in
I feel like those sweat shirts have some great stories to tell.
Tod is not the kind of feller that gives up on a garment just because it has a little wear.
Haha a “little” wear? I feel there’s more of the jacket worn away, than is still there.
Dear Karen, Your Deets reference warms my heart. Thanks, scott
Notice how he also doesn'T want to pollute the environment with a small piece of lead. He's thinking sustainability, which most of us have forgotten well too much about.
@@kooroshrostami27 the "modern" effeminated gearhead fishermen should learn from him. They use disposable "lost" leads (don't know the English for it, sorry), that basically gets lost in the water every time you cast. This causes immense pollution, especially in small overfished bodies of water like lakes. Yet moron "pro" fishermen use it all the time.
It makes me so mad. I love natural minimalist fishing with as little rig as possible. Just fish the place, read spots. Meanwhile you see all these morons throwing 150 meters smack in windy waters not catching jack shit for 12 hours straight, while I fish in shade and under tree stumps catching fish without polluting the water with lead and funky chemical baits.
So yes -- i respect this man a lot. More people should be like him.
A little wear remaining, you mean?
*Sees kid stealing apple*
*realizes kid is probably just hungry and bored*
"Hey kid, Ill teach you how to use a sling to keep the birds away and you can keep eating apples. Deal?"
Ive met a few people like that in my life and theyve been some of the best influences of me.
Zak LeClaire that part of the story really appealed to me too... :) Great educator/adult example right there !
Two hungry bored boys: will eat a half dozen entire apples each, max. Once they've had their fill, they'll stay in the game for the slinging. One small flock of birds kept away by the boys would peck at & ruin dozens of apples. It's a simple numbers game, the farmer comes out ahead at market time & trains up the next generation of bird chasers in the process... ;-)
@@fredericmari8871 depends on how you grew up. when i was a kid, if an old man told me to throw rocks at animals, i would have thought he is a psychopath.
antifapers animals in general, sure. Birds picking his harvest? Highly rational, actually.
@@antifapers You must have had a very sheltered childhood! All the kids I knew growing up were innate psychopaths, throwing rocks at random animals unbidden, if they weren't being watched. Good on your folks for keeping you out of mischief! ;-)
Wearing a hoodie from the 14th century. Nice touch.
The wearing of hoods was fairly common in medieval Europe
Idek how you can fsck a piece of clothing up that bad. :O
I refuse to believe someone could thrash their clothes up that much without just straight-up getting dragged behind a car or mauled by a bear
it sure looks like it's been around that long!! 😂😂😂
@@HipposHateWater try forging and grinding and welding in cotton
I made one when I was about 10 or 11 years old. I used to take it into the woods and set up targets.
I found It way more powerful than my catapult and it only took about half an hour before I got the knack. After two weeks I could hit a can from 40 feet. Probably the most underrated weapon.
Good survival weapon
So true the sling being underrated.
(I never got incredibly skilled with it) but with enough skill it can work well to take out small game.
I made one and found hard to aim any tips??
@@redwolf7929 Watch videos by Channing on the 'Practical Paracord' channel. He is entertaining and has some really useful tips.
.
Check out my first videos on my channel
Real life: Splits your head open through a bronze helmet
DnD: "That'll be................1 damage."
In 3.5 you get to add your Strength bonus at least.
To be fair, the energy and momentum measurements on this video are pretty low compared to what a warbow can do, and a steel (or iron) point is going to make more efficient use of it. If I were coming up with damage numbers, I would put it above 1+Str Mod, but not as high as a bow.
To be fair, scoring a "hit" with a spear in real life would end the fight and probably kill you. In D&D a level one character can be stabbed with a spear 5 or 6 times and walk away.
A game is not fun if the hero dies at their first fight by some bandit spear in the gut or a rock to the head.
Hit points are kind of a representation of skill rather than "meat points." It's so that combat progresses rather than making swings against high ACs until someone hits and gibs the other person. It works alright, except for the fact that armor is a major factor rather than physical evasion. So it's almost like your armor is checked against to see if the attack breaks through, and then against your dexterity / skill at rolling with the punches (your hit points). Dex is involved with AC in D&D but it matters very little compared to armor. 4th edition had AC escalate with level but still had tons of hp so it was a bit strange.
This what TH-cam was made for. Truly a classic video
Great video! As a balearic islander I would like to add a couple bits of information: There's another technique for slinging, you can spin the sling vertically on your side and realse it at a 45 degree upward angle to make a parabolic shot and make stones rain on the enemies. Also, ancient balearic mercenaries used to wear 3 slings of different sizes on them for different distances and projectiles and the legend says they were capable of sinking boats from the top of cliffs. Not the most accurate weapon but certainly a cheap and fun to use one.
Hey Amhiel and Tod. Thanks for the info. Which sling size is the most accurate? Vaccation slinging I tend to do too, but the accuracy only allow for hitting areas not points.
Keep up the good work.
@@Gastronaticon Hi Olov! There isn't an established size but basically the shorter it is, the less powerful but more accurate. In my opinion the one Tod is using would be better suited for long distance parabolic throws while for short distance precision throws I'd rather use one about twice my forearm (unfolded). Given that this is an extremely cheap and easy to make weapon I would encourage you to experiment with different sizes and the way they behave. Please remember to take all necessary precautions, slings are actual weapons and they are dangerous. Good luck!
