[Charles]

I was strolling through an office supply store a while back, and I will give you one guess as to what I always look at when I go to such a place. If you guessed rubber bands, you get 10 points! Just on spec, I picked up a package of Alliance File Bands, in rather garish colors.

These bands appear to be the same width and thickness as #32s, but they are 7 inches long. Hmmm, I wondered how they would perform on a slingshot. Well, I thought they might be just the ticket on one of my Altoid Tin shooters. Here is the rig I settled on.

From my previously reported experiments with #32 bands, I decided to chain one rubber band to the pouch and then braid one more to the first band. The bands were attached to the wee frame with bolt on Gypsy tabs. I used a tiny little pouch just to see what sort of speed I could get. I HATE that little pouch, and would never use one that small for any other purpose than trying for speed. The bands were long enough that I could draw full butterfly, which for me is somewhere between 60 and 65 inches, depending on how I hold the pouch.

Well, bottom line ... How did they do???

That little sucker hurled 1/4 inch steel at a consistent 270 fps. And perhaps surprisingly, it shot 3/8 inch steel at 225 fps. That was over the Chrony in my dining room at a chilly 66 degrees F. The amazing thing is that the draw weight was only 5-6 pounds.

If you would like to see some more amazing results, check out my entry in the Slingshot Forum 300 Club.

Cheers ..... Charles

 

[Cjw]

Why is your dinning room so cold?

 

[Imperial]

Why is your dinning room so cold?

.

dont worry for charles, his beard keeps him warm .

 

[Charles]

Why is your dinning room so cold?

Because I heat the house mostly with a wood stove in the living room ... I spend most of my house time in the living room and see little reason to waste money on heating oil keeping the rest of the house any warmer. Of course the living room is nice and toasty ...

Cheers ..... Charles

 

[Tex-Shooter]

I think on a average the Alliance File Bands are probably the best rubber band that I have tested. If latex is hard to get then these are a very good substitute. -- Tex

 

[Rayshot]

Hmmmm....very interesting. Informative too.

 

[Charles]

I think on a average the Alliance File Bands are probably the best rubber band that I have tested. If latex is hard to get then these are a very good substitute. -- Tex

Thanks for that confirmation, Tex! I had not seen anyone else who had tried them, and with those colors, I assumed they would be crap ... but worth a try. They are long enough that even if they break, one could just tie several on like flat bands. It is always good to try different stuff.

Cheers ..... Charles

 

[Griffon]

How do you braid rubberbands?

Griffon

 

[Charles]

How do you braid rubberbands? Griffon

You will find a good video here:

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/20841-chainedtapered-office-bands/

The title of the post is a bit misleading. This video is actually about braiding office rubber bands, rather than chaining them.

Cheers ...... Charles

 

[Griffon]

Thanks Charles!

Griffon

 

[Chuck Daehler]

Charles, that example of yours goes to show that the longer the ammo is in the pouch, that is, the longer the draw, the more opportunity the bands have to overcome inertia and power the ball faster than a shorter draw of the same weight would do. Frankly I wouldn't have expected such a velocity for such little rubber, thanks for the lesson!

I've had a real prob shooting anything but ear lobe anchor draws but I fully know that the longer the draw the faster a chrony will report it going, as in 3/4 and full butterfly draws.

I was also surprised as you were at your 3/8 steel velocity with office bands and only a few that you used at that...that is fantastic. That is hunting quality velocity/energy of course since 3/8 is good especially if a vital zone is hit on small game.

As to house temp, here in the high Andes there is no such thing as a furnace or air conditioner. The nights go down to the forties F and the days never get above high 70sF...perfect sleeping temp and working temp too. I absolutely hate night temps inside the house more than 55F. The dogs pant and I sweat. Houses here are 100% masonry which is a heat retaining material, lousy R value but who cares in a perpetual Springtime climate at 9000 ft. elevation? In the USA I always used .a Bart wood convectional stove to heat the whole house and store with. I seldom turned on the furnace. A nice thick comforter did the trick for bedding and breathing cool air is much better for me than warm air...just me, hehe, the polar bear. Also, coffee tastes better if the kitchen is cold.