Slingshots

UPDATE:
I just found a great video that goes right along with this post. Check it out:

Slings and slingshots have been around since Adam. Remember David slew Goliath with a sling? Slingshots are also pretty much a first weapon for a young boy growing up. The advent of the low-cost wrist-rocket with surgical tubing has pretty much meant the demise of the homemade slingshot, but fond memories do abound.

We were masters at making slingshots. We always had one to carry around with us. You would find the best fork from an oak, maple, or birch sapling, cut it out, peel off the bark, and make the notches for the sling to mount onto. Everything was hurridly, but carefully carved so as to have the perfect weapon when it was done.

In those days, bicycle tires had real rubber inner tubes. Those worked best for a sling. They were very elastic. We had to be careful not to make the sling too wide, because it would then be too hard to pull back. Too thin and it broke easily. You had to find that just right balance - usually 3/4 to 1 inch was about right. We would then seek out the best pebbles to use for our ammunition. Of course, if someone came across some ball bearings or small marbles, well that was absolutely the most perfect ammunition!

One day, my older brothers and I were sizing up a couple of birch trees that were growing in a nice "V" pattern out in our field overlooking the river. We got to wondering, "What if we got ahold of some car inner tubes and made a giant slingshot?" So, we scrounged around for a tube large enough to make a decent sling. I think we made it about 4 inches in width. With the sling mounted, all we needed to do was test it. We set out to find some nice size rocks for our test. We probably had 20 3" - 4" sized rocks. Then, one by one we began launching them towards the river.

Now, the Wisconsin River that ran along our property was slow moving. It was probably anywhere from 5' to 10' deep in most places. There was a fair amount of tree stumps and grasses along parts of it, indicating that it must have been narrower in an earlier time. You always had to be careful navigating down the channel, because you did not want to hit a stump with your propeller. They did, however, provide great spots for anglers to toss their lines.

The spot we picked for this giant slingshot had a pretty open view of the river, and was probably 20 - 30 feet above the river on an incline. There was a very large boulder next to the trees, which gave us a spot to sit down, and to gather our ammunition. When we launched one of these rocks, it would fly almost like a golf ball way out into the river. We had constructed an awesome giant weapon!

We also had an old wooden rowboat we liked to use for fishing, and just rowing up and down the river. I don't remember where it came from, but it was the heaviest thing to pull out of the water in the fall. We always disliked bailing it out of water whenever it rained. So, sometimes it would sit half sunk tied to the shore.

On one particular nice summer day, Kory and Greg Krogel (I believe) were out goofing around in the rowboat. They may have been firing off their BB guns or something. Kevin and I decided we would surprise them. So, we found some nice ammunition and met at our giant slingshot. We loaded up one of the 3" rocks, and waited until the rowboat came into range. We had the sling pulled back as far as it could go without pulling us with it. When the time was right, we let loose of the sling with it's solid ammunition. It sailed almost all the way to the rowboat, then "Kersploosh!" It landed so close to the boat that the occupants got sprayed by the splash. We didn't wait for a response, and loaded up another rock and let it fly. Again, "Kersploosh!" It nearly hit the boat again. We were rolling on the ground with laughter as Kory and Greg rowed with frenzy to get out of range of our "cannon"!

Needless to say, after that incident we decided to rethink our idea of the "Ultimate Slingshot". Fortunately no one was injured, and the boat was not sunk! Thank goodness for small miracles!