@@Amhiel
Ah, there it is. I have been using the longer variety. No wonder the accuracy was so so. I will cautiously work myself down in lengths come spring. Thanks for the info!
There are several ways of slinging too. The overhand works well at close distance. The underhand at longer distance. The helicopter gives 360 degrees of target possibilities. And the figure eight was used to confuse an enemy so that they wouldn't recognize themselves as a target. One of my favorite weapons.
@Kevin Cool!
Some of the Roman sling bullets even had taunting messages molded in to them. One of my favorites is "Here's a sugar plum for you!"
"Catch!" is another classic.
"Definitely not a Rock."
Pompei culum petendi, but probably I'm not remembering it right, "Looking for Pompeus' ass"
Still did that in WWII, Vietnam, and possibly now. Although, they're bigger "slings" and some were on bombs dropped.
@@Dirtbag-Hyena These prejectiles would still be legible after being dug out of someone's flesh, though.
Great fun! my friends and I started using the sling when we were about 9 and kept it up during the non snowy months until we were around 13 we got very good, wee only used stones sometimes larger ones like the 3-4 once ones you were using but we also tried 2-3- or 4 smaller ones for a shotgun effect taking birds would be no problem. If we wanted to we could hit some one from about 50 ft every time we used people sized targets but once actually had a battle with some older kids who were picking on us they were very surprised when we pulled out our slings and sent them home crying for their mothers!😄. A strike to the body could bruise and break small bones a head strike could have been deadly in the temple area. Rabbits were dead with a strike but it was a lucky shot to hit one. One of us actually accomplished that feat and we all felt to bad we never slung a stone at any animals after that. I am now 71 and you got me going I'm going to build one and get back in the groove using rifle targets Thanks for bringing this fond memory back from my childhood.
Cool grandpa
I hope you enjoyed picking up your hobby again 👍
My friends and I in our pre-teens in the 1970s did the same in the stubble fields one summer, using distant haystacks as targets. 100yrds was easily possible. Once, a hare got up 50yrds away & my buddy happened to be loaded & ready. He took a shot and was only inches away. We never killed anything with them, but I'm certain we could have with a little more practice, & if we'd needed food for the pot. Happy summer holidays without technology, just string, a bit of fabric & a pocket knife.
"There were fabulous stones all over the beach, and I wanted to sling"
Fucking magnificent sentence that
I was waiting for an explanation for the sweater but he stated in the comments, its because he likes it... zero F's given, you got yourself a new subscriber man
Its pretty much the same as wearing pants that have holes in them. The difference is that the sweater probably didnt look like that when it was new.
There’s something satisfying about really wearing out clothes that you use for rough work. Also feels good not to waste i guess
I’m more likely to pay attention to the guy who looks like he does the work.
Its 2 am and now I have a sudden urge to go slinging.
i love going to the creeks and slinging
Why? Yes i do.
same lmfao 2:30
Don't worry it's only natural
I'm a wereslinger as well.
Hi Todd, i have thank you for this video, i am native from the balearic Islands, and i grew up with stories about the slingshoters, and also seeing the ruins where they used to live in, so just wanted to say thanks for the mention of my ancestors, also keep up with the good vids 👍
amazing how powerful something so simple is. that's why I love slings, one of the first ranged weapons, has had basically no modifications over the millennia, and it's still a freaking monster.
Yes it's a monster when shooting at plywood..try an armed to the teeth warrior with a shield and sword running at you at lightning speed..you would have a sword through the stomach before you could raise that thing..
@@samoriab5999
In a duel situation, yes. The sling in a battlefield situation would fuck you up, especially when it's volleys of lead projectiles flying into your formation from 50+m away. There's a reason why Carthaginians and Romans loved to employ balearic slingers.
@@samoriab5999 ^this comment was written by Goliath
@@samoriab5999 The Balearic Islanders took out armored warriors all the time. And if you think armored warriors with heavy shields ran at "lightning speed", you don't understand how weight works mate. Armored infantrymen were slow as shit, which is why they functioned best in formations like the phalanx
@@samoriab5999 An armed to the teeth warrior took a stone projectile from one of these things between the eyes 4,000 years ago.
Guide from a Celtic open air museum here. To my knowledge Roman glandes (lead shot) could pierce shields and helmets.
They also used whistling glandes. Those were modified glandes with a little drilled hole in them.
Also when the Romans tried to conquer the Balearic Islands they had to put up extra shielding on the ships because of the amount of stones slung in their direction.
The Balears were famous for their slinging skills. They were hired as mercenaries through the Classical Antique world. So too where the slingers of Rhodos.
Any chance that those hole had a second purpose for keeping the shot together when it's being carried?
You could put a cord through that hole and string them together.
@@Tomartyr as far as I know not all the ones with a hole are completely drilled through. So unlikely for transport. Also when on a string they aren't as easy accessible as in a pouch or basket
Thank you, that's fascinating. I've heard of classical greeks piercing bronze armour with them. They also wrote sarcastic names, or names in general in reverse in the moulds so they'd appear on the bullets))
@@ancientsurvival Indeed bronze armour could be pierced. With the lead glandes even iron armour can be pierced.
There should be a book (don't know the name or author) with a compilation of texts found on sling bullets.
@tasna cornelisnever attack an island full of stones
Let me show you its features!
* *laughs in german* *
Oops wrong chanel
HA! HA! HA! HA!
@@matthbva no. JA! JA! JA!
Hah. Hah. Hah.
