hemp sling construction

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Hello everyone.
I just made a sling out of hemp cord. It is not a reconstruction of any specific sling find or representation,though it does resemble some Egyptian slings. I guess that the design is pretty generic,and one that any ancient people could have constructed easly.
I made it braiding four strings for the finger loop,merging them into an eight strands rope. It's made all in one piece,with the strands opening in the middle to make the weaving "loom". I kept them separated with a piece of leather where i punched holes,and when i reached weaving till the middle i cut it away.
I didn't measure how much time it took me,but it was roughly a day and a half. It was a challenge because i had to learn how to braid 4 and 8 strand ropes.
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/8646/dsc04775p.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1640/dsc04791s.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8386/dsc04781i.jpg
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/8344/dsc04784y.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/3914/dsc04786t.jpg
Khairete
Giannis

[John Conyard]

Nets and slings, you've found yourself a nice hobby

To speed things up and make life easier, as well as reducing the drag of the sling cup through the air, simply forget about the "loom", and split the cord.

Take a look at the sling on the second page, photo 15 in the missile gallery. Such a sling can be made is just over 30 minutes.

http://comitatus.net/gallerymissile.html

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Hi John.
This is an option i considered,but when the time came to decide if i would just split the braiding in two or weave,i decided the latter. Another difference with the very nice sling in the comitatus site is that mine is made with an 8 strand braid,whereas the comitatus one is a simple three strand. This is also how i started but then i decided that i wanted to leant new braiding tecniques,and i paid my decision with many more hours!
Khaire
Giannis

[M. Demetrius]

As one who regularly points out what's obvious to everyone, have you looked at the various "how-to" bits on slinging.org?

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Yap :wink: That's where i learned how to make chain hitched slings. Actually that was the site that put me into sling making 6 years ago
Khaire
Giannis

[John Conyard]

I make linen nets and leather slings. The slings on the website are handed out to members at events But they work very well.

[morhathol]

That's a very nice sling, Giannis. The 8-braid seems to be rounder than 3-braid and looks better in my opinion. Have to try that sometime.

I've made a sling myself about a year and half ago using jute cord. It's a simple braided one with woven pouch, inspired by the instructions on slinging.org. I used 3 strands of 3 strings.


I think my sling is probably a bit short, measuring about 92 cm from the end of the loop to the release knot, and the pouch is quite small. A ~6 cm glans looks too big for it, like it's going to slip out before you release.
I was planning to make another one (or three, for a balearic slinger impression maybe), but I wanted to use hemp, which I couldn't get my hands on.

Is hemp cord easily obtainable in Greece? Here in Slovakia all the shops (haven't found anything specialized) carry only jute and linen (probably not linen really).
I've searched on the internet, but the only suitable hemp cord would cost way too much (mainly because of S&H) for a mere cord...

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Nice sling! It does look a tad short,though mine is not much longer,at 113cm. I'm 1,78cm tall. I wanted something quicker and more accurate than my previous sling.
I think hemp is easy to find in Greece, we use them to fly kites. Pretty cheap too. I'd like to have linen available though. Haven't searched much. I find hemp in shops with garden tools etc.
The 8 strand produces rope with three sides, though it looks a bit rounded.
I do want to try more things in the future. I have one more netbag on its way in the meantime.
Khaire
Giannis

[morhathol]

Try looking for cord that is to be used in food industry/kitchen. Most general stores and chemists' have this allegedly linen cord. It's white and should be easy to dye if needed, at least food dyes it quite easily.
I've tried some local gardening stores, but they had no hemp. But I haven't yet looked in the really big ones, might be worth a look.

Good luck with further projects!

[Phoenician]

I buy my hemp at Walmart, in the craft area with all of the jewelry making supplies. They have several thicknesses of hemp, so I have made belts, slings, and some other stuff with it. Quite cheap compared to a lot of other sources too.

Most of the slings I make are split pouch designs, though I want to make one of these solid pouch ones.

[John Conyard]

Somebody help me out here. Are not jute, hemp, sisal etc. relativekly modern materials in Europe? Shouldn't we be using leather, grass and linen?

And I assumed that as a general rule the sling should be long enough for the cup to fit in the arm pit.

I really enjoy using staff slings, but am far from an expert in using a simple sling.

[jvrjenivs]

First, I've to say, thats a very nice sling construction!

And I assumed that as a general rule the sling should be long enough for the cup to fit in the arm pit.

As for the length, you seems to be right for what I would call a 'medium' sling. I've to check the sources again to point in the right direction.
But I would say there are three types of slings (when we only take the 'all rope sling' as shown here into account).
A short, a medium and a long version. It's just the same as with modern guns/riffles, they are for different jobs. For short distance with high precision a short slings is much preferred, where for long distance (with less precision) a long version does a better job.

[John Conyard]

I agree, by varying the length of string you get different results.

I do bemoan the lack of lead shot in from late Roman period in the UK. I can think of one find near Vindolanda. But otherwise, stones it is.

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Somebody help me out here. Are not jute, hemp, sisal etc. relativekly modern materials in Europe? Shouldn't we be using leather, grass and linen?

According to this site at least http://www.hemp-sisters.com/Information/history.htm hemp was introduced in Asia Minor and Europe very early
Wikipedia quotes Herodotus: "The classical Greek historian Herodotus (ca. 480 BC) reported that the inhabitants of Scythia would often inhale the vapours of hemp smoke, both as ritual and for their own pleasurable recreation (Hist. 4:73-75)."
Aesopus also mentions it according to this site http://www.innvista.com/health/foods/hemp/history.htm : Aesop, legendary Greek fabulist, mentions hemp seeds in his story called “The Swallow and The Other Birds”:
“It happened that a Countryman was sowing some hemp seeds in a field where a Swallow and some other birds were hopping about picking up their food. “Beware of that man,” quoth the Swallow. “Why, what is he doing?” said the others. “That is hemp seed he is sowing: be careful to pick up every one of the seeds, or else you will repent it. “The birds paid no heed to the Swallow’s words, and by and by, the hemp grew up and was made into cord, and the cord nets were made, and many a bird that had despised the Swallow’s advice was caught in nets made out of that very hemp.”
It also quotes Herodotus : * The Greek historian, Herodotus (484-425 BCE), extolled hemp’s virtues in his Histories and reports the use of hemp in the manufacture of linen among the Scythians and the Thracians.