What's dangerous about this channel is Milo's enthusiasm is infectious, which normally is fine, because it makes me wanna look into cool history and go to museums. But now it's making me wanna find a big valley to sling rocks into.
I dodged that one. When I saw the title a good spot almost immediately entered my mind. It´s an abandoned quarry for limestone. It features an abundant supply of ammo and a reasonable backstop. You might find some nice fossils too. It puzzled me a little that had a braided sling within arm´s reach though.
When the enthusiasm is infectious, and also squarely centered on the art of violence. This makes me want to find out just how good I can get with it, and how much damage a 12 gauge musket ball can do to a tin can on the other end of my yard.
I swear giving someone a sling, a bow, making a fire, cooking something over open fire just awakens something in people. It is especially fun when you introduce someone to this the first time or teach em something new in these fields
Milo thriving outside touching grass and infodumping at us about his life long passions is exactly the quality content I need to get me through these dark times
Fun fact, the region David was operating in (David and Goliath) has unusually dense rocks, which modern skilled sling users are able to launch with the same total energy as a small firearm
@@Vanq22114 that's actually basically what that would have been, if any story like that even happened. It makes the story a whole lot less impressive, doesn't it? "God helped me shoot a really tall guy in the face" isn't a super profound, faith-inspiring story.
Watched a video of some young men in the middle east target practicing with a sling. They set up sheep skulls or goat skulls on sticks pushed into ground. At about a range of 20 to 30 yards. They were punching holes and shattering those skulls. When they released the rock it sounded like someone cracking a whip. It was extremely impressive.
Yeah there's a reason it was used in wars before war bows became more common. If you get hit straight on the head it is either a bad concussion, a skull fracture or straight up death. And head injuries in general are no joke. Just imagine getting bombarded with stones ranging from decent pebbles up to small fist size.
Yeah... slings are cool... the whip-snap thing is intentional... there is a tassel on the end to dissipate the energy in the rope and prevent it hurting you as it swings around...
People see David and Goliath being an amazing tale of how someone could possibly fell a giant with a sling...then you see a sling in action from someone properly proficient and you're like. "Oh. Yeah that would do it."
@@StealthMarmot_ I'd still prefer proper bows in war but if you have nothing else and a lot of people already proficient with it? Yeah. Not a lot of training, ammunition is easy to replenish and in a time where full body armour was pretty rare it can be pretty effective even if it only hurts if it hits even basic armour. If it hits fingers, breaks rips or toes that is already a big hindrance for the guys that have to go into melee like that.
Tip regarding the sling made from twine, you don't want to use twisted cordage. When the twisted fibers are stretched, they'll want to unwind a bit, which causes the two strands to move around and tangle with one another. That's why you weren't getting a clean release. You want to use braided cordage which will not impart a torque when stretched. The twine can still be used, you just need to braid some of the twine together. Even a very basic 3 strand braid will noticeably reduce (or even eliminate) the effect of the twist, while also giving your sling better tensile strength for some good, hard throwing.
Hihi, is a seven chord braid better? There's a fancy flat braid...what army had the best sling. , Is there a late roman design that got extra popular with the slingers?
@@tomgucwa7319 I'm not very well-read on the history of slings, my knowledge of them comes from personal experience making and using them. A seven strand braid would be very good. It would have excellent durability, and would be very stable in the swing. I prefer to use a six strand braid, as I've found that you get diminishing returns beyond that. It comes down to preference, though. I would absolutely encourage you to try out the seven strand if you plan to make your own.
@@tomgucwa7319 depends on string thickness, I've made a few berlaric slings, the best for me is 3 strand for the finger loop into a 6 strand, add 4 (or fold 2 longer in half into) about 4 inches before pouch giving 6 strands on both sides when you split it, make pouch about a hands width, brade 4 shorter strands out after brading back together and slowly remove strands until only 3 are left giving it a tapered finish. Knot it off however you want and add whip cracker to end for a good snap if you want.
Many years ago I ran across a paper on ancient armies and their slinger corps. One of the interesting things they pointed out after much effort, was a single circle around before releasing the ammunition. Also, they stated that clay with bits of iron or lead pressed into it was often the choice for armies to use for ammo.
That is very interesting! It seems like doing one rotation would actually gain you a lot more control than spinning it repeatedly. Makes you wonder how good at this someone in a sling corp would be. Would not want to be on the receiving end of that.
@@miniminuteman773the paper indicated that they got their best range & accuracy on single revolution throws. I'll look around to see if I still have a copy of that paper. (I got it from one of the online college paper archives.)
Yeah I did think the tech was more of an elliptical motion where you pass the sling from bottom right resting, up and over your left shoulder, behind your back, and back over your right shoulder, releasing at full arm extension pointing roughly where you want it to go, depending on range. Maintaining as close a radius to your head as possible with your hand holding the string. However, I don't throw slings, I may just be making this up from some long ago misremembered piece of material.
@@miniminuteman773 As someone that has done some slinging in the past it is indeed much easier to control with one rotation. Spinning is used to hold your shot at the ready. Such as when waiting for a rabbit to poke its head out.
That would make sense on the clay/iron/metal, assumedly kilned after to make something knobular, would make any part of the surface a more direct impact rather than full circle glancing or a flatter one tending to go either left-right. More accurate and more force applied to what it hits!
Just as an FYI on the archaeology front, sling ammo varied with time and location to some degree. Roman-era slings used small ammo about the size you pointed out when making your second sling, but I volunteered on a dig in the west bank of a late bronze age fort where we found numerous sling stones of that era which were roughly pool ball sized.
@@elizataylor1726 honestly there should be a "war sling" as a martial weapon. it would deal 1d6 bludgeoning (1d8 bludgeoning if you use magic stones), and have a range of 120-480 ft. It'd probably be about 10 gp.
So a few construction tips if someone wants try to make their own. A wider pouch with 3x3 small slits rather than one big central one and with four connection points rather than two (split the string at the pouch end or use four strings and twine them togheter until about 10cm/4 inches before the pouch) allows you to keep the rock more secure. For lenght, I would recommend wrist to shoulder from my testing. Also, a great use for these is throwing tennis or snow balls for your dog, fun for you and fun for them (just make sure they aren't in the line of fire when you throw/spin it up)
@@rudeskalamander I did hit my dog with a tenis ball, but not on the throw, on the spin up it fell out of the pouch (thats when I switched to the above construction technique)
@@petrfedor1851 Yeap, but sling staffs don't need a spin up, you just flick the rock, which means that you need a secure strap pouch (a wide strap is good enough) and allows you to use a bigger rock. It's basicly an arm powered trebuchette
FYI: The majority of the evidence about ancient slingers points towards them circling overhead only once and immediately releasing. Not only reduces the chance of losing the rock, but also gives you more control over the release angle, which, if aiming for a horizontal line of things, is more important than controlling deviation to the left and right.
@@gardengnome2 If you try actually getting the stone to a specific point, it becomes clear very soon that letting it circle for several turns does make you lose a bit of control because you can't well focus on keeping the circle clean and on where you want the stone to go. More importantly, however, is that you don't alert the game to yourself sooner than necessary through the sound of the sling, the sound of it slamming against vegetation while circling and the obvious noticeable movement. My comment was specifically relevant to the use in battle, however.
Most modern sling techniques only recommend once or twice and then the release for this exact reason. Still practicing here but it seems to be about right.
There are many methodologies and there is no singular "historically accurate" way to use a sling. AFAIK, different methodologies will ebb, flow and slack within any given civilization over generational timeframes, much like fashion.
@@ruffus910 If you're unhappy with the length of this, remember that you're the one who asked. And in case this reads a bit odd at times: I'm actively trying to avoid expressions and words that would prompt the bots that run this site to auto-unmake this comment. Seen it before when talking about things that have edges and how one might use them throughout history, if you know what I mean. I'll have to go to Pritchett's _The Greek State at War_ in the uni library for the exact Classical source citations (and I will), but for now, you can take a look at the ancient artistic sources like Trajan's column for contextual reasons they could only be used over-head, or Greek (especially Boiotian and Corinthian, also in smaller number Attic) pottery art for clear depictions of use. The pottery rarely depicts slingers since the hoplite was of course the ideal, but there's one exception, namely Heracles and the Stymphalian Birds. In some earlier Greek versions of the myth, he uses a sling instead of a bow, and this image can be found in several 6th- and 5th-century depictions. There are several earlier depictions of, for instance, Assyrian origin which to me suggest the over-head use as well, but since those slings are almost in one line with the arm and behind the head, people could theoretically argue that that may just be circling beside the body as well, so I'll leave that there. A pretty well-known example is a fragment from the relief depicting the siege of Lachish in 701 BC. The body position you find on there is pretty much the standard and only position for slingers to be depicted in all of Assyrian, Hittite and Egyptian art, since their reliefs were highly formulaic and went to identical depictions as expression of habitus. As for the contextual reasons: Trajan's column shows slingers in formation, carrying a clipeus (very clearly not a smaller or oval pelta or thyreos, which one might have argued _may_ have offered the option of using it to its side) in the left, meaning they had literally no other option than to do it over-head. From lighter slingers that didn't use shields, mainly from the Hellenistic period, the very few fragments that exist talking about slingers mention them emerging from the phalanx and falling to their knees, which is found on a few Hellenistic reliefs showing slingers, presumably to be a smaller point for the opposing skirmishers while out in front of the phalanx unprotected. While kneeling, pretty much the only option is to go over-head. Hellenistic mentions of mounted akrobolistai (skirmishers, involving bowmen, javelinmen and slingers) also leave mainly an over-head or at the very least semi-over-head sling as the option, considering how broad a horse's back is. We also know that they were used very prominently in sieges, especially of Celtic oppida and other fortifications, by the defenders, again leaving you little choice if you want to use it from behind a chest-high wall on someone below. As for the single-head spin, like I said, doing it more than once does make you lose control of the sling while circling. People like to say that, if you give it one more go, you can get maybe 400 meters out of it on reach. Problem is: Name me instances of skirmishers engaging over that distance. That's not how this was generally done in Antiquity. Skirmishers engaged the main line and largely one another en bloc. You're getting your go the same time as archers and javelinmen. And as long as opposing skirmishers are there, they are your primary opponents, not usually the hoplites. People tend to think of slingers as this highly specialised group of people, but keep in mind that, really, aside from these very small groups from the Balearic islands and so on, being a slinger was the way for ancient poleis to bring their poorest citizens who couldn't afford a hoplon to do their duty as citizens. Basically the only place there was another option was the period from Greek Classical to Roman imperial times in Greek poleis, where being a rower became the alternative. The point being that these were by and large light citizens who were supposed to engage the light citizens of the opponent as their way of service to the state, not as specialists who would pick off members of the main line of hoplites. Ancient skirmishes were mass events happening at semi-close range as a sort of pre-event to the main lines engaging one another, negating this narrative that you need as large a range as possible to be able to go for the main line as early as possible. Only exception in which range is valued: sieges. The only exception that I have ever seen mentioned to these smaller-range engagements in the open field is the use of machines from the scorpio / polybolos and gastraphetes families (plus proper siege equipment, obviously) as well as Late Ancient and highly regional mounted archers and javelinmen, who kept maximum distance while engaging unscreened infantry (Huns, Cantabrians (hence Cantabrian circle tactics) etc.). Keep in mind, by the way, that, as we approach Late Antiquity, the use of slingers also declines drastically as armour is provided by the state and it's less and later not at all about being required to do your duty to the state. I'll post again once I've had the time to go for Pritchett in the library.