No really, I giggled. Perfect comment. lol.
I once saw a movie when I was a child with slingshots in it. I was playing and found some piece of fabric and a stone..and threw it. Didn't know where it went exactly,,,but was suprised how far it flew. 2 minutes later a car driver came and asked if I threw a rock at his car. :{ I sad "no". He believed me because I was to far from the road :D .
I love this copy pasta
haha nice story...
as a physicist the fact that you did several shots and took the average pleases me
Luis Pons Livermore has thrown rocks of around 150-200 grams at velocities approaching 50 m/s (Which would be somewhere over 180J). On episode 5 of 'History of weapons' on the History Channel, Luis Pons Livermore was filmed throwing a 200gram rock to 52 m/s.
For a person who has just got back into slinging, 25 m/s is not bad. Most novices might reach to around 30-40 m/s, with differences depending on skill and length of the sling etcetera. I would probably be within this category as well, given that when I throw clay sphericals of about 80 grams, my range from standing is about ~80-140 metres, whilst with a short 'run-up' I can exceed 200 metres.
With lead glandes thrown by good slingers, I wouldn't be surprised if you would see lead projectiles thrown to velocities approaching 60-70 m/s. If we assume that a glandes weighs about 50 grams, at 60 m/s this would give us roughly 90J, at 70 m/s this would roughly give us 122.5J.
Glandes finds from Perusia generally mass around 70 grams, whilst other finds can be around ~20-100 grams. A lead bullet from the British Musuem with the inscription 'Dexai' or 'catch' weighs 105.16 grams, so there is a lot of projectile weights that one can choose from.
@@tods_workshop Now the only thing you have to do is make slings and sell them. I would love to get my hands on a medieval sling reproduction.
Though, I don't think you will find many buyers. There probably isn't much of a market for slings like there is for crossbows. :(
Edit: You could also look into selling sling bullet reproductions, given that finding sling bullets for sale which aren't 2000 year old artifacts is actually tremendously difficult.
I love this reply. Do you think that there is an optimum weight for maximizing the kinetic energy?
Also, is using a stopwatch the conventional way of measuring the speed? Ignoring the fact that it is only considering the horizontal velocity and that it is an average at that....are people considered accurate enough at timing the stopwatch?
@@MarcRitzMD The optimum weight would probably be somewhere around 80-120 grams though it might differ from person to person. Projectiles within this region feel very good in the hand and projectiles within this range generally are not too big, about egg sized or slightly larger. Attaining the right 'feel' in the pouch is very important for a slinger, as it allows for a slinger to know when the optimum time to release the projectile is, heavy projectiles allow you to get a better feel, but there is a point when it takes more strain on the arm than you would otherwise want, which is the point where I stop going for heavier projectiles. Anything heavier than 400 grams (Generally fist sized to orange sized stones) is when I would stop.
Larger projectiles will generally suffer more drag in flight and thus negatively affect their range compared to smaller projectiles. The release velocity of larger stones is also usually lesser than with smaller ones. Lead projectiles are ideal in that they are both dense and small, and so they generally have faster release velocities.
I have no idea about anything concerning measuring, so I will be silent on that front as I have no idea.
Tom Stanton showed in his _Optimizing a trebuchet_ youtube video that a good camera is enough to catch a lot of flight data.
Hence shotput.
The tongue from an old shoe makes a great pouch.
QUALITY tip
Awesome idea
The tongue from an ex-spouse makes a great pouch
@@ghostdog912 "why is she your EX spouse?"
'Because I cut her tongue out."
loved this video, my friends and I used to play with these when we were teenagers. We used the underhand vertical spin for distance, sometimes your method, but our favorite was with the simple overhand, like a American baseball pitcher. We got wicked powerful and accurate.
But the best bit of mischief we got into was when we bombarded a construction site (which offended us by destroying a favorite place of ours for slinging and archery, and homemade cannon-fire) When the police asked us who was doing the throwing, we looked at them and said we wished we could throw rocks that far over the fence and we didn't know. All the while, wearing these cool leather headbands :) which was how we carried our slings.
We also tried the staff sling, we used much bigger rocks and half bricks in them. Short range but really hard-hitting!
I have little interest in ancient/medieval weaponry, but I can’t stop watching your videos. Your knowledge and delivery is captivating, and you tell the viewer when you are guessing or don’t know something. W,ell done Sir.
"I don't know the truth of it... sounds good though". This man sums up history very well :)
"It's cheap... well it's free..." this man is a great find!
I wonder how many windows and bones have been broken because of this tutorial.
As someone who grew up hunting game (
Damn bro, wht kind of game? Thinking about hitting a rabbit or such, sounds crazy complicated. U must be well trained! Cheers
gianni arnoldons Rabbit, Squirrels, pigs, deer. Lots and lots of practice. Started age 4. Medium rock to the head will drop or stun pretty much anything. Short spear to finish off pigs.
@@boden8138 David never really "faced off" against Goliath. He was never within range of any harm from the Philistine. Just nailed the hunk in the forehead, waited for him to fall, and delivered the final blow while he was unconscious.
You are absolutely right. Artillery always defeats infantry.
@@boden8138 Xxxzzzzzaaakkttllyy!!!
Slings like many firearms don't always kill instantly.
Close to target & finish it off!
