Primitive Sling Shot

Primitive Technology: sling shot fabrication & demonstration

A primitive sling shot is a weapon used to fire rocks farther and harder than could be thrown by hand alone. Primitive Technology made this primitive sling shot from bark fibre that he made into cord. The cord was then tied in such a way to produce an area in the middle with three cords. A strip of the same bark fibre was woven between these to form a pouch. A loop was tied at one end of the sling and a knot tied in the other.

To use it, the loop is slipped over the finger and the knot is held down with the thumb. A stone is placed in the pouch and the sling swung over head. At the appropriate time the sling is swung forward in a throwing action and the knot held in the hand is let go. This causes the pouch to open and the stone to fly (hopefully) towards the target.

He explains that he hadn’t used a sling for eight years but the first target he set up and filmed, a potsherd on a stick at 10m, was hit first go! Next he set up a log at 20m and required more practice. Targets of potsherds and tiles at 10m were set up in a clearing. Tiles on sticks at 15m were set up in a stretch of creek. The last shots are back in the clearing at 10m.

Learning to use the sling is difficult and practice is necessary. When aiming line up the swinging plane of the sling with the target to determine Y-axis aspect and use release timing to determine x-axis aspect. With timing (right handed) too early and the stone will got to the right, too late and it will go left. Practice to make it go at the right time. Use larger stones as they swing slower and are easier to time. Use smooth stones so they fly straight and don’t cling to the pouch when released.

The advantage of the sling is that it’s easy to make, portable and the ammunition (stones) are every where. The disadvantages are it’s difficult to learn to use accurately, noise and movement give it away when used, it can’t penetrate a target like an arrow (unless using some king of weighted dart) and it can’t be fired in thick forest. Interestingly, the sling has a range comparable to a bow. From my research, the record for the longest sling shot was 505m and that of the bow just under 500m. For some great information on slings and slinging look at www.slinging.org