Really cool video! Here in Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), Bronze Age people (we call them Talaiotics) were world-famous for their sling skills. The Balearic Islands were one of the last places in Spain to be conquered, due to both being an archipelago and the Talaiotics who sank the Roman boats with their slings. Then, the Romans covered the outside of their boats with leather. Afterward, the Romans incorporated the Talaiotic sling warriors into their legions, and of course, gave them lead bullets. It is said that children had their lunch placed up in a tree, and they could only eat by knocking it down with a slingshot. That’s how they became so accurate.
Well, I wonder were are you from. At least mention the Gymnesian Islands (Menorca and Mallorca), don't take all of the credit. Although, if you ask me, I think that one of the two is more known because of the Talaiotic culture and the foners that the other... 👀
I’ve spent a lot of time practicing with a sling, if I can give you a tip on form, here it is: Once you have the sling rotating, lift it over your head and tilt it such that the axis of rotation is pointing up and to the left (for a right handed user). The pouch should then be coming down in front of you across the outside of your left shoulder. Your point of release is then at the apex of the arc, just as the pouch peaks in height. You follow through, down across your body, as if you were throwing a baseball. All in all, this transforms the throwing mechanic to more of an “overhand” throw as opposed to a “sidearm” throw. Like I said, it is very similar to the mechanics of throwing a baseball. I guarantee you that your accuracy and power will greatly improve using this technique. Keep up practicing!
Lol you sound like my uncle trying to tell me how to caste my fishing line.... which means it's probably good advice, but my body hasn't quite made sense of it yet.
@@Sue_Me_Too I think this has something to do with the visually obvious fact that, despite getting the bullet going around a vertical axis, when he releases it his arm follows through in a horizontal fashion, it feels like there must be some loss of momentum or accuracy or both because there seems to be a disconnect between building up momentum and letting it go...I probably didn't describe that properly but I think you know what I mean...
My brother used to make slings all the time, did his research on them to the best of his abilities, and obviously practice with them a lot. The technique he came to with research and practice was to actually not spin the rock at all. Like, you want only one rotation before release to gain maximum accuracy, and the mechanics of the sling would give it plenty of power. Multiple spins doesn't add a significant amount of energy, but does make it progressively harder to aim. I can attest from anecdotal experience that he was entirely right, since he would let me use the slings and I tried both ways.
It's pretty much preference if you spin it or not now. Just that back in the day, being a merc in a war. Spinning can grant you the ability to have ammo ready while you run on rocky terrain (centerfugal force keeps it tack on the pounch) while having a shield on the left arm, dodging incoming arrows.
Это не так. Единственный мах не может дать максимальную скорость камню, желательно перед этим сделать хотя бы 1-2 взмаха, чтоб у камня уже была энергия, тогда выстрел гораздо сильнее. А что касаемо точности, то это субъективно и для каждого различно, по крайней мере моя точность выше после пары оборотов.
Wish I had read comments before posting mine just now. You are exactly right. The rotation was rarely used at all. The exception was a slow rotation to have a faster release. Or an hard rotation to get distance off a tower in a siege situation. You didn't need to be accurate when there are 1000 soldiers in a group trying to climb your walls.
@@aldrinmilespartosa1578If it's just to keep it in the pouch, you could probably use a lower speed and only ramp it up when you're ready to fire. I imagine that would preserve most benefits of the one-spin style.
Fun video! Love the enthusiasm. As someone who used a sling all growing up, the key to an extremely fast shot is to crack it like a whip. It won't necessarily crack, but you're going for the same motion; at that point the rock effectively is a bullet.
As a GM for D&D you gave me a new and terrifying idea; Giants using slings to fling boulders at enemies. If you have an army it would make more sense to hire giants with slings than it would to build trebuchets. The only problem now is what materials the sling would be made out of unless you wanted to use the leather from five or so cows.
Maybe woven baskets as the sling? And you could have them sling some of the other trebuchet payloads, like loosely bundled arrows, or skins (or even barrels) of oil or tar to be followed by a smoldering oily rag in a clay pot (the clay pot gives the rag velocity, and protects the flame from going out, and breaks on impact, giving light to the oil or tar).
@@kaydenlauman6713 that, and giving the giants atlatls to throw basically ship masts. (Lebanon cedar trees were very much in demand for their long, straight, tall, trunks, for that reason.)
Wrought-iron chains date to about 200BCE, they'd probably make a plausible giant's sling. As for the rock-pouch, wicker/rattan is remarkably light, strong and flexible. Maybe sandwich it between leather and thin iron bands to provide support.
I live in Spain, the Balearic islands. They're named like that because from around 400 b.C. onwards (IIRC), these islands were inhabited by relatively proficient rock slingers. The greeks eventually called the archipelago Balears, based on the verb "baleo" which means to throw/shoot something.
@@MagnusMoerkoereJohannesen being _relatively_ proficient doesnt exclude the possibility of being _very_ proficient. It's two different ways of describing something, that dont deny eachother, they can both be used and both be true. "Relatively" simply puts it in relation to something else, it's a comparison. That doesn't deny or lessen the fact that they were very proficient. So yes, Godzilla was a relatively grumpy gecko compared to other geckos, but also a very grumpy gecko in general.
When me and my brother were young we would make braided slings from hemp cord and chuck rocks at trees in the forest behind our house. The energy those rocks have is insane and it is a miracle no one got seriously hurt but it was a lot of fun. (Still quite ok at braiding so I guess there was some value in that.)
Dude I'm just thankful for an upload. I'm glad you are keeping busy. Major props to you for your Greenbanks Hollow video. Living in Scotland I see a lot of ruins pretty much everywhere (in my street, that was built in the 1960s there's a ruined house built in the 1600s) and I love researching and learning the history of the old stone structures. Greenbanks Hollow is the exact kinda place that I would spend hours researching and instead I was able to enjoy a packed informational video on the town so thank you and keep at it when you can.
That means the world dawg I really appreciate it. That video was a BLAST to make. It was a cool opportunity to add a lot of atmosphere to a video that I wouldn’t normally get to do in front of a blackboard. Scotland sounds like it would put our ruins here to shame. We may have our fair share of mills and stone walls but if you come across a castle out here you are either horribly lost or hallucinating. Sending good exploring fortune your way, my friend 💪
I've worked with leather a little bit, and something you could do to add some rock retention is to boil some water, let the leather steam over the pot for a few minutes, and then press the leather around a decently sized rock. That should make the leather form its own pouch to keep the rock in until you're ready to release it.
@@Sue_Me_Too it sure smell bad, useless history fact, it smell so bad that during the medieval era in europe tanners usually lived and worked in the outskirt of towns, and since hygene wasnt as good tanners also smelled really bad so everyone tried to avoid them lol :(
tbf old time tanners etc had vats of pee standing to form ammonia to strip fats and grease from hides, also poop had a function (not sure what it was) and other fun stinky stuff... tanning was (and still is to a degree) a foul process@@FirelixGaming
I grew up using a sling, I made with yellow nylon surveyors string, (it comes in many colors now) and a piece of cotton seat belt type material. I'm 61 and still carry one in my edc backpack . Ironically it's made with shoestrings and leather. I find the best line arrangement is using a rectangular pocket, aprx. 6x2" with a 4 corner attachment, using one lace, each end tied to the corners closest together. You'll have two loops. With one side tie a knot making a small loop at the end that fits snuggly over your finger, I use the middle one. It's finished. Now to use put the small loop around your middle finger at the first joint, and the other loop on the index finger first joint. Load, swing, and release index finger like you're pointing at target. If you want to shape pouch of leather, get it wet place a good smooth round stone in and pull tight around, using the strings to hold in place. Let dry.
My favorite part about this is thinking that, long ago, some human had the genuine same reaction to slinging rocks. We're not so different from them in the past and it puts a smile on my face to think about that being a possibility
Learning how to use a rock sling was my quarantine activity. I used two one-inch wide pieces of fabric for the cord, and a doubled over piece of duct tape for the pouch. I secured everything with safety pins so i could adjust it. I got pretty good just slinging rocks in the park.
I remember when i was like 10-11 living near a goatherder, he used a sling to keep the goats where he wanted them, in a radius of about 100 meters he crashed rocks where a goat shouldn’t be. I was impressed by the aim, it was always in-front of the goat, a slight mistake and the goat would die, but never happened.
@@poe_slawGoats are smart, friendly, loyal, adorable, and delicious. If they weren't always trying to eat everything they can reach, they'd be the perfect animal.
Fun lil bit of sling trivia, and also a cool story. The trebuchet is a massively scaled up rock sling, which inspired my high school physics final project. But in this final project(yeet an egg with a device), my trebuchet kept falling over, so I just said “fuck it,” pulled off the sling, and broke the record by 74.2 feet
Surf fishing uses a similar technique, with the flexibility of the rod adding some extra strength to the swing, so you can yeet large (50g+) weights and baits upwards of a hundred meters.
This reminds me of when we used an atlatl in anthropology class when I was getting my degree. For whatever reason, I used it like I was born for it, throwing the arrow WAY further than basically everyone else. And I am like, the opposite of an athlete. One of my classmates called me "Head hunter" for the rest of the semester after that. For those of you wondering, the secret I guess is not throwing it too hard and instead making sure your force is consistent, have good follow through, and don't try to snap it hard. Treat it like you are playing catch with someone 50 feet away, not trying to pitch a fastball. But I'm going on like, 4 throws.
Ok PROMISE last thing. My Dad, during the depression, used these things to hunt squirrels and such, so he figured this was one of those essential man skills to learn when society collapses. I think you learned there that the REAL key to distance is the rotational velocity you can achieve, so shorter slings that you can REALLY spin do better than long ones that you twirl slower. The rock will travel in whatever direction it's going at the point of release, so what I was taught is do your best to keep that circle you're spinning in a consistent plane. Then it's all about timing the release.
Projectile speed is directly proportional to rotational kinetic energy of the projectile. Rotational kinetic energy is directly proportional to mass and radius but proportional to the square of angular velocity. In other words, twice as heavy hits you twice as hard but twice the spinny hits you four times as hard. So, yes, spin it faster, it goes farther and hits harder. However, angular velocity is also effected by radius: shorter radius, smaller velocity. So there's a compromise between spin speed and radius length. But there's also only so much power a human arm can expect to expend on the toss. Further, a human arm has a natural resonance, limiting the spectra of radii. That resonance is determined by arm length and muscle twitch speed. So the perfect length is different from person to person. This is why it's important for you to make your own... Again and again, and again, and again.....
Oh, just Milo embracing his inner Disney princess by charming the bumblebees and talking to them. Don't worry about making adjascent-topic videos. I think I'd literally watch anything you put up because you're so fun to watch. You're the best, Milo ❤
Seriously, the resurgence into ancient tech such as bows kings and spears over much of UA-cam makes me so happy! There’s a reason that these weapons lasted for so freakishly long, they were effective. And you could master them. And when you mastered them, you got scary fast at it. Lars Anderson and his instinctive bow shooting is a great example, we just love throwing things.
Personally, I'd love to see some more chill hands-on videos like this added to your regular rotation! I appreciate that you're just making some easier content while you work on your big project (which I am very excited for!) but I've had a lot of fun with these last few videos! Every so often I'd love to see more in this vein, especially since you seem to really enjoy making them too.