It's a bit graphic, but an old gentleman of my acquaintance who had a 'LOT' of experience killing bad guys, in military, mercenary & law enforcement operations used to say, "If you see him go down to your shot, down is all he is. A wounded enemy can still rise up and kill you. He's not dead until you've walked up, put a final bullet through his head, seen brain matter fly and then crushed what's left of his skull with your boot-heel." (I know, it's gross... but he lived into his 80s... so he knew what he was doing when it came to staying alive in dangerous times.)
Wounded Game animals are the same kind of dangerous!
The short spear follow-up/finisher is good advice!
I can't be the only person who noticed Tod's comment at 3:00 about being on a boring holiday & going to the local hardware store to whip up a quick slingshot.... note to self, if ever on a holiday with a medieval weapon craftsman either keep them well occupied or make sure they include you in the fun! 🎯
I just find it fascinating how such a simple weapon was so devastating in medieval warfare.
If the distance is indeed 40 meters, and is roughly at sea level - where sound travels at 343m/s, by the time you hear the sound from the hedge, 0.12 seconds has passed. Not super long, but almost 10% of your measured time. The actual speed (40/(1.6-0.12)) would be 27 m/s. 27*27*0.08/2=29J. 16% more than you calculated.
Now, I realize that all measurements where guesstimates that would easily eat up this modification - but how often do you get to take the speed of sound into account?
Great video, btw!
40yards
@@birdlawyer6191 Actually, he says both - I had to check. He says "It's 40 meters, 40 yards-ish".
Bra räknat Mattias! Tillför till diskutionen till skillnad ifrån de flesta andra:)
Very good point.
Wouldn't air resistance and the difference in size compared to mass also come into play? And the fact its thrown from a shorter distance to its target as well? I feel that the lead projectile being much smaller and more dense it would loose less of its energy mid flight and would therefore still have much more of it at the moment of impact.
I'm no engineer so i'm just guessing, does it sound right?
it's weird how we all have this ballistic computer built into our brains that just works and gives us a general sense of how to throw things, even when using something as abstract as as a sling. definitely seems to line up with the theories that we became the dominant species in ancient times by being the best at stamina and throwing. monkies can throw things with deadly accuracy, but they seem have a hard time shooting bows and arrows or playing billiards.
Interesting points. There also appears to be a natural feel-good factor when making or observing good shots, (I'd conjecture perhaps due to a neural reward circuit) which then manifests itself in our obsession for sports in which accuracy is key (football, rugby, basketball, ice-hockey, cricket, etc).
When your survival depended on the accuracy of your shots, you evolve a way to maximize this with possibly specialized area of the brain and a reward system since a good hit means life.
Pretty good at play writing too, if you have enough of them.
@uncletigger LoL..ok..so you can't find any videos online either supporting your position. Got it.
one of the reasons that men are so keen on ball related sports is because male brains are automatically geared towards and good at calculating ranges,speeds and trajectories, that football player who can deliver a perfect cross to land at the feet of a running striker would probably have been really good at throwing a spear at a running deer.
As someone already mention, I've read that ancient armies used vertical swings with only 1 or 2 revolutions. Some cultures preferred 2 for power, others 1 for a faster reload.
@Mark Hatfield. 1 1/2 swings is all I have used for 60 years. It is easier to learn the release point because it is more like when we learned to throw by hand. Also it is quicker to throw the rock and reload another as you stated. It seems so many others are learning to swing it over their head like a cowboy because of so many teaching it that way. Even Illustrations in religious literature show still shots insinuating swinging it over their heads for a while. That really doesn't work very well.
One of my players in our D&D campaign swears by the sling. His character, a half-elf thief, has been using a homemade sling since the second session and mainly uses it for dislodging things or causing distractions but has also killed a few enemies with it, including a black dragon
Dad never taught you feels bad man.
I hope his dad is the better shot than he is....
I detect a note of remorse there at 2:01
@Nasim Aghdam My dad taught me to respect nature and other people's property. And yet he showed me how to operate rifles.
If done right, one doesn't exclude the other. I consider teaching something potentially destructive rather important. It shows you that life itself and your surroundings are something precious.
As kids we used to make slings, we used several techniques:
Underarm was good for range and accuracy with medium to large stones but needed a clear ground/field (sling 800-1100mm)
Sidearm, good for accuracy and speed of deployment and rapid fire, good for rabbits and other small game, small to medium stones (sling 400-800mm) start with stone/pouch in left hand, right hand behind head, aim left hand at target, 1-2 turns and release.
Overarm good for long range, power, accuracy, final action similar to bowling in 'cricket', long sling (sling 1200-1500mm) the technique takes a bit of practice, not everybody 'gets it'.
We also experimented with staff-and-sling, with a double-handed action they were lethal for power and range (out of sight and still going up), good accuracy with a bit of practice, we were soon banned from using them; (staff 700-1300mm, sling 700-1300mm). takes some practice to get right.
The 'helicopter' wind-up was only used by clumsy people with no sense of rhythm and does nothing for power or accuracy.
There was a short-sling overarm action that was good for rapid response at shorter range (sling 400-600mm) the pouch/stone is held in the left hand against the 'shirt-pocket', the sling goes around the back just below the shoulder blades, right hand rests on right shoulder close to right ear; on spotting a 'target' the release action is like an overarm throw similar to a baseball pitch.
There was another variation of the sidearm involving a turn like a discus thrower, it improved range considerably but did nothing for accuracy. (sling 600-1200mm).
