The picture isn’t mine, I just grabbed an example of a balearic sling. But I got a bullseye today and then walked away, letting it be my last throw. It felt damn good, not gonna lie
I also mowed, trimmed the shrubs, ran some errands, and yadda yadda. But that perfect sling was the highlight of my day
Also got my legs tore up by mosquitoes, so bug spray will now be a must. But at least I remembered sunscreen! Little wins today
Was the bullseye a fluke, or are you getting consistently more accurate?
I love slinging due to how much power the impact carries, but it’s frustrating as I don’t seem to be able to hit shit with it. I’ve easily launched thousands of rocks with it and the best I can do is to get it to fly into the general direction of the target - usually. Hats off to the guy who invented it and then had the patience to practise for a decade to demonstrate that you actually can hit something with it if you just stick to it.
What I imagine it to be great for, even if you can’t hit shit with it, is medieval warfare when you’re being rushed by a bunch of people. If you have hundreds of infantry and everyone has a sling and like 3 projectiles, that’s quite the rock storm they’re able to inflict on the enemy before they cover the distance to turn it into a sword fight.
The skirmishers (the guys with the slings) would usually withdraw before the enemy got into melee range. If they couldn’t do that, they had a bad time.
Great skill to have for after the downfall of civilization.
primitive tools are so cool. love the sling and the atlatl.
Bruhhh, I ain’t never knew about an atlatl! I gotta practice one thing at a time, but that’s right up my alley …that’s cool as all hell
yeah its like two sticks. one sharpened. with the thrower you also have a nice melee option :)
i made a Paracord one during covid. holds a chukit ball perfectly. My golden does 100yd sprints over and over. i could never wear him out without it. i love my sling
Nice! I’m constantly ranting to anyone who will listen about how valuable the sling was as a weapon. Nevet actually tried one though.
Have you seen those balearic staff slings?
You should give it a try, it’s satisfyingly fun
I can’t imagine being proficient/accurate with a staff sling… that shit is deadly! It’s like half the effort, and half the accuracy — but damn, when it hits it fking hits
It’s like a handheld trebuchet
Obviously the superior siege weapon, handheld or nah
I’ve been wanting to try one of these. Got a tutorial you recommend I follow first before falling into bad habits?
Hell, idk lol. I’m probably already creating bad habits. Maybe “Primal Slingling” on youtube? That helped me learn some basics… and what questions I want to ask myself about technique. But after figuring out a basic throw, I looked up videos of what I was trying to do (like the figure-8 throw) and just practiced
It’s honestly just fun; like throwing a baseball, except way more technical? I keep it in my car and highly recommend it as a “I’ma take 30 mins to play for a bit”,
You can also braid your own sling from paracord (or whatever really), but I was trying to see if I liked it first, before doing the most lol
Thanks dude!
Anytime man! Glad I could offer any insight at all!
Woohoo!
I made a couple of slings out of an old bicycle inner tube and ~5mm rope. I suppose the rope must be crooked, or something, as I never hit anything with mine. 🙄
If it goes left, ya just gotta sling to the right! I expect to have another bullseye in like 3 to 5 years, but I’m living off the current high of “that was awesome!”
How do you even begin to practice with a sling in a way that you won’t accidentally hit yourself if you fuck up? 🤔 I know I ain’t gonna be perfect the first time, but I also don’t want it to be the last time. Since they’re so simple to make and get ammo for, I’d like to learn how to properly use one as a self-defense weapon.
when I played around with one I was using tennis balls.
Idk about using it as a self-defense weapon unless you’re truly committed to kinda… only practicing that skill. But I guess you could definitely make people back the fuck away
I use tennis balls and a local baseball field (it has a fence that I can sling against from the pitchers mound). But you just start slow and try to get a feel for when to release, before trying to really put “oomph” into it. Haven’t ever hit myself, but anything else in front of me (almost 180°) is at risk. So tennis balls are the way to start, before slinging rocks or whatever. Apparently marshmallows are a good source of ammo for practicing too. But it is fun and simple enough, I definitely recommend trying
Softer projectiles at first I’d imagine, then move to pebbles.
First, amazing!
Sending, how does this work? I feel like I’m missing something in my life without it. Speaking as a long time boy.
Ya just pitch a tennis ball, but sling it instead. It really is that easy (minus the practicing for timing). I highly recommend!
I’ll look into it, thank you!