I know that this is something that doesn't make a big difference to many people but the fact that you don't play ads at the start of videos, as an "ad wall" if you will, like most other UA-camrs have. it's the little things that add up in you're channel that make it so unique and holds my attention so well. thank you
In regards to using your lap as a work space, I'll share that I've done plenty of on-the-go field craft and found good use of the rigid plastic cutting boards from the dollar store. The 9.5 x 11 ones weigh less than a notebook and take up the same amount of space. And as a bonus, if/when they eventually break, the pieces can be used to make tracing templates for other small projects. Like sling cradles, for example.
i just love Milo's childish glee in nearly all of his videos. its entertaining, and uplifting. even when tearing a conspiracy theory apart, he does it with the kind of glee i just cant explain. Milo, dont change
Hey Milo, I live right on Lake Erie, and despite the many weather related downsides that come with it, it has some of the best skipping stones in the world. Using these stones with a sling will get you an easy 20+ skips each time, and is quite a fun way to spend the 3 or so warm months we get here in western NY
@@thedyingmeme6 it’s really weird, the weather is completely dependent on the temperamental nature of Lake Erie. It’s not uncommon to have a Week in buffalo that’s all like 15º with one random day at 55º. The wind is a constant though
As an architect, I relate so much to the "Are you really living if you don't have the opportunity to stab yourself in the leg at any given moment?" So many late night model making with an exacto lol
I made a shoelace sling for the end of a trebuchet. I noticed an overhand throw is much better since the rock never has the chance to go sideways. Just throw like normal and release when you would normally release and it works wonders!
I'm getting into foraging and fiber making this year, and I would love to make some nettle/bramble slings for funsies. I think the reason the second sling's arms twisted up is because you used a twisted jute. I would imagine if you use natural fiber, you're going to want to use a braided line as a twisted cord has that constant torque on itself (that's how it holds together). But with braided, it won't have that constant force to fight against (which is why the shoe lace worked better, it's not a twist cord). This is fun video, it really makes me want to get out and play!
Do you still need a title for this sort of videos? Cause I think "Milo's unhinged Adventures" would fit. It's so fun to just watch you do weird and new and interesting stuff and having the largest amount of fun doing it. Thank you for your content, it certainly brightens day everytime :3
a great childhood memory... realizing how easy it is to make a sling, and then realizing how hard is it to actually use it. love the video Milo, can't wait to see what the 'thing' is that you can't talk about yet
Prepare to be infodumped on, hope you get something useful out of it. :) A split pouch is easier to make from two strands of material, leader or cordage, because to give a single piece of leather the right shape you have to do something more elaborate to it than just cutting down the middle. Wet forming (doesn´t really work with chrome tanned leather which you seem to be using) or sewing the pouch into more of a cup shape works, and you can also make the pouch´s middle more stretchy by giving it several small cuts across instead of a large one down the length. The goal is to give the leather a mesh structure, essentially. IIRC Roman slings were made this way. Back to split pouches: You get a good leather one if you cut two strips of leather say 3/4x6in, cut holes into them at each end ( since they should be in the same spot in both pieces maybe poke them in one hole first and then transfer them to the other piece) and then put the first string through one side of both pieces. Before you tie on the second string, put the piece that was below over the other piece. This ensures that the pouch stays open but will make it less likely that the pouch opens so far the stone flies out befor you release the sling. To make a split pouch string from cordage, just start a braid ( three strand is easiest, but any braid forming a somewhat flat band works) to form one cord, separate the cords into two groups to countinue in two braids forming the pouch, and join them together into a single braid to form the second cord. If you like you can also join some material in the braid when you form the pouch, so that you have thinner cords and a wider pouch. Two or three inches of this double size braid on the release cord side above the pouch make the pouch open faster, therefore making the sling more precise. Braided cords also wont twist like the twine you used. Another way to prevent the cords twisting would be to make them opposite ply from each other, one Z and one S. For this you can just gather eight or so lengths of twine and make the cords from them like a Flemish twist bow string. I bet like anyone remotely into bushcraft you´ve seen the freehand cordage making method before you can do this with. An added benefit of this method is that you can make the cord with the finger loop right in it. Finally, maybe try a different release technique if you want to make life a little easier for yourself. Put the finger loop around your middle finger, right in the crease of your second knuckle. Then make a fist and pinch the release cord with your thumb on top of you index finger. If you like you can also extend both fingers slightly from your fist to throw. To release, just raise your thumb while you keep everything else tight. With this method you have a faster and more precis release, and you can also make the stopper on the release cord less elaborate. Hell, it would even work without any stopper. Again, hope you get something useful out of this half of an essay. In any case, Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!
Physics major here, would absolutely love to see if there is a paper on the optimal length of a sling, although I would wager it depends on the size of the wielder as well as their skill. You're going to get a lot more angular velocity out of a 4ft long sling than a shorter one, but if you're five feet tall you're gonna have some problems swinging it. Also just as far as air resistance is concerned, I'm curious if there's an limit the power reaches at range. Like if the difference between like a good length and one extra inch, because while the angular velocity does increase with length from the center point the rock of course will accelerate (negatively) as it flies. Time to go make a sling and throw rocks "to write a paper" and "for science"
You're on the right track here, the longest range slings that people are making/using nowadays are generally made to be as light and as long as possible, with the length making it such that people are spinning them around their entire bodies in a completely different style to how one would normally use a smaller sling. I'm a slinger myself and I've seen a couple videos on here of people using these super long-range slings but they can be hard to find iirc
Mechanic engineering major here and singer going on 15 years of experience. There is absolutely some sort a relationship between sling length and projectile mass. The longest distances I've gotten were about 310m and I was using a sling that was about my shoulder length to the ground with a stone in. That was the longest I could manage. Projectiles were natural bipoint river stones, about 40-50g in mass. Sling was two strands of Paracord with about 8cm of overlap in the middle to make a split string pouch and secured with wire that was twisted tight with pliers to bite into the strings and prevent slippage. The main issue a that point was air resistance on the strings. I always wanted to make one with really thin strings (high test kevlar for a surgical garotte looks appealing) and then I'd also love to lead projectiles for max distance. For comparison my casual slings are about half my wingspan, still just a simple Paracord split string pouch. I don't usually throw for accuracy so Ill take just about anything between 40g and 150g as long as it fits in the pouch okay.
F=MV^2, slings drastically improve the velocity that we can hurl stones at. It doesn't matter much how big the stone you throw is (to a certain extent) if you can double the velocity you can throw it at. I made my first sling from blue jean material and paracord. It lasted the better part of two decades. It was one of my favorite ways to pass time in the woods.
My brother started making these years ago after seeing them in books and youtube and has gotten pretty good with them over time. Very cool to see someone else making these very interesting ancient weapons.
From what I've learned, a good total length for the sling is your arm span. Also look into different throwing methods, I typically prefer a single overhead spin into a throw. Contrary to popular belief you don't need to spin the sling round and round unless it's a longer one or you really need a little more power. Also for accuracy try thinking of your release as throwing the release end or knot at your target. The rock should follow where you aimed the knot. My friends and I did a lot of rock slinging in high school and at one point I managed to put a small hole in a stop sign. With enough practice you too will be able to puncture sheet metal
Hey milo I went through a small class in high school which taught us on the construction and use of a rock sling, they said that the optimal length for a rock sling is the length of one arm, finger tips to armpit. And I recommend do what the call a J curve throw which is swing a over your head starting at the ear opposite of your throwing arm and swinging around d the back side of your body and once your arm is in line with your throwing shoulder throw forward like a frisbee and release right before full extension making to follow through diagonally across the front of your body. If this explanation is hard to keep up with I apologize.
A video on the atlatl or "spear-thrower" would be cool, and perfect for a tik tok or youtube short. They've been used since the middle paleolithic at least and it's not too difficult to make from what I've seen.
(For where i am) functionally the darts are the hardest part to get right unless you live near bamboo or river cane (which isnt native to my country) they need to be and (relatively) light, thin and long but also strong enough not to noodle as soon as attempt to throw it like with what which hazel does unless you find the perfect stave at the right stage of development and then season it for a month or two.
You can also make a sling without a leather pocket. I have a few that I've made by braiding twine together to form a more substantial cord and then when you get to where the pouch should be, I split the braid into two smaller braids, and later joined them back together. It's a lot more time consuming than your method but you end up with a really durable sling and all you need is some cordage and patience.
I love my twine sling braiding the chord and pocket (I used braided chord for my pocket as well) was so satisfying and totally outperformed my friend in a target test when he used bungie and leather because mine had no stretch
For anyone who wants to know, the Ancient Greek alternatives to Catch and Take That! Would’ve been vaguely similar to “Πιάσε!” (Pronounced “pee-ah-say”) and “Πάρε αυτό!” (Pronounced “par-ee aph-toh”)
The neat thing about pouch slings is, that you basically get an arm extension with an additional joint. For the projectile the only thing that matters is how fast it goes when it leaves the sling and with both a longer lever, from the length of the string and the added angle of acceleration it's like throwing the rock by hand, just "more".
Picked up slinging a few years back, been a viking reenactor for many years and never really got into archery, but slinging hooked into me quite quickly. Few tips on your slings is to have a pouch that just about covers the back of the stone. too big a pouch makes it waaaay too wobbly due to air resistance. For the string i use leather cord sown into the leather pouch, but the length is more or less personal preference, i prefer a longer one as it allows for more speed with less twirling on the hand in the windup to the throw. oh and a protip, tie a sling on a stick and you have a man portable trebuchet or a staffsling that allows you to throw bigger things.
Thanks, Milo, for another most EXCELLENT video. A rock sling is a tool that served well for so many of our ancestors for so long, and seemingly simple but actually complex tech is worth preserving and demonstrating. I also think that idea of posting " neolithic Thirst Traps" is worth pursuing. "Weird Italian deckhands" is a desired and desirable category across so many fronts.
Milo: “I just look like a weird Italian deckhand throwing rocks…” Milo: hums a French song Honestly dude you’re videos are amazing, my girlfriend and I get baked and go on deep dives about archeology and cool shit from your vids
Hi, this video inspired me to dedicated 8 hours of my life to making a rock sling from the only materials I have on hand: sewing string, scrap cloth and a toothpick. The sling works, btw :D
As someone who has done some slinging and sling making, I find that my preferred length is that the sling doubled over as it is in use should come from the grip to about the end of the humerus. Longer slings get more power and distance but also are less accurate and start to get unwieldy. Shorter slings can be easier for accuracy, but the lose power and distance. It's somewhat a matter of use case and preference, but I find an arm length sling to be a good general use option
My brother and I spent years playing with slings when we were children, lots of fun for sure. One thing I would recommend trying is to swing the sling overhand and release, like throwing a baseball...the easiest way I found was to have the stone hanging in front of me, then rock it around the left side of my body, when my hand (and the sling) got to the back, then throw overhand. The rock will describe an arc from your left thigh then up and over your right shoulder. The amount of force you can generate this way instead of underhand like you're doing is insane...and I believe easier to be accurate with, given most of us have had years of practice throwing things overhand
I read about the balaeric slingers a while back, this video reminded me of them. From what I remember, they were so skilled with slings that they got hired as mercenaries by the Carthaginians and the Romans. Also, I think that the longer the string, the more centrifugal force and therefore, the more force the stone has. There are a lot of cool and informative videos out there on how to make a proper sling (A.K.A. a Shepard's sling). For example, one of UA-cam's medieval weapon experts, Tod Cutler (of 'Tod's Workshop'), has a video on the subject.
Their slingers were also mostly shepherds. The slings were for entertainment to pass the time and as a means to driver off predators or cattle thieves. Basically they would stone sling targets to kill their boredom, hence why they got so good...and their was never a shortage of lose throwing rocks on the hills of Crete, etc.
@@brokeandtired Idk about boredom, but they sure AF would wanna put a little meat in the pot for their dinner -ergo they would continually be hunting small game. Rabbits, birds, and so on.
In the future, would you want to make a video on cave art? I find it really fascinating! Especially since it’s super super useful for getting a better understanding on the anatomy of prehistoric animals. If you have a favorite that you think doesn’t get enough love or one that you just really like and you’d want to make a video about it, i’d love to watch it!