We probably 'reinvented the wheel' several times over, as all variations felt 'natural'.
i'm new with slingshots but i can shoot bow and arrow. learned it without sights and i love the modern slingshots. thanks for sharing, it will be helpful for me
@@Angelnder-Typ Slings and Slingshots are two entirely different things.
Used this sling many years. Kids used them to drive off baboons and elephant from crops. They were very accurate. Good video and it shows what a hand grenade will do to your clothes when you don't throw it.
I'm not an old weapons guy or anything but you're making me want to learn to use a sling.
I have a paintball marker which I've tuned up to high levels of power. Firing breaker balls (essentially rubber-coated marbles), it hits with about 25 to 30 joules of force (enough to embed the breaker balls several centimeters deep in a phone book), so I think your estimate is correct.
For contrast, air-powered riot control weapons usually fire in the 17 to 18 joules range. Higher than that is considered to be likely to result in death or serious injury.
I once saw a movie when I was a child with slingshots in it. I was playing and found some piece of fabric and a stone..and threw it. Didn't know where it went exactly,,,but was suprised how far it flew. 2 minutes later a car driver came and asked if I threw a rock at his car. :{ I sad "no". He believed me because I was to far from the road :D .
@@karenwilder249 I once saw a movie when I was a child with slingshots in it. I was playing and found some piece of fabric and a stone..and threw it. Didn't know where it went exactly,,,but was suprised how far it flew. 2 minutes later a car driver came and asked if I threw a rock at his car. :{ I sad "no". He believed me because I was to far from the road :D .
@@Lenn869 Parrot.
As David said to Goliath... "Typical Philistine, bringing a sword to a sling fight"
When i was a young man in the mountains of new mexico i was living a life of (frugal leisure with dignity) in a cabin on some worthless desert mountain land, with just a little money and a whole bunch of free time, a dog and a pick up truck. i spent hours with a sling shot and was simply amazed how accurate i could get with one of those things. I was using rocks a bit bigger than what you are using. i used some cord and a piece of old inertube rubber. You can get really really god with a sling, and i also worked on launching the rock from below the waist, kind of a tricky shot, but good when shooting thru the trees. also putting different spins on the projectile and i loved the sound a rock would make as it spun really fast. I could make some rocks make such a big arch, but could actually shoot those shots more accurate than a straight on shot. that was 42 years ago. i miss living in the mountains. my nearest neighbor was about three miles away.
I've been slinging for 5 years on and off. I've even made slings using denim fabric from an old pair of jeans I had. Very fun stuff!
I...Will see what I've got lying around to make one with. Not any leather, though.
I've never tried slinging before.
@@grmpEqweer If you wanna make a jean sling, make sure you cut it up intp strips. That's how I made mine.
Hey man, this is from long ago but I've been making my first slings out of denim. It works surprisingly well, I had thought they wouldn't be durable enough but with some duct tape around the suits it also helps to keep your projectile lodged in there
I started playing with slings many years ago when I was in the army… Around ‘65. There are many different slinging “styles”, I found.
I don’t care for the “helicopter” spin prior to release…. My favorite is to hold the sling by the pouch at arm’s length, aimed at the target, and then make a single swing around the body to the left till you hit the release point. This seems most accurate for me. (Some call this the “Apache” style..)
I find that a vertical swing is best for distance, but not for accuracy.
I also used that style when I was a kid. It was more reliable and felt more powerful. I could never keep it from tangling with cheap nylon twine I used if I tried to do the helicopter thing.
I make my own slings using thin dyneema cord and polyester ribbon slings, and tend to use a grecian or apache (figure 8) style, all of which is probably fairly unimportant - but can attest to how awesome angular rocks sound as the buzz and whirr towards the horizon. A volley weapon that sounds like a hive of hornets coming, that you can't see, surely has a huge morale impact in addition to its physical impact? Joe T.
A my friend taught me how to make and use a sling as a teenager. I used that knowledge to cause great destruction. After a time of experimentation learning how to use it I could use one to break cinder blocks.
Love slingshots, I took a wooden shed down with one when I was a lad.
Love to see more videos like this ... esp the impact and effect on target. I made some shot out of fired bolder clay so was able to get a good shape and a hole pressed in the side made a superb whistle as they flew, they also exploded very satisfactorily on impact ... great stuff, more please
I made one a couple of years ago, was quite impressed with the power and range something so simple can achieve. I want to have another go at them eventually, it's just a matter of finding a way to train without risking innocent lives and whatnot.
Holy crap! I can't stop watching! I love how through you are with your info! Humble and smart about your topic...thanks..going to make me one!
Always loved sling weapons.
So simple, yet absolutely devastating to light targets.
That sweatshirt looks more deadly than any weapon you have shown.
there is evidence of thr romans useing lead shot with a hole of specific measurments specificaly designed to make more noise, the slingshot channel has a great vid on the subject
I would have plugged that hole with dirt. When it hits anything it will clear and if anyone will have shot it back i would have a nice warning of it.
Interesting idea! Though, I think it would only work for one battle. After that the idea might catch on and they’d just plug it with dirt, too.
Yes I was looking for this message, yes shots with a certain type of hole to make a certain sound to freak the enemy out. Think of the awsome Stuka dive bomber with that diving sound. Romans must have thought the same ideas, Terrror weapon to demoralize! European history is amazing.
I was going to mention this, I'm not sure if the holes were bored but it would make more sense getting the hole in the pouring process
Thank you for throwing the same ammo by hand to show the comparison.
