Making and Using the Venerable Hand Sling
(Page 2 of 4)
Naturally, the sling was eventually supplanted by gunpowder
and is now largely forgotten as a weapon — except by
a few tribal herdsmen who still use the primitive device to
scare of predators.
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Today the sling seems best suited to the high purpose of
providing low-cost recreation. Besides being easy (and very
inexpensive) to construct, slings can be grand fun,
especially once you develop a reasonable degree of accuracy
. . . something that most people can accomplish with less
than an hour's practice!
MANUFACTURING A SLING
My version of the hand sling is made by binding a couple of
lengths of 1/8"-diameter nylon line to a leather pocket.
That's about all there is to it.
Start by scrounging up — for the sling's pocket
— a tough but pliable piece of leather (such as the
tongue from an old boot) that measures 6" X 2-1/2" or
thereabouts. Trim the hide to an oval shape and punch a
vertically centered hole about 1/2" in from each end. Now
cut two pieces of nylon cord — one 28" long, the
other measuring 32".
Assemble the parts by threading an end of one of the pieces
of cord through one of the holes in the leather pocket,
pulling about an inch of the cord through and looping it
back on itself. Then bind the loop by wrapping it tightly
with string; kite string is perfect for this. (Have a
friend hold the cord while you wrap and tie the string.)
Repeat the above procedure to attach the second length of
cord to the other end of the leather pocket.
Next, form a finger loop at the free end of the
longer cord. Make the loop just large enough for
your middle finger to slip into and out of easily. Then
wrap string around the two sections of cord that form the
loop, extending the winding back about an inch from the
base of the loop.
Now fold the pocket in half, with the rough side of the
leather facing out, and stretch the sling out full length
so that the two cords are lying side by side. Tie a small,
hard knot near the end of the unlooped cord, so that the
knot is even with the end of the looped cord.