I made my first sling a few years back. It is INSANELY fun to sling rocks! It doesn't even make sense that it would be so fun! Once you get a couple of good throws under your belt, you're completely hooked. Everybody should learn to sling.
trying to source and make old tools like this would be really cool to see again! its so nice to learn about how things seemed overly complicated in the before times, and the generations it probably took to think of doing things a different way.
An interesting topic relating to slings is the archaeological evidence in North America, which typically gets overlooked. On the West Coast there are a number of biconical (American football shaped) stones that were likely used as sling stones, and there is even a surviving sling from Lovelock Cave in Nevada that was found wrapped around a child’s neck as part of a burial. Other parts of the world of course have interesting archaeology related to slings as well. For the Americas and Oceania, there’s a book called “Slings & Slingstones: The Forgotten Weapons of Oceania and the Americas” by Robert and Gigi York. It’s one of the best sources for those parts of the world, though there is lots more to discover outside of it.
I don’t understand what that means, that’s what it was to my knowledge. It is possible the kid was just learning to use it. Lovelock cave also has some of the mentioned shaped biconical stones and more famously has what appear to be duck decoys.
There were also references in historical documents about the various conquistador invasions as being used as a weapon of war, and also a few surviving ancient south american examples iirc.
Me and my cousin hunted rabbits with a sling when we were kids. Got to be pretty good with it. Don't twirl it, swing the arc once and let it fly. You don't add enough of anything by twirling it and you twist the strings so the cradle won't release. One arc and release. Use your wrist and forearm to add force.
I love the field trips! I actually assumed they were more work intensive than the regular videos so I've been really grateful for them but I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying making them! SO excited to see what this project is :D
Quick tip for a rock sling, the reason why your shots were going off to the right a bit more thna you were looking is because you leaned a little to the right while swinging your final shot. You want to try and keep it straight and steady for a fast, accurate shot. Think like you're bowling, if you sing from the side, it goes to the side, swing straight up/down, and it's straight!
While I'm scared to try to use a rock sling for fear of somehow smacking myself in the face or body, it brings me such joy to watch you make and use one. I always love your content, buddy! Looking forward to upcoming videos!
Can literally feel your excitement when you start getting rocks, love it! This is amazing timing, as I got my slings out for the first time in ages a couple days ago to show a friend, and I was thinking about trying to make some more with different materials to see what works best. Now I definitely have to. Also, that little knife is absolutely beautiful!
hammock rule, use a parallelogram sling shape, it will try to follow the rock a LOT less, just out of rhombus, instead of a single slit, do a few lateral shorter slits - when it folds around the rock they'll create a nice little pocket and won't 'grab on' to the stones as much Larger slings can be made out of t-shirt cloth doubled or tripled up and throw 2 and 3 pound stones more than 200 feet In a pinch you can simply cut loops from a t-shirt and produce 10 short-range slings no need to spin it up, once around will beat your arm, it's like a whip but not completely like a whip
In case anyone else is trying this, I'll add my own (limited) experience. :) I use a smallish sling, elbow tip to fingertip for the radius (so sling is just over twice that, extended). I'm fortunate enough to live by the sea, and get lots of lovely rounded rocks within 5 minutes of the house. I find rocks about the size of golf balls, or slightly larger, work best, any smaller and I could throw them almost as far by hand, but once you get heavier larger rocks, the sling payoff seems to get better, to a certain point. I've also found, that with vaguely consistent rocks, I can get within about a ten degree arc 95% of the time, using the underhand side release style. It only took about 30 shots to get this level of reliability/consistency. Unfortunately, after another 30 or so, I had not improved much on that, so a fairly fast basic learning curve, but a slow secondary learning curve. Then I got tennis elbow, so had to stop. :(
Hello, physics student, paracordist, and slinger here. The sling is actually a perfect representation of circular motion, a=(v^2)/r. It also shows how an object moving in a circle always has velocity going straight forwards, so it looks tangent to the circle. Now onto the slings. The best braiding slings in my opinion if you’re using small cordage like twine is the balearic style. A common sling with paracord is one made by a dude practical paracord who sells slings online. I’ve made a fair few based upon his design and a couple balearic ones. The thicker and tight braid of the rope helps prevent tangling and the split pouch design provides a large variety of sizes of ammo from golf balls to baseballs. Now the braids are very rigid and practical paracord has an x in the middle to help catch stuff from falling through but most balearic slings don’t, although I would still recommend it. I’m not practiced in really light slings or leather pouch slings, but I’ve heard that they make the object travel slightly faster while making it less controllable. Now if your object is heavy enough the difference is negligible. Also if you wish to learn more about throwing techniques and how to get 120+ mph throws I would recommend the channel IronGoober. Thanks for reading and keep on slinging!
I love these informal videos, please dont stop doing them when whatever has taken your time isnt able to be released. But only do them at your leisure of course.
My dad made me one when I was noob in life. Best toy! I also had one during my 13 years in the army. Everybody loved it. Now my kids have their own, and it's still the best toy
Most people would say around half your height is what you want a rock sling to be, so realistically it varies for the person, a taller person can use a bigger sling, and then on top of that it depends on your throwing style may it be above the head (Byzantine) or underhand as you did in the video
I made a sling with two palm tree leafs. It was surprisingly effective considering i had no practice, technique, was constructed poorly and i only used half rotten fruits. I can only imagine how it must feel for a primitive person to discover such a thing and show it to everyone
I used to use a "figure eight" swing with my Greek styled sling. I'd start with a horizontal spin backwards over my head as I let go of the stone. One rotation, sometimes two, I'd give a hard flick down, letting the line brush the back of my opposing shoulder. 'With that hard swing I thrust my arm forward and point the index finger right at the target, releasing the sling. A good stone didn't so much arc as it did spiral to target.
Milo, your videos out in the field are quickly becoming some of your best! My mom and I watched this and the fossil hunting one, and they are so full of joy - and cool information! I know winters are harsh where you are, but I'd love to see you do another outdoor video! Thanks for the awesome content 🌺
Regarding the longer strings, some slings did indeed over 3 foot strings. you can see them still in use in the ethiopian highlands. they are traditionally spun overhead horizontally rather than overhand or underhand.
i made one of these when i was younger out of surfing tethers. was way too long but was able to launch rocks from one ridge of a mountain to the other half mile away (down hill of course). was super fun to use. and it was tied to my wrist and you held the other side in your hand and it was pretty fun to use.
I don't know about length for slings, but for poi spinning, you measure from fingertip to center shoulder crease for each side...20-24 inches. (edit) Slings were traditionally used for hunting, so you want to remain as still as possible, and use wrist motions for spinning/throwing. Full arm swings and body motion would startle prey. Speculation: less things in motion may make aiming easier.
The optimal angle (for distance) to fire any hard projectile is always 45 degrees up from horizontal. I think the optimal length of the sling would be most predicated off the length of your own arm 🤔 As for over-hand vs under-hand, I do think you will always have more time to exert force on the throw during the under-hand throw with the sling (underhand also lends itself to use of the bicep rather than the tricep). As someone who had to take a sh*t ton of physics on college, that is my take. Super cool video Milo, can't wait to see what you have in the works for us!
This was our (kids) ultimate weapon for bird hunting back in late 1990 in our home town Waziristan. The way we used to make it was from two 2 to 3 feet of strings/ropes made from pieces of cloth that were twisted and knotted, a piece of leather was tied between them with. We would make a ring out of the string/rope on one end of it to fit it in our index finger (some would put it on their thumb) so the sling would not take off while shooting, it would also help in aiming. The stronger the cloth the better. It may sound difficult to hit a target with it but after practice you'd be surprised how accurate and hard it hits. We would hardly miss quail sized birds yards away.
What's dangerous about this channel is Milo's enthusiasm is infectious, which normally is fine, because it makes me wanna look into cool history and go to museums. But now it's making me wanna find a big valley to sling rocks into.
Yes
Thats the best excuse to touch grass in my opinion
Go sling some rocks, you got this buddy
I dodged that one. When I saw the title a good spot almost immediately entered my mind. It´s an abandoned quarry for limestone. It features an abundant supply of ammo and a reasonable backstop. You might find some nice fossils too.
It puzzled me a little that had a braided sling within arm´s reach though.
When the enthusiasm is infectious, and also squarely centered on the art of violence. This makes me want to find out just how good I can get with it, and how much damage a 12 gauge musket ball can do to a tin can on the other end of my yard.
This video was such a reality check for me. The fact I don't own a rock sling is really really difficult to accept.
If rock slings are outlawed... only us outlaws will have rock slings !!!!
checking in 7 months later do u have a rock sling
Same here like I’m going to make one
Sure you do. You just haven't assembled it yet.
Thank you for this comment!
I swear giving someone a sling, a bow, making a fire, cooking something over open fire just awakens something in people. It is especially fun when you introduce someone to this the first time or teach em something new in these fields
its the ghosts of long dead ancestors telling you to get better at it, back in their day they were cracking skulls at 1000 paces with pebbles.
we never did this at boy scouts, and I'm really questioning why.
The twine was braided together.
Archery is the one thing that came naturally to me. It felt like home
@@Jacob-pl6gsbraided would give a bit more rigidity and strength !
Milo thriving outside touching grass and infodumping at us about his life long passions is exactly the quality content I need to get me through these dark times
Potty
Being friendly with a local bumblebee is endearing.
Do you not go outside at all? Your acting like what he is doing is outside the realm of reality, yet he isn't doing that hasn't been done.
@@poop464it was just a compliment dude :(
Fun fact, the region David was operating in (David and Goliath) has unusually dense rocks, which modern skilled sling users are able to launch with the same total energy as a small firearm
Ah yes, the first ever op on the block
Jews fighting imperialists is a classic.
@@Vanq22114 that's actually basically what that would have been, if any story like that even happened. It makes the story a whole lot less impressive, doesn't it? "God helped me shoot a really tall guy in the face" isn't a super profound, faith-inspiring story.
Imagine dieing to a rock glock
Fun fact, that story is bullshit, along with the rest of that magical book of primitive stupid.
Watched a video of some young men in the middle east target practicing with a sling. They set up sheep skulls or goat skulls on sticks pushed into ground. At about a range of 20 to 30 yards. They were punching holes and shattering those skulls. When they released the rock it sounded like someone cracking a whip. It was extremely impressive.
Yeah there's a reason it was used in wars before war bows became more common. If you get hit straight on the head it is either a bad concussion, a skull fracture or straight up death. And head injuries in general are no joke. Just imagine getting bombarded with stones ranging from decent pebbles up to small fist size.
And now you know why soldiers shoot rock slingers sometimes... a proper sling used correctly is absolutely lethal
Yeah... slings are cool... the whip-snap thing is intentional... there is a tassel on the end to dissipate the energy in the rope and prevent it hurting you as it swings around...
People see David and Goliath being an amazing tale of how someone could possibly fell a giant with a sling...then you see a sling in action from someone properly proficient and you're like. "Oh. Yeah that would do it."
@@StealthMarmot_ I'd still prefer proper bows in war but if you have nothing else and a lot of people already proficient with it? Yeah. Not a lot of training, ammunition is easy to replenish and in a time where full body armour was pretty rare it can be pretty effective even if it only hurts if it hits even basic armour. If it hits fingers, breaks rips or toes that is already a big hindrance for the guys that have to go into melee like that.
Tip regarding the sling made from twine, you don't want to use twisted cordage. When the twisted fibers are stretched, they'll want to unwind a bit, which causes the two strands to move around and tangle with one another. That's why you weren't getting a clean release. You want to use braided cordage which will not impart a torque when stretched. The twine can still be used, you just need to braid some of the twine together. Even a very basic 3 strand braid will noticeably reduce (or even eliminate) the effect of the twist, while also giving your sling better tensile strength for some good, hard throwing.