I do love an informative vid like this that just gets straight into it, bravo! So many these days include the words "so without further ado, let's get started" about 5 minutes into a 10 minute video, where the first half was taken up talking about what the video is going to be about.
My own attempts, as a young teenager =), to use a sling convinced me that the only safe place to stand was where I aimed. That said, I watched a video here on TH-cam a while back where the man claimed he had visited countries where they still use them regularly. His technique was different. He would spin the sling to the side of his body so that the throwing motion was like a baseball pitch. There wasn't a long wind up, it would only spin 1-2 times, but he was accurate and claimed he hadn't been practicing more than 2 weeks. Someday I'll give that a try.
Yep, that is pretty much how everyone starts out.
Once you've gone past the 'sending things backwards' phase, that is what I call 'Attaining the feel'. Once you've reached this stage or 'attained the feel' it is very difficult to send things backwards.
I'm still working on hitting my targets however!
Love that cardigan;)
Good vid as usual!
Well, you are completing your father's story with teaching slingshot use; it's called closure. Thanks for the video. I also like throwing things
Many years ago I crafted a sewn leather sling. I knew almost nothing about them. My version had a wrist loop and a thick sewn up pad to pinch for release. It was quite powerful and simple to use. I threw many things. It was either accurate ( short range) or long range.
When we played with these years ago we would make a leather H, punch holes in the four ends of the H, and thread one string through each top hole and one string through each bottom hole. It makes a very easy pocket.
Also, I always threw sidearm as you do but friends of mine would swing underhand. They would not get the power I did, but they did get accurate a lot faster, because throwing underhand means you're probably already lined up for windage, and you only need to concentrate on release timing to control elevation.
The vertical swing also allows you to do a formation of slingers more easily.
And here I was, starting to regret not sleeping
A simple but very fascinating weapon! Thanks for sharing, mate!
It's good to see ancient slingshot's still being used
Damn...that's some serious impact energy 😱
In 4:10 the cast led projectile on the right must be of Greek origin.
The letters are saying ΔΕΞΑ>δέξου>receive. In the manner we say today φά'την>eat it. Or something like that.
Mitsos Stigas awesome comment, thank you!
Tod, I have an alternative technique that might be worth trying. It's a back-hand release. Hold the sling pouch and projectile in your left hand, keeping the strings tense, stand with your right side facing the target, wind back, then release your left hand as you do a hard back-hand swing, releasing the projectile when it is flying in the direction you want. This method has no wind up nor pre-spin to it, but it also eliminates the skipped beat missed release problem. It also lets you sling something with surprise, because your target won't see you spinning the sling overhead before you fling a stone at them.
Wow! That's 90 km/h! I used to play with these as a kid, but never got very accurate with it. We used to swing it vertically, which is obviously wrong, hence even less of a chance to be accurate. Thanks for sharing one of my childhood memories!
The right figure to look at to compare firearm bullets and sling shots is not energy but momentum. The squaring of speed gives bullets an unfair advantage. We obviously know a sling shot won't cause cavitation and hydrostatic shock like a bullet might, but it will still fracture bones, penetrate skulls, and mash flesh locally. A 0.08kg projectile at 25m/s has a momentum of 2kg.m/s, while a 9x19mm 0.008kg (124gr) bullet at 350m/s has a momentum of 2.8kg.m/s. And suddenly, that comparison makes much more sense, and gives a much more pertinent approach to the phenomenon. Not that you can say Tod slings at about 2/3rd the power of a police handgun, but it's indicative of a high efficiency for a very simple hand held weapon you can basically DIY with hardware store string and use with rocks from the side of the road.
@@tods_workshop Well, I'm not really a ballistic expert either, but the formula for kinetic energy doesn't brush the portrait of the whole phenomenon. Dynamics are a somewhat complicated topic. For high speeds, kinetic energy is most significant, but for the lowish speed of a rock slung or thrown, or even a hammer blow for that matter, gives very low figures, as you just experienced, and it doesn't seem to make sense. The example of the hammer blow just came to my mind: it's also likely to be in the realm of a few dozen Joules, yet you can cave in a skull with no problem.
And of course there's the surface area. A warhammer can probably store something like up to a hundred joules. On paper, a .22lr stores two or three times more energy. But while the bullet will only punch a small hole in your hand, the warhammer will shatter all your bones. If the mass of the bullet was made into a square of the same size as the warhammer face, it would slap really really good, but won't cause the level of damage the actual warhammer does.
I don't exactly understand that weird relationship between energy, momentum and surface area, but there is something to dig there. Rock thrown from a sling are in that grey area where momentum probably gives a figure "too high", and energy too low. Lead shots, steel shots, and something in between rock and steel in density (maybe titanium?) could probably help figure this out.
goes to show how observant pre-history humans were, not simple at all. They came up with that from whatever, like how do those things get invented back then out of thin air? Some genius, anyway... it's clever as hell.
Todds sling can go anywhere with him he could make one outta his shoe string and go past a metal detector... Slings are like the original ghost gun if you think about it. Look at the Palestinians throwing rocks at the jews to this day they do it. Guns have their place but for just a piece of string and your own arm being able to throw thru a car hood sheet metal is impressive.
sigh. so dark but pretty much true.@@josephdavis8074
Except the fact that momentum has no real place in judging projectile weapon efficiency. Otherwise we would throw big heavy objects all the time in warfare. We prefer tiny objects which can penetrate.
