[Tex-Shooter]

I am talking about flat rubber only in this post. Some test that I have run with Saunders bands and a non-tied pouch indicate several advantages of strips over folding! I have a set of double .025 flats on my target Star that have over 1000 shots on them and that is not uncommon. When tying bands the life falls off quite a bit. Of course a lot depends on fork configuration, but it is normally at the pouch that I am talking about. It seems like the wrinkles at the pouch cause more friction and damage when hitting the forks. Of course it does take less time and effort to make single band sets. I have even thought of going to single band sets for that reason also. Here are a few advantages that I have come up with and you have to have smooth cuts.
1) Less kinking (at pouch and fork tip)
2) More even stress (less tearing)
3) Better side to side pull uniformity (better accuracy)
4) Better flow at release (better accuracy)
5) Better over the tip lie (life and accuracy)
6) Less danger of severe face slap (one layer breaks before the other)
7) Just better looking
I can think one disadvantage that Jörg did not mention; doubles tend to get tangled once in a while when shooting. Tex

 

[Tex-Shooter]

When testing Saunders .025 two bands per side, I consistently get over 1000 shots on my Target star (before they break) and have never shot a more accurate set up on the bench rest. The only problems I see with two bands per side are they occasionally get tangled and are harder to make and install properly. I shoot mine all the time and they don’t get that many shots, but it is because of the ties at the pouch, Tex

 

[Tex-Shooter]

That is weird; I have found that folded bands, even though they are more work last longer for me. Folded bands have always torn at the kink where they were tied (either at the fork or pouch). I am shooting a two strip Saunders band set (actually one strip doubled with no tie at the pouch) right now with well over 1000 shots on them and still no tear has started. My own sets don't last that long because even though I use 2 strips there is still a kink at the pouch tie. Tex

 

[Tex-Shooter]

Joerg, Everything you say is true as far as I can tell from test that I have run I had noticed the heat effect when stretching rubber years ago when working in the heat transfer division of Bohn Aluminum. By the way if held stretched out until it cools and then relax it gets cold. I guess technically loses heat energy to the air. I think that, heat, rubbing/hitting on the forks and kinking all have an effect on the life of bands. I don't ever kink tie bands at the fork. The reason that I think kink tying has an effect on life is on repeated test with Saunders bands (they are not kink tied) they shoot much longer that the same bands kink tied. I think the folds at the pouch of either folded or strip style bands, when kink tied has a negative effect on life. I had also done life test on strips and folded bands about 10 years ago (before I had talked to Saunders about flats) and found that the strips outlasted folded bands. I was considering using folded bands and did for a short period of time then. Of course that test was done with strip cut rubber and not hand cut, which as you know also has an effect on life. By the way, Saunders was the only company that returned my contacts at that time. They were also the only company that was willing to put up the money to develop flat band slingshots then and have spent a lot of money designing, producing, and fail safe commercial flat band slingshots. Slingshot manufacturing is a risky business in today’s American market (well in most markets) and not many American manufactures are willing to do it, so I try to support them and there products when I can. Tex

 

[Tex-Shooter]

I have tried both folded bands and the double strips. The double strips shoot longer and more accurately for me than folded bands. The Saunders band set that have over 1000 shots on, is 9 1/4 inches from the ball pocket to the contact point on the fork tips and is shooting about 180 FPS. They are on my Target Star and are still shooting. It has 2 1/2 inches of fork extension. By the way, the cover clips on the Saunders pouch broke off at about 300 shots, but it was a prototype pouch. I think that that showed that the clips were not needed. There are three main reasons for early band breakage and they are all related to each other. 1) Kinking where the band is tied to the pouch. 2) Bruising the rubber when it hits the fork tips especially where the rubber is tied to the pouch. 3) Shooting too light of weight for the rubber's strength, therefore not using the energy and banging the tips harder. Saunders band and slingshot designs address all of these problems. There bands have no tie, so no kink at the pouch. There fork tips are ramp style, so the rubber don't hit so directly. There bands are designed to shoot 1/2 inch balls from about 175 to 215 FPS (hawk to WRP) when not trimmed. A great misconception is that even moderately tapered bands are the main cause for band early band breakage (radical ones are). It has mostly got to do with tip, pouch, connection design and keeping the band taper moderate. -- Tex