Knitter here. Came here to give + to this comment. Braided cords are more balanced.
Hihi, is a seven chord braid better? There's a fancy flat braid...what army had the best sling. , Is there a late roman design that got extra popular with the slingers?
@@tomgucwa7319 I'm not very well-read on the history of slings, my knowledge of them comes from personal experience making and using them.
A seven strand braid would be very good. It would have excellent durability, and would be very stable in the swing. I prefer to use a six strand braid, as I've found that you get diminishing returns beyond that. It comes down to preference, though. I would absolutely encourage you to try out the seven strand if you plan to make your own.
@@tomgucwa7319 depends on string thickness, I've made a few berlaric slings, the best for me is 3 strand for the finger loop into a 6 strand, add 4 (or fold 2 longer in half into) about 4 inches before pouch giving 6 strands on both sides when you split it, make pouch about a hands width, brade 4 shorter strands out after brading back together and slowly remove strands until only 3 are left giving it a tapered finish. Knot it off however you want and add whip cracker to end for a good snap if you want.
@@dovahbear0 God that name is cultured
Many years ago I ran across a paper on ancient armies and their slinger corps. One of the interesting things they pointed out after much effort, was a single circle around before releasing the ammunition.
Also, they stated that clay with bits of iron or lead pressed into it was often the choice for armies to use for ammo.
That is very interesting! It seems like doing one rotation would actually gain you a lot more control than spinning it repeatedly. Makes you wonder how good at this someone in a sling corp would be. Would not want to be on the receiving end of that.
@@miniminuteman773the paper indicated that they got their best range & accuracy on single revolution throws. I'll look around to see if I still have a copy of that paper. (I got it from one of the online college paper archives.)
Yeah I did think the tech was more of an elliptical motion where you pass the sling from bottom right resting, up and over your left shoulder, behind your back, and back over your right shoulder, releasing at full arm extension pointing roughly where you want it to go, depending on range. Maintaining as close a radius to your head as possible with your hand holding the string. However, I don't throw slings, I may just be making this up from some long ago misremembered piece of material.
@@miniminuteman773 As someone that has done some slinging in the past it is indeed much easier to control with one rotation. Spinning is used to hold your shot at the ready. Such as when waiting for a rabbit to poke its head out.
That would make sense on the clay/iron/metal, assumedly kilned after to make something knobular, would make any part of the surface a more direct impact rather than full circle glancing or a flatter one tending to go either left-right. More accurate and more force applied to what it hits!
Just as an FYI on the archaeology front, sling ammo varied with time and location to some degree. Roman-era slings used small ammo about the size you pointed out when making your second sling, but I volunteered on a dig in the west bank of a late bronze age fort where we found numerous sling stones of that era which were roughly pool ball sized.
Well that sounds terrifying. Even if it only hit your leg I'm sure that would fuck you up royally.
And sometimes wet clay would be used. It didn't tend to ricochet, and on a good hit, would put 100% of it's force into the target.
@@artor9175 all this makes me think that a sling should do considerably more than 1d4 damage in dnd.
@@elizataylor1726 Actually tho-- I've heard it said that a sling could punch right through a helm where an arrow normally couldn't.
@@elizataylor1726 honestly there should be a "war sling" as a martial weapon.
it would deal 1d6 bludgeoning (1d8 bludgeoning if you use magic stones), and have a range of 120-480 ft.
It'd probably be about 10 gp.
So a few construction tips if someone wants try to make their own. A wider pouch with 3x3 small slits rather than one big central one and with four connection points rather than two (split the string at the pouch end or use four strings and twine them togheter until about 10cm/4 inches before the pouch) allows you to keep the rock more secure. For lenght, I would recommend wrist to shoulder from my testing.
Also, a great use for these is throwing tennis or snow balls for your dog, fun for you and fun for them (just make sure they aren't in the line of fire when you throw/spin it up)
Just imagined some poor dog getting betrayed
@@rudeskalamander just imagining a poor dog getting pelted ;0
@@rudeskalamander I did hit my dog with a tenis ball, but not on the throw, on the spin up it fell out of the pouch (thats when I switched to the above construction technique)
In medieval period there was variation of sling on stick. Kinda fun shoot from that.
@@petrfedor1851 Yeap, but sling staffs don't need a spin up, you just flick the rock, which means that you need a secure strap pouch (a wide strap is good enough) and allows you to use a bigger rock. It's basicly an arm powered trebuchette
FYI: The majority of the evidence about ancient slingers points towards them circling overhead only once and immediately releasing. Not only reduces the chance of losing the rock, but also gives you more control over the release angle, which, if aiming for a horizontal line of things, is more important than controlling deviation to the left and right.
@@gardengnome2 If you try actually getting the stone to a specific point, it becomes clear very soon that letting it circle for several turns does make you lose a bit of control because you can't well focus on keeping the circle clean and on where you want the stone to go.
More importantly, however, is that you don't alert the game to yourself sooner than necessary through the sound of the sling, the sound of it slamming against vegetation while circling and the obvious noticeable movement.
My comment was specifically relevant to the use in battle, however.
Most modern sling techniques only recommend once or twice and then the release for this exact reason. Still practicing here but it seems to be about right.
Interesting. How are we able to tell that?
There are many methodologies and there is no singular "historically accurate" way to use a sling.
AFAIK, different methodologies will ebb, flow and slack within any given civilization over generational timeframes, much like fashion.
@@ruffus910
If you're unhappy with the length of this, remember that you're the one who asked. And in case this reads a bit odd at times: I'm actively trying to avoid expressions and words that would prompt the bots that run this site to auto-unmake this comment. Seen it before when talking about things that have edges and how one might use them throughout history, if you know what I mean.
I'll have to go to Pritchett's _The Greek State at War_ in the uni library for the exact Classical source citations (and I will), but for now, you can take a look at the ancient artistic sources like Trajan's column for contextual reasons they could only be used over-head, or Greek (especially Boiotian and Corinthian, also in smaller number Attic) pottery art for clear depictions of use. The pottery rarely depicts slingers since the hoplite was of course the ideal, but there's one exception, namely Heracles and the Stymphalian Birds. In some earlier Greek versions of the myth, he uses a sling instead of a bow, and this image can be found in several 6th- and 5th-century depictions. There are several earlier depictions of, for instance, Assyrian origin which to me suggest the over-head use as well, but since those slings are almost in one line with the arm and behind the head, people could theoretically argue that that may just be circling beside the body as well, so I'll leave that there. A pretty well-known example is a fragment from the relief depicting the siege of Lachish in 701 BC. The body position you find on there is pretty much the standard and only position for slingers to be depicted in all of Assyrian, Hittite and Egyptian art, since their reliefs were highly formulaic and went to identical depictions as expression of habitus.
As for the contextual reasons: Trajan's column shows slingers in formation, carrying a clipeus (very clearly not a smaller or oval pelta or thyreos, which one might have argued _may_ have offered the option of using it to its side) in the left, meaning they had literally no other option than to do it over-head. From lighter slingers that didn't use shields, mainly from the Hellenistic period, the very few fragments that exist talking about slingers mention them emerging from the phalanx and falling to their knees, which is found on a few Hellenistic reliefs showing slingers, presumably to be a smaller point for the opposing skirmishers while out in front of the phalanx unprotected. While kneeling, pretty much the only option is to go over-head. Hellenistic mentions of mounted akrobolistai (skirmishers, involving bowmen, javelinmen and slingers) also leave mainly an over-head or at the very least semi-over-head sling as the option, considering how broad a horse's back is. We also know that they were used very prominently in sieges, especially of Celtic oppida and other fortifications, by the defenders, again leaving you little choice if you want to use it from behind a chest-high wall on someone below.
As for the single-head spin, like I said, doing it more than once does make you lose control of the sling while circling. People like to say that, if you give it one more go, you can get maybe 400 meters out of it on reach. Problem is: Name me instances of skirmishers engaging over that distance. That's not how this was generally done in Antiquity. Skirmishers engaged the main line and largely one another en bloc. You're getting your go the same time as archers and javelinmen. And as long as opposing skirmishers are there, they are your primary opponents, not usually the hoplites. People tend to think of slingers as this highly specialised group of people, but keep in mind that, really, aside from these very small groups from the Balearic islands and so on, being a slinger was the way for ancient poleis to bring their poorest citizens who couldn't afford a hoplon to do their duty as citizens. Basically the only place there was another option was the period from Greek Classical to Roman imperial times in Greek poleis, where being a rower became the alternative. The point being that these were by and large light citizens who were supposed to engage the light citizens of the opponent as their way of service to the state, not as specialists who would pick off members of the main line of hoplites. Ancient skirmishes were mass events happening at semi-close range as a sort of pre-event to the main lines engaging one another, negating this narrative that you need as large a range as possible to be able to go for the main line as early as possible. Only exception in which range is valued: sieges.
The only exception that I have ever seen mentioned to these smaller-range engagements in the open field is the use of machines from the scorpio / polybolos and gastraphetes families (plus proper siege equipment, obviously) as well as Late Ancient and highly regional mounted archers and javelinmen, who kept maximum distance while engaging unscreened infantry (Huns, Cantabrians (hence Cantabrian circle tactics) etc.). Keep in mind, by the way, that, as we approach Late Antiquity, the use of slingers also declines drastically as armour is provided by the state and it's less and later not at all about being required to do your duty to the state.
I'll post again once I've had the time to go for Pritchett in the library.
Really cool video! Here in Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), Bronze Age people (we call them Talaiotics) were world-famous for their sling skills. The Balearic Islands were one of the last places in Spain to be conquered, due to both being an archipelago and the Talaiotics who sank the Roman boats with their slings. Then, the Romans covered the outside of their boats with leather. Afterward, the Romans incorporated the Talaiotic sling warriors into their legions, and of course, gave them lead bullets. It is said that children had their lunch placed up in a tree, and they could only eat by knocking it down with a slingshot. That’s how they became so accurate.
Well, I wonder were are you from. At least mention the Gymnesian Islands (Menorca and Mallorca), don't take all of the credit. Although, if you ask me, I think that one of the two is more known because of the Talaiotic culture and the foners that the other... 👀
Everyone needs a rock sling
Especially in ohio/detroit
Got one. Accidentally erased some alien civilization
Everyone needs a Milo.
Useful to hit the detonator
It’s the perfect christmas or birthday gift
I’ve spent a lot of time practicing with a sling, if I can give you a tip on form, here it is:
Once you have the sling rotating, lift it over your head and tilt it such that the axis of rotation is pointing up and to the left (for a right handed user). The pouch should then be coming down in front of you across the outside of your left shoulder. Your point of release is then at the apex of the arc, just as the pouch peaks in height. You follow through, down across your body, as if you were throwing a baseball.
All in all, this transforms the throwing mechanic to more of an “overhand” throw as opposed to a “sidearm” throw. Like I said, it is very similar to the mechanics of throwing a baseball.
I guarantee you that your accuracy and power will greatly improve using this technique. Keep up practicing!
We have to get this to top comment!
Another reason aside from the video for me to make a sling. Having a technique to focus on and practice will help
Lol you sound like my uncle trying to tell me how to caste my fishing line.... which means it's probably good advice, but my body hasn't quite made sense of it yet.
Keep your head down, don't look up early, grip correctly, align your shot....oh wait, that's golf.
Nevermind
@@Sue_Me_Too I think this has something to do with the visually obvious fact that, despite getting the bullet going around a vertical axis, when he releases it his arm follows through in a horizontal fashion, it feels like there must be some loss of momentum or accuracy or both because there seems to be a disconnect between building up momentum and letting it go...I probably didn't describe that properly but I think you know what I mean...