Pretty cool, I bet the whizzing noise of a thousand slings with curved shots would test the mettle of any army.
I discovered your channel recently. I like your videos. I live in south america. During the spanish conquest Incas used slings as part of their weapons during their battles against them and their native allies. There is a chronicle of an spanish conquistador saying that slings could kill a horse with ease, or even break a sword in half. They sometimes used really long slings, as big as 2meters longs
Lovin the dedication to that hoodie!
I've been a slinger for many years now. Over a decade ago, I was practicing on a beach, for lack of a better word, that had an appreciable amount of forest behind it. I was slinging rocks I found on the beach and slung one off into the undergrowth. It was one of those angular, flat kind of rocks Tod mentioned, and it made a hell of a buzzing noise as it moved through the air, and happened to hit a couple small branches and shore them off a tree at which I was aiming. I didn't know there was a couple making out in the same bushes into which I'd just closely buzzed with a rock until they bolted out of the brush, and their eyes went absolutely dinner plate-sized when they came out to see a white guy loading another rock into a sling and getting wound up for another throw. They absolutely hauled arse off the beach! I got a really good laugh out of that incident. I still have no idea how long they'd been there, because I'd been slinging on that beach for quite a while that day before scaring that couple.
I sometimes pick up crappy, angular rocks just for that purpose. I've had a few that sounded like Airplane propellers.
And I also like watching their trajectories. Nothing quite like the experience of witnessing your first Zig-zag and going "How is that possible!"
Always do what Tod did in the video... check behind the bushes before you start hurling missiles into them!
I used to hit pop bottles at 50 to 100 feet with a sling. We didn't actually go hunting with the sling much, but a couple of us would hit a jack rabbit now and then. Like Todd says, it's easy to get the knack, but difficult to get good with it. It's a very underrated weapon in my opinion, especially when you consider how easily they are to make and the abundance of suitable ammunition.
OP: "sometimes I hit bottles with my sling, sometimes I just attacked/murdered innocent defenseless wildlife for fun... what a normal, totally nonpsychopathic childhood I had"
Since 60 years ago I found it easier, and more natural, like throwing by hand, that if you swing it just 1 1/2 times it is easier to time the release point. If you keep swinging it around and around you can lose your timing. Plus the more times you swing it the more chance that the animal you intend to hit will hear you before you release. I also found that a loop around the wrist is much more likely to retain your sling in place and will never inadvertently get thrown off. The knot from the wrist loop ends at the same place as the finger loop knot in you fingers. Additionally, by throwing over head or more of a vertical swing you eliminate any chance of hitting any bystanders as side swinging basically "fans" the whole audience. Hope this helps someone.😊
FYI Canada is Metric as well, my friend. Great video. I made a sling years ago. You have inspired me to dig it up and start slinging again. Thanks.
In the US the index finger is the first finger. We call the middle finger the "middle finger". PS: I've always wanted to learn how to throw a sling. Thanks for the info. You have a great channel.
"its a 44 slingshot, the most powerful slingshot in the world, and could blow a man's head clean off, you just have to ask yourself one question..."
Did i fire 1 stone or .....?
Maybe medieval punks couldn't count too good. 🤪
@@jimmyocallaghan9124 TO tell you the truth through all this excitement I kinda lost count myself.
Feelin lucky?
Do you feel lucky punk
Three thumbs up to the gentleman who has left the top comment.
I'm not convinced this is that much better than throwing it.
It's amazing how little sound it made as it punched through that plywood.
Were you using that sweatshirt for target practice before you started filming?
I remember in my early re-enacting days (I did late 15thC) someone brought a stick sling along to an event and that was lots of fun to play with, and easier to throw rocks in the right direction with :D I must have another go with a simple sling though, haven't tried in years. Thanks for such a clear and informative video Tod!
This is a great channel showing us great dedication to médiéval weaponry
You know what those slings would do? They would blow the heck out of cavalry on the flanks. Those lead shots, or just rocks, would break horses ankles, or make them jump, and this is before stirrups. Those things would absolutely help Roman infantry keep the edges secure.
Very effective weapon in the right hands. 👏👌🇬🇧
and the left hand too
That was the middle finger and NOT the index!
I think they call the middle finger the index in Europe
@@dex6147 No.
That was driving me buggy, too, even more than the ratty hoodie. Though I've had old, comfortable clothes that looked like the dumpster wouldn't accept them but I still wore.(A lot of that is inertia...we're guys and we hate shopping for clothes. We'll get to that later. We don't, but we continue to say that we will.) The index or forefinger is always the first after the thumb. The next is always just the middle finger. Period.
We Germans called it Effenberg ... sometimes or the Stinkefinger^^
In sweden we sometimes call the index finger "slickepott" as it is used to get the last sause of the plate or kake dew out of the bowl. You the lick the stuff off the finger. :-)
So glad you got closer to the camera instead of doing the entire video in Montana
Great video, was nice to see a sling used in action.
I was born in the prairies in Canada, and my family found a shot that the Native Americans left behind many years ago after a hunt. The shot they used were oblong stones with a groove channel carved around the middle. The stone shot was approx the size of a grapefruit.
Seeing your video makes it easy for me to visualize how they were able to kill the large Bison with the sling method.
Thanks for the demonstration, all the best.
About 57...ish mph or so. I wouldn't want that hitting my head. Also, we have to remember a 3 ounce led slug would do more damage and presumably hit harder when wielded by a 'Peasant' trained to use a sling. Very informative. Great vids matey. ✝👍
Back in the late 80’s, ( when I was in high school ), I bought a leather baseball catcher’s mitt for 25 cents at a thrift shop. I carefully deconstructed it saving the pouch and thong, and turned them into a sling. The pouch was a bit oversized, and I ended up simply doubling it up for smaller ammunition, but as a bit of experimentation, I would occasionally open it up, just to see how big and heavy a projectile I could throw with the sling.
Not knowing what finger the sling loop went over, I put the loop over my thumb. I found that a horizontal throw, much like was shown in the video, was better for power, but accuracy left much to be desired, while an overhand vertical throw was better for accuracy.
My ammunition, tended to be weathered chert nodules commonly found in that part of Texas, not unlike how flint nodules was used in biblical Israel. These nodules, could be found in sizes ranging from about the same as a ping pong ball, up to a bit bigger than fist size. I found that with the pocket opened up, the sling could handle the larger nodules, from about tennis ball to fist size, easily sending the smaller ones 30 meters ( the larger nodules went perhaps 20-25 meters but left large dents in hickory and live oak trees ), which was at least twice what I could by hand. Folded up, the pocket handled the smaller nodules, sending them in excess of 50 meters...and yes, if the nodules were a bit angular/ jagged, they did produce a wizzing sound, from the high speed spin the sling imparted to the stone.
Im amazed by the force with such little effort.
Brave man, doing math on video. I really like that you do your calculations out loud.
The rounder the stone, the better direction. That's just aerodynamics. And yeah, David prior to the fight, went to a river to collect some round and smooth stones...
I remember making myself a sling when I was about 10 years old, I managed to reliably hit a few trees (and windows) with it after one or two goes at close range.
Also made myself a bow out of those bamboo sticks you get for your garden, it wasn't great but it could shoot the bamboo arrows (with slate arrowheads and pigeon feathers) a good 30 metres or so. Slate is actually not a terrible arrowhead material, they stick in trees at least.
I always made bows out of branches (well, pretty recently I shot it again when I found my old bow and it inspired me to get a compound one xD) but I never had good arrows with fins that stick without the need of repair or arrowheads made out of nails often broke..
For one bow I remember making arrows out of straight branches from some kind of bush or herb, felt like an achievement... later mom bought me garden sticks to use instead of them as these were straighter and looked like real arrow sticks
Voice a a scholarly gentlemen of the highest order. Looks like my uncle who drives dump trucks and builds garages. I love you bro.
I taught myself to sling a couple of years ago. It's very fun. The problem I have is that I live someplace with very few rocks to throw :). I found my greatest success with the figure-eight method of throwing. Lots of fun.
I used to be able to break cinder blocks with a sling as a teenager. And my dad didn't teach me either lol.
You need to subtract the time for the sound to travel back to the recorder. This will increase your speed reading and energy total.
Finally!!! Some one who gets it!! Not everyone knows metric. It’s not the fact we are incapable of knowing or that we are stupid, when you’ve grown up your whole life under a certain system of measurements you know instinctively how far, fast, deep or heavy something is just by saying ft lb mph. Besides America is the number one country in the world so you would think majority of people would use imperial vs metric or at least both. Thanks again for acknowledging this.
Made one when I was younger, it had wrist loop instead of the finger one and I was able to throw fist sized stones at incredible distances. Learned to use the overhead throw for best precision, you spin it overhead on the right, then at the last spin move your hand slighly to the left to gain control of the arch and pull it straight forward as the sling gets in line with your right shoulder.
Yeeeeeah .... I would have some reservations shooting hand grenades with a classic slingshot lol
Yeah, they are designed specifically to be thrown by hand but I bet you could design them to be used with slings. Presumably they would need a longer fuse or just a way to make the fuse start as soon as it is launched.
@@Pubert1282 Or don't bother trying in the first place lol I mean people sometimes even fail throwing a grenade .... *with their hands*
@@Pubert1282 They already work fine with a sling. The fuse doesn't start until the spoon is released. The pin is just a safety that prevents the spoon from being released. Place grenade in sling spoon against pocket then remove pin. The weight of the grenade in the pocket keeps the spoon from releasing until launch (same as when thrown from the hand).
As always, a great little video, interesting and informative. Sorry to be pedantic, it's a very minor point but you put the loop on your middle finger but call it your index finger. I've always thought that the index finger was the one next to the thumb? Anyway. Keep up the good work! :)
It is
It may be a difference between Brits (middle finger) and Yanks (first finger/forefinger).
@@donna30044 yank reporting in, i've rarely heard the index finger called anything but the index finger, sometimes pointer finger or rarely forefinger, and i can't recall hearing the middle finger called anything but the middle finger. my form of american english is that of west coast and midwest, so it could be different in the south and east.
@@donna30044 nope. Brit here. :)
I thought there must have been a horrible shop accident and they reattached Tod's fingers in the wrong order!
After watching this video I know what I'm doing tonight. I've got some veg tan leather and i'm gonna make a sling! Tod you're channel is quickly becoming one of my favorites.
I used homemade slings a fair bit as a kid. I used almost exclusively small kieffer pears as ammo, they're extremely hard and dense and we had a big tree that made thousands of them. I got good enough that I could hit a door at about 30m or so. And I found that there was zero point at all in swinging it around before throwing.
Also good for mages who you've given 3 STR.