Man flings rocks for 20 minutes, has a fucking blast
Ha nice
We man are truly simple creatures to satisfy
The best thing about this guy is how genuine and just plain conversational he is with it. It never feels artificial.
Because it isn't. He is genuinely having fun and genuinely talking to the people watching.
My brother used to make slings all the time, did his research on them to the best of his abilities, and obviously practice with them a lot. The technique he came to with research and practice was to actually not spin the rock at all. Like, you want only one rotation before release to gain maximum accuracy, and the mechanics of the sling would give it plenty of power. Multiple spins doesn't add a significant amount of energy, but does make it progressively harder to aim. I can attest from anecdotal experience that he was entirely right, since he would let me use the slings and I tried both ways.
It's pretty much preference if you spin it or not now.
Just that back in the day, being a merc in a war. Spinning can grant you the ability to have ammo ready while you run on rocky terrain (centerfugal force keeps it tack on the pounch) while having a shield on the left arm, dodging incoming arrows.
This makes me afraid of you
Это не так. Единственный мах не может дать максимальную скорость камню, желательно перед этим сделать хотя бы 1-2 взмаха, чтоб у камня уже была энергия, тогда выстрел гораздо сильнее. А что касаемо точности, то это субъективно и для каждого различно, по крайней мере моя точность выше после пары оборотов.
Wish I had read comments before posting mine just now. You are exactly right. The rotation was rarely used at all. The exception was a slow rotation to have a faster release. Or an hard rotation to get distance off a tower in a siege situation. You didn't need to be accurate when there are 1000 soldiers in a group trying to climb your walls.
@@aldrinmilespartosa1578If it's just to keep it in the pouch, you could probably use a lower speed and only ramp it up when you're ready to fire. I imagine that would preserve most benefits of the one-spin style.
Fun video! Love the enthusiasm. As someone who used a sling all growing up, the key to an extremely fast shot is to crack it like a whip. It won't necessarily crack, but you're going for the same motion; at that point the rock effectively is a bullet.
As a GM for D&D you gave me a new and terrifying idea; Giants using slings to fling boulders at enemies. If you have an army it would make more sense to hire giants with slings than it would to build trebuchets. The only problem now is what materials the sling would be made out of unless you wanted to use the leather from five or so cows.
Maybe woven baskets as the sling? And you could have them sling some of the other trebuchet payloads, like loosely bundled arrows, or skins (or even barrels) of oil or tar to be followed by a smoldering oily rag in a clay pot (the clay pot gives the rag velocity, and protects the flame from going out, and breaks on impact, giving light to the oil or tar).
@@nela9994 I like the idea of them using a barrel of tar with a cloth, almost like a giant's version of molotov cocktail
@@kaydenlauman6713 that, and giving the giants atlatls to throw basically ship masts. (Lebanon cedar trees were very much in demand for their long, straight, tall, trunks, for that reason.)
Mythrill pillaged from the dwarves!
Wrought-iron chains date to about 200BCE, they'd probably make a plausible giant's sling. As for the rock-pouch, wicker/rattan is remarkably light, strong and flexible. Maybe sandwich it between leather and thin iron bands to provide support.
I live in Spain, the Balearic islands. They're named like that because from around 400 b.C. onwards (IIRC), these islands were inhabited by relatively proficient rock slingers. The greeks eventually called the archipelago Balears, based on the verb "baleo" which means to throw/shoot something.
That's a bit of an understatement 😅 By that logic, Godzilla is a relatively grumpy gecko 😁
@@MagnusMoerkoereJohannesen being _relatively_ proficient doesnt exclude the possibility of being _very_ proficient. It's two different ways of describing something, that dont deny eachother, they can both be used and both be true.
"Relatively" simply puts it in relation to something else, it's a comparison. That doesn't deny or lessen the fact that they were very proficient.
So yes, Godzilla was a relatively grumpy gecko compared to other geckos, but also a very grumpy gecko in general.
@@MagnusMoerkoereJohannesen "Godzilla is a relatively grumpy gecko" is now my new catchphrase, thankyou🤣
When me and my brother were young we would make braided slings from hemp cord and chuck rocks at trees in the forest behind our house. The energy those rocks have is insane and it is a miracle no one got seriously hurt but it was a lot of fun. (Still quite ok at braiding so I guess there was some value in that.)
Dude I'm just thankful for an upload. I'm glad you are keeping busy. Major props to you for your Greenbanks Hollow video. Living in Scotland I see a lot of ruins pretty much everywhere (in my street, that was built in the 1960s there's a ruined house built in the 1600s) and I love researching and learning the history of the old stone structures. Greenbanks Hollow is the exact kinda place that I would spend hours researching and instead I was able to enjoy a packed informational video on the town so thank you and keep at it when you can.
That means the world dawg I really appreciate it. That video was a BLAST to make. It was a cool opportunity to add a lot of atmosphere to a video that I wouldn’t normally get to do in front of a blackboard. Scotland sounds like it would put our ruins here to shame. We may have our fair share of mills and stone walls but if you come across a castle out here you are either horribly lost or hallucinating. Sending good exploring fortune your way, my friend 💪
Ad Victoriam, brother, from Canada.
I've worked with leather a little bit, and something you could do to add some rock retention is to boil some water, let the leather steam over the pot for a few minutes, and then press the leather around a decently sized rock. That should make the leather form its own pouch to keep the rock in until you're ready to release it.
I commend you; I tanned my first hide this year and I've decided that leatherwork is icky and it smells bad.
Beautifully described and completely sensible suggestion.
@@Sue_Me_Too it sure smell bad, useless history fact, it smell so bad that during the medieval era in europe tanners usually lived and worked in the outskirt of towns, and since hygene wasnt as good tanners also smelled really bad so everyone tried to avoid them lol :(
@@FirelixGaming I only tanned one hide, I can't imagine what the smell is like when you're doing 1,000s of them...
tbf old time tanners etc had vats of pee standing to form ammonia to strip fats and grease from hides, also poop had a function (not sure what it was) and other fun stinky stuff... tanning was (and still is to a degree) a foul process@@FirelixGaming
I grew up using a sling, I made with yellow nylon surveyors string, (it comes in many colors now) and a piece of cotton seat belt type material. I'm 61 and still carry one in my edc backpack . Ironically it's made with shoestrings and leather. I find the best line arrangement is using a rectangular pocket, aprx. 6x2" with a 4 corner attachment, using one lace, each end tied to the corners closest together. You'll have two loops. With one side tie a knot making a small loop at the end that fits snuggly over your finger, I use the middle one. It's finished. Now to use put the small loop around your middle finger at the first joint, and the other loop on the index finger first joint. Load, swing, and release index finger like you're pointing at target. If you want to shape pouch of leather, get it wet place a good smooth round stone in and pull tight around, using the strings to hold in place. Let dry.
My favorite part about this is thinking that, long ago, some human had the genuine same reaction to slinging rocks. We're not so different from them in the past and it puts a smile on my face to think about that being a possibility
I love Milo, he uses humor and information to actually teach me things, such a chill dude... Hope he never stops doing the things he loves
That's racist.
@@WeAreInYourWall how
@@ubi0477 I was shocked too.
@@WeAreInYourWall sure buddy 🤣
Learning how to use a rock sling was my quarantine activity. I used two one-inch wide pieces of fabric for the cord, and a doubled over piece of duct tape for the pouch. I secured everything with safety pins so i could adjust it. I got pretty good just slinging rocks in the park.
*distance "ow, wtf"*
I remember when i was like 10-11 living near a goatherder, he used a sling to keep the goats where he wanted them, in a radius of about 100 meters he crashed rocks where a goat shouldn’t be. I was impressed by the aim, it was always in-front of the goat, a slight mistake and the goat would die, but never happened.
WOW
That’s really cool, I wouldn’t have guessed that goats understand the concept of a warning shot
@@poe_slawGoats are smart, friendly, loyal, adorable, and delicious. If they weren't always trying to eat everything they can reach, they'd be the perfect animal.
@@renatocorvaro6924 and you can milk them, and spin their fur ...
Where? Sounds like someth8ng my dad would tell me happened in El Salvador
Fun lil bit of sling trivia, and also a cool story. The trebuchet is a massively scaled up rock sling, which inspired my high school physics final project. But in this final project(yeet an egg with a device), my trebuchet kept falling over, so I just said “fuck it,” pulled off the sling, and broke the record by 74.2 feet
neolithic engineering
Surf fishing uses a similar technique, with the flexibility of the rod adding some extra strength to the swing, so you can yeet large (50g+) weights and baits upwards of a hundred meters.
That's what I was thinking
Iconic
All human war tech really is finding better ways to fling rocks lol
This reminds me of when we used an atlatl in anthropology class when I was getting my degree. For whatever reason, I used it like I was born for it, throwing the arrow WAY further than basically everyone else. And I am like, the opposite of an athlete. One of my classmates called me "Head hunter" for the rest of the semester after that.
For those of you wondering, the secret I guess is not throwing it too hard and instead making sure your force is consistent, have good follow through, and don't try to snap it hard. Treat it like you are playing catch with someone 50 feet away, not trying to pitch a fastball. But I'm going on like, 4 throws.
Ok PROMISE last thing. My Dad, during the depression, used these things to hunt squirrels and such, so he figured this was one of those essential man skills to learn when society collapses. I think you learned there that the REAL key to distance is the rotational velocity you can achieve, so shorter slings that you can REALLY spin do better than long ones that you twirl slower. The rock will travel in whatever direction it's going at the point of release, so what I was taught is do your best to keep that circle you're spinning in a consistent plane. Then it's all about timing the release.
Projectile speed is directly proportional to rotational kinetic energy of the projectile.
Rotational kinetic energy is directly proportional to mass and radius but proportional to the square of angular velocity.
In other words, twice as heavy hits you twice as hard but twice the spinny hits you four times as hard.
So, yes, spin it faster, it goes farther and hits harder. However, angular velocity is also effected by radius: shorter radius, smaller velocity.
So there's a compromise between spin speed and radius length.
But there's also only so much power a human arm can expect to expend on the toss.
Further, a human arm has a natural resonance, limiting the spectra of radii.
That resonance is determined by arm length and muscle twitch speed.
So the perfect length is different from person to person.
This is why it's important for you to make your own... Again and again, and again, and again.....
Ye!
I just got into slinging and wanted one so bad, this is PERFECTLY timed!
YOOOO LETS HAVE A DUAL!
Can i join? I have no idea how to do it but i wanna learn
Username and pfp 🙇🏻♀️❤️🖤
@@chatnoir9038 ikr? 10/10 on this lad 🏴
@@chatnoir9038 that may be related to why i want to learn how to use a sling, can’t confirm or deny 🤭
Oh, just Milo embracing his inner Disney princess by charming the bumblebees and talking to them. Don't worry about making adjascent-topic videos. I think I'd literally watch anything you put up because you're so fun to watch. You're the best, Milo ❤
It's also horrifying to realize how rarely quarries have safety berms to keep people and vehicles from falling in.
I know, that drop looks so deceptively small from a distance but it would probably pulverize every bone in your body
Seriously, the resurgence into ancient tech such as bows kings and spears over much of UA-cam makes me so happy! There’s a reason that these weapons lasted for so freakishly long, they were effective. And you could master them. And when you mastered them, you got scary fast at it. Lars Anderson and his instinctive bow shooting is a great example, we just love throwing things.
The support of the viewers is not unconditional, we watch because you make *quality content* . That's a compliment btw.
Personally, I'd love to see some more chill hands-on videos like this added to your regular rotation! I appreciate that you're just making some easier content while you work on your big project (which I am very excited for!) but I've had a lot of fun with these last few videos! Every so often I'd love to see more in this vein, especially since you seem to really enjoy making them too.
I know that this is something that doesn't make a big difference to many people but the fact that you don't play ads at the start of videos, as an "ad wall" if you will, like most other UA-camrs have. it's the little things that add up in you're channel that make it so unique and holds my attention so well. thank you
That's unfortunately UA-cam's choice whether you get one at the beginning, not the creator's.
In regards to using your lap as a work space, I'll share that I've done plenty of on-the-go field craft and found good use of the rigid plastic cutting boards from the dollar store. The 9.5 x 11 ones weigh less than a notebook and take up the same amount of space. And as a bonus, if/when they eventually break, the pieces can be used to make tracing templates for other small projects. Like sling cradles, for example.
i just love Milo's childish glee in nearly all of his videos. its entertaining, and uplifting.
even when tearing a conspiracy theory apart, he does it with the kind of glee i just cant explain.
Milo, dont change
Grab a rock sling for home defense, just like the founding fathers intended…
2A BABY COME AND TAKE EM* 😤😤😤
*my rock sling
4 philistine ruffians break into my Bronze Age judean home…
I use a spear like intended you degenerates with your ranged assault weapons. You'll overshoot and hurt someone.
@@miniminuteman773 From my cold dead hands
@@miniminuteman773 MERICA
Hey Milo, I live right on Lake Erie, and despite the many weather related downsides that come with it, it has some of the best skipping stones in the world. Using these stones with a sling will get you an easy 20+ skips each time, and is quite a fun way to spend the 3 or so warm months we get here in western NY
I live in Michigan. You get 3 months of good weather?? Lucky!
@@thedyingmeme6 it’s really weird, the weather is completely dependent on the temperamental nature of Lake Erie. It’s not uncommon to have a Week in buffalo that’s all like 15º with one random day at 55º. The wind is a constant though
As an architect, I relate so much to the "Are you really living if you don't have the opportunity to stab yourself in the leg at any given moment?" So many late night model making with an exacto lol
I made a shoelace sling for the end of a trebuchet. I noticed an overhand throw is much better since the rock never has the chance to go sideways. Just throw like normal and release when you would normally release and it works wonders!
I'm getting into foraging and fiber making this year, and I would love to make some nettle/bramble slings for funsies. I think the reason the second sling's arms twisted up is because you used a twisted jute. I would imagine if you use natural fiber, you're going to want to use a braided line as a twisted cord has that constant torque on itself (that's how it holds together). But with braided, it won't have that constant force to fight against (which is why the shoe lace worked better, it's not a twist cord). This is fun video, it really makes me want to get out and play!
Do you still need a title for this sort of videos?
Cause I think "Milo's unhinged Adventures" would fit.
It's so fun to just watch you do weird and new and interesting stuff and having the largest amount of fun doing it.
Thank you for your content, it certainly brightens day everytime :3
Milo's Misadventures
@@spacedoglaika1079 that's fantastic too :D
a great childhood memory... realizing how easy it is to make a sling, and then realizing how hard is it to actually use it. love the video Milo, can't wait to see what the 'thing' is that you can't talk about yet
Prepare to be infodumped on, hope you get something useful out of it. :)
A split pouch is easier to make from two strands of material, leader or cordage, because to give a single piece of leather the right shape you have to do something more elaborate to it than just cutting down the middle. Wet forming (doesn´t really work with chrome tanned leather which you seem to be using) or sewing the pouch into more of a cup shape works, and you can also make the pouch´s middle more stretchy by giving it several small cuts across instead of a large one down the length. The goal is to give the leather a mesh structure, essentially. IIRC Roman slings were made this way.
Back to split pouches: You get a good leather one if you cut two strips of leather say 3/4x6in, cut holes into them at each end ( since they should be in the same spot in both pieces maybe poke them in one hole first and then transfer them to the other piece) and then put the first string through one side of both pieces. Before you tie on the second string, put the piece that was below over the other piece. This ensures that the pouch stays open but will make it less likely that the pouch opens so far the stone flies out befor you release the sling.
To make a split pouch string from cordage, just start a braid ( three strand is easiest, but any braid forming a somewhat flat band works) to form one cord, separate the cords into two groups to countinue in two braids forming the pouch, and join them together into a single braid to form the second cord. If you like you can also join some material in the braid when you form the pouch, so that you have thinner cords and a wider pouch.
Two or three inches of this double size braid on the release cord side above the pouch make the pouch open faster, therefore making the sling more precise.
Braided cords also wont twist like the twine you used. Another way to prevent the cords twisting would be to make them opposite ply from each other, one Z and one S. For this you can just gather eight or so lengths of twine and make the cords from them like a Flemish twist bow string. I bet like anyone remotely into bushcraft you´ve seen the freehand cordage making method before you can do this with. An added benefit of this method is that you can make the cord with the finger loop right in it.
Finally, maybe try a different release technique if you want to make life a little easier for yourself.
Put the finger loop around your middle finger, right in the crease of your second knuckle. Then make a fist and pinch the release cord with your thumb on top of you index finger. If you like you can also extend both fingers slightly from your fist to throw. To release, just raise your thumb while you keep everything else tight.
With this method you have a faster and more precis release, and you can also make the stopper on the release cord less elaborate. Hell, it would even work without any stopper.
Again, hope you get something useful out of this half of an essay.
In any case, Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!
Physics major here, would absolutely love to see if there is a paper on the optimal length of a sling, although I would wager it depends on the size of the wielder as well as their skill. You're going to get a lot more angular velocity out of a 4ft long sling than a shorter one, but if you're five feet tall you're gonna have some problems swinging it. Also just as far as air resistance is concerned, I'm curious if there's an limit the power reaches at range. Like if the difference between like a good length and one extra inch, because while the angular velocity does increase with length from the center point the rock of course will accelerate (negatively) as it flies. Time to go make a sling and throw rocks "to write a paper" and "for science"
I’d give you grant money for this 😂
@@dsklizzle Is that an offer 👀
You're on the right track here, the longest range slings that people are making/using nowadays are generally made to be as light and as long as possible, with the length making it such that people are spinning them around their entire bodies in a completely different style to how one would normally use a smaller sling. I'm a slinger myself and I've seen a couple videos on here of people using these super long-range slings but they can be hard to find iirc
@@L0ngfang thanks for the input! I've definitely got the theory but your practice is 10x more valuable in my eyes
Mechanic engineering major here and singer going on 15 years of experience. There is absolutely some sort a relationship between sling length and projectile mass. The longest distances I've gotten were about 310m and I was using a sling that was about my shoulder length to the ground with a stone in. That was the longest I could manage. Projectiles were natural bipoint river stones, about 40-50g in mass. Sling was two strands of Paracord with about 8cm of overlap in the middle to make a split string pouch and secured with wire that was twisted tight with pliers to bite into the strings and prevent slippage.
The main issue a that point was air resistance on the strings. I always wanted to make one with really thin strings (high test kevlar for a surgical garotte looks appealing) and then I'd also love to lead projectiles for max distance.
For comparison my casual slings are about half my wingspan, still just a simple Paracord split string pouch. I don't usually throw for accuracy so Ill take just about anything between 40g and 150g as long as it fits in the pouch okay.
F=MV^2, slings drastically improve the velocity that we can hurl stones at. It doesn't matter much how big the stone you throw is (to a certain extent) if you can double the velocity you can throw it at.
I made my first sling from blue jean material and paracord. It lasted the better part of two decades. It was one of my favorite ways to pass time in the woods.
My brother started making these years ago after seeing them in books and youtube and has gotten pretty good with them over time. Very cool to see someone else making these very interesting ancient weapons.
From what I've learned, a good total length for the sling is your arm span. Also look into different throwing methods, I typically prefer a single overhead spin into a throw. Contrary to popular belief you don't need to spin the sling round and round unless it's a longer one or you really need a little more power.
Also for accuracy try thinking of your release as throwing the release end or knot at your target. The rock should follow where you aimed the knot.
My friends and I did a lot of rock slinging in high school and at one point I managed to put a small hole in a stop sign. With enough practice you too will be able to puncture sheet metal
Jesus fucking Christ that’s scary
@LyzergideDaydreaming not as much as you think. The rock didn't go all the way through. Just punctured it and bounced off
@@scratch1237 I mean still that could probably kill a person, and imagine the damage if it was smth like a child’s skull
Hey milo I went through a small class in high school which taught us on the construction and use of a rock sling, they said that the optimal length for a rock sling is the length of one arm, finger tips to armpit. And I recommend do what the call a J curve throw which is swing a over your head starting at the ear opposite of your throwing arm and swinging around d the back side of your body and once your arm is in line with your throwing shoulder throw forward like a frisbee and release right before full extension making to follow through diagonally across the front of your body. If this explanation is hard to keep up with I apologize.
As a huge fan of the Earth's Children book series, this is exactly the kind of rock slinging content I have desired for years! Thank you!
a kindred heart found in the wild 0-0
Okay, Dondalar
Oh my gosh! 😍 Earths Children book club!
Was there ever a movie made? 🤔
The content creator I had absolutely no idea I needed but now cannot live without
I feel like this video and the fun you had healed me from something I didn't know I needed healing from
A video on the atlatl or "spear-thrower" would be cool, and perfect for a tik tok or youtube short. They've been used since the middle paleolithic at least and it's not too difficult to make from what I've seen.
(For where i am) functionally the darts are the hardest part to get right unless you live near bamboo or river cane (which isnt native to my country) they need to be and (relatively) light, thin and long but also strong enough not to noodle as soon as attempt to throw it like with what which hazel does unless you find the perfect stave at the right stage of development and then season it for a month or two.
You can also make a sling without a leather pocket. I have a few that I've made by braiding twine together to form a more substantial cord and then when you get to where the pouch should be, I split the braid into two smaller braids, and later joined them back together. It's a lot more time consuming than your method but you end up with a really durable sling and all you need is some cordage and patience.
I used to make the pockets out of denim from trashed jeans when I was teen. Fast and free lol.
I love my twine sling braiding the chord and pocket (I used braided chord for my pocket as well) was so satisfying and totally outperformed my friend in a target test when he used bungie and leather because mine had no stretch
For anyone who wants to know, the Ancient Greek alternatives to Catch and Take That! Would’ve been vaguely similar to “Πιάσε!” (Pronounced “pee-ah-say”) and “Πάρε αυτό!” (Pronounced “par-ee aph-toh”)
The neat thing about pouch slings is, that you basically get an arm extension with an additional joint. For the projectile the only thing that matters is how fast it goes when it leaves the sling and with both a longer lever, from the length of the string and the added angle of acceleration it's like throwing the rock by hand, just "more".
Picked up slinging a few years back, been a viking reenactor for many years and never really got into archery, but slinging hooked into me quite quickly.
Few tips on your slings is to have a pouch that just about covers the back of the stone. too big a pouch makes it waaaay too wobbly due to air resistance.
For the string i use leather cord sown into the leather pouch, but the length is more or less personal preference, i prefer a longer one as it allows for more speed with less twirling on the hand in the windup to the throw.
oh and a protip, tie a sling on a stick and you have a man portable trebuchet or a staffsling that allows you to throw bigger things.
Thanks, Milo, for another most EXCELLENT video. A rock sling is a tool that served well for so many of our ancestors for so long, and seemingly simple but actually complex tech is worth preserving and demonstrating. I also think that idea of posting " neolithic Thirst Traps" is worth pursuing. "Weird Italian deckhands" is a desired and desirable category across so many fronts.
Comment of the day!
Milo: “I just look like a weird Italian deckhand throwing rocks…”
Milo: hums a French song
Honestly dude you’re videos are amazing, my girlfriend and I get baked and go on deep dives about archeology and cool shit from your vids
First he's got the aesthetic sensibilities of a gay pirate, now he looks like an Italian rock throwing crackhead, what's next?
what song is ittt
is it beyond the sea but the og french version?
@@alexwisniewski2309 La Vie En Rose i think
@@alexwisniewski2309it's la vie en rose!! :)
Anyone who notes “Hey you can get to the content you wanted at this point” deserves a full watch. 🤘🏻
Hi, this video inspired me to dedicated 8 hours of my life to making a rock sling from the only materials I have on hand: sewing string, scrap cloth and a toothpick. The sling works, btw :D
As someone who has done some slinging and sling making, I find that my preferred length is that the sling doubled over as it is in use should come from the grip to about the end of the humerus. Longer slings get more power and distance but also are less accurate and start to get unwieldy. Shorter slings can be easier for accuracy, but the lose power and distance. It's somewhat a matter of use case and preference, but I find an arm length sling to be a good general use option
My brother and I spent years playing with slings when we were children, lots of fun for sure. One thing I would recommend trying is to swing the sling overhand and release, like throwing a baseball...the easiest way I found was to have the stone hanging in front of me, then rock it around the left side of my body, when my hand (and the sling) got to the back, then throw overhand. The rock will describe an arc from your left thigh then up and over your right shoulder. The amount of force you can generate this way instead of underhand like you're doing is insane...and I believe easier to be accurate with, given most of us have had years of practice throwing things overhand
I read about the balaeric slingers a while back, this video reminded me of them. From what I remember, they were so skilled with slings that they got hired as mercenaries by the Carthaginians and the Romans.
Also, I think that the longer the string, the more centrifugal force and therefore, the more force the stone has. There are a lot of cool and informative videos out there on how to make a proper sling (A.K.A. a Shepard's sling). For example, one of UA-cam's medieval weapon experts, Tod Cutler (of 'Tod's Workshop'), has a video on the subject.
Their slingers were also mostly shepherds. The slings were for entertainment to pass the time and as a means to driver off predators or cattle thieves. Basically they would stone sling targets to kill their boredom, hence why they got so good...and their was never a shortage of lose throwing rocks on the hills of Crete, etc.
@@brokeandtired Idk about boredom, but they sure AF would wanna put a little meat in the pot for their dinner -ergo they would continually be hunting small game. Rabbits, birds, and so on.
They were also hired in ww2 or ww1 to act as impromptu mortar teams via slings and grenades
@@tactiti0n when you ain't got fuck all to do except watching sheep, you're gonna kill time with your sling...boredom yes.
They also used multiple lengths of slings as well when they fought depending on the distance they were skirmishing at.
In the future, would you want to make a video on cave art? I find it really fascinating! Especially since it’s super super useful for getting a better understanding on the anatomy of prehistoric animals. If you have a favorite that you think doesn’t get enough love or one that you just really like and you’d want to make a video about it, i’d love to watch it!
Trey the Explainer did a video on that
@@nullandvoid42 yea but there’s probably more to cover
I made my first sling a few years back. It is INSANELY fun to sling rocks! It doesn't even make sense that it would be so fun! Once you get a couple of good throws under your belt, you're completely hooked. Everybody should learn to sling.
trying to source and make old tools like this would be really cool to see again! its so nice to learn about how things seemed overly complicated in the before times, and the generations it probably took to think of doing things a different way.
An interesting topic relating to slings is the archaeological evidence in North America, which typically gets overlooked. On the West Coast there are a number of biconical (American football shaped) stones that were likely used as sling stones, and there is even a surviving sling from Lovelock Cave in Nevada that was found wrapped around a child’s neck as part of a burial. Other parts of the world of course have interesting archaeology related to slings as well. For the Americas and Oceania, there’s a book called “Slings & Slingstones: The Forgotten Weapons of Oceania and the Americas” by Robert and Gigi York. It’s one of the best sources for those parts of the world, though there is lots more to discover outside of it.
"Wrapped around a child's neck as part of a burial" 🤦♂
I don’t understand what that means, that’s what it was to my knowledge. It is possible the kid was just learning to use it.
Lovelock cave also has some of the mentioned shaped biconical stones and more famously has what appear to be duck decoys.
There were also references in historical documents about the various conquistador invasions as being used as a weapon of war, and also a few surviving ancient south american examples iirc.
I like that despite watching Milo walk through the backdrop to the center of the camera, he still looks like he's on a green screen in the intro.
Me and my cousin hunted rabbits with a sling when we were kids. Got to be pretty good with it.
Don't twirl it, swing the arc once and let it fly. You don't add enough of anything by twirling it and you twist the strings so the cradle won't release. One arc and release. Use your wrist and forearm to add force.
Yup, there's a reason why they used staff slings all the way through the middle ages... the leverage really helps.
Milo’s joy playing with a rock sling is what true happiness looks like
This isn't the content I started watching you for, but I'm also not disappointed. Thank you.
Same. Watching boys throw rocks was never my favorite thing, but when Milo does it, I am somehow entertained
I love the field trips! I actually assumed they were more work intensive than the regular videos so I've been really grateful for them but I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying making them! SO excited to see what this project is :D
i'm gonna be real, this guy gives off good vibes. seems pretty chill. I would indeed chill with
Quick tip for a rock sling, the reason why your shots were going off to the right a bit more thna you were looking is because you leaned a little to the right while swinging your final shot. You want to try and keep it straight and steady for a fast, accurate shot. Think like you're bowling, if you sing from the side, it goes to the side, swing straight up/down, and it's straight!
I am extremely impressed with just how much that first section overlooking the quarry looks like you've been greenscreened in. it's almost uncanny
25:45 is the most relatable thing I've ever seen, just the lil sigh, life is full of pain.. it's okay Milo, we all love you
While I'm scared to try to use a rock sling for fear of somehow smacking myself in the face or body, it brings me such joy to watch you make and use one. I always love your content, buddy! Looking forward to upcoming videos!
You could try shooting rubber balls or bean bags.
Can literally feel your excitement when you start getting rocks, love it! This is amazing timing, as I got my slings out for the first time in ages a couple days ago to show a friend, and I was thinking about trying to make some more with different materials to see what works best. Now I definitely have to.
Also, that little knife is absolutely beautiful!
hammock rule, use a parallelogram sling shape, it will try to follow the rock a LOT less, just out of rhombus, instead of a single slit, do a few lateral shorter slits - when it folds around the rock they'll create a nice little pocket and won't 'grab on' to the stones as much
Larger slings can be made out of t-shirt cloth doubled or tripled up and throw 2 and 3 pound stones more than 200 feet In a pinch you can simply cut loops from a t-shirt and produce 10 short-range slings
no need to spin it up, once around will beat your arm, it's like a whip but not completely like a whip
Milo: This is a scar on the face of our planet.
Also Milo: I think I see some cool rocks in there!
In case anyone else is trying this, I'll add my own (limited) experience. :)
I use a smallish sling, elbow tip to fingertip for the radius (so sling is just over twice that, extended).
I'm fortunate enough to live by the sea, and get lots of lovely rounded rocks within 5 minutes of the house.
I find rocks about the size of golf balls, or slightly larger, work best, any smaller and I could throw them almost as far by hand, but once you get heavier larger rocks, the sling payoff seems to get better, to a certain point.
I've also found, that with vaguely consistent rocks, I can get within about a ten degree arc 95% of the time, using the underhand side release style. It only took about 30 shots to get this level of reliability/consistency.
Unfortunately, after another 30 or so, I had not improved much on that, so a fairly fast basic learning curve, but a slow secondary learning curve.
Then I got tennis elbow, so had to stop. :(
Milo! You should really make more of this sort of videos! They're incredibly interesting and very entertaining to watch!
Hello, physics student, paracordist, and slinger here. The sling is actually a perfect representation of circular motion, a=(v^2)/r. It also shows how an object moving in a circle always has velocity going straight forwards, so it looks tangent to the circle. Now onto the slings. The best braiding slings in my opinion if you’re using small cordage like twine is the balearic style. A common sling with paracord is one made by a dude practical paracord who sells slings online. I’ve made a fair few based upon his design and a couple balearic ones. The thicker and tight braid of the rope helps prevent tangling and the split pouch design provides a large variety of sizes of ammo from golf balls to baseballs. Now the braids are very rigid and practical paracord has an x in the middle to help catch stuff from falling through but most balearic slings don’t, although I would still recommend it. I’m not practiced in really light slings or leather pouch slings, but I’ve heard that they make the object travel slightly faster while making it less controllable. Now if your object is heavy enough the difference is negligible. Also if you wish to learn more about throwing techniques and how to get 120+ mph throws I would recommend the channel IronGoober. Thanks for reading and keep on slinging!
I love these informal videos, please dont stop doing them when whatever has taken your time isnt able to be released. But only do them at your leisure of course.
My dad made me one when I was noob in life. Best toy!
I also had one during my 13 years in the army. Everybody loved it.
Now my kids have their own, and it's still the best toy
Most people would say around half your height is what you want a rock sling to be, so realistically it varies for the person, a taller person can use a bigger sling, and then on top of that it depends on your throwing style may it be above the head (Byzantine) or underhand as you did in the video
I made a sling with two palm tree leafs. It was surprisingly effective considering i had no practice, technique, was constructed poorly and i only used half rotten fruits.
I can only imagine how it must feel for a primitive person to discover such a thing and show it to everyone
I used to use a "figure eight" swing with my Greek styled sling. I'd start with a horizontal spin backwards over my head as I let go of the stone. One rotation, sometimes two, I'd give a hard flick down, letting the line brush the back of my opposing shoulder. 'With that hard swing I thrust my arm forward and point the index finger right at the target, releasing the sling. A good stone didn't so much arc as it did spiral to target.
Milo, your videos out in the field are quickly becoming some of your best! My mom and I watched this and the fossil hunting one, and they are so full of joy - and cool information!
I know winters are harsh where you are, but I'd love to see you do another outdoor video! Thanks for the awesome content 🌺
Regarding the longer strings, some slings did indeed over 3 foot strings. you can see them still in use in the ethiopian highlands. they are traditionally spun overhead horizontally rather than overhand or underhand.
i made one of these when i was younger out of surfing tethers. was way too long but was able to launch rocks from one ridge of a mountain to the other half mile away (down hill of course). was super fun to use. and it was tied to my wrist and you held the other side in your hand and it was pretty fun to use.
I don't know about length for slings, but for poi spinning, you measure from fingertip to center shoulder crease for each side...20-24 inches.
(edit) Slings were traditionally used for hunting, so you want to remain as still as possible, and use wrist motions for spinning/throwing. Full arm swings and body motion would startle prey. Speculation: less things in motion may make aiming easier.
The optimal angle (for distance) to fire any hard projectile is always 45 degrees up from horizontal. I think the optimal length of the sling would be most predicated off the length of your own arm 🤔
As for over-hand vs under-hand, I do think you will always have more time to exert force on the throw during the under-hand throw with the sling (underhand also lends itself to use of the bicep rather than the tricep). As someone who had to take a sh*t ton of physics on college, that is my take.
Super cool video Milo, can't wait to see what you have in the works for us!
This was our (kids) ultimate weapon for bird hunting back in late 1990 in our home town Waziristan. The way we used to make it was from two 2 to 3 feet of strings/ropes made from pieces of cloth that were twisted and knotted, a piece of leather was tied between them with. We would make a ring out of the string/rope on one end of it to fit it in our index finger (some would put it on their thumb) so the sling would not take off while shooting, it would also help in aiming. The stronger the cloth the better. It may sound difficult to hit a target with it but after practice you'd be surprised how accurate and hard it hits. We would hardly miss quail sized birds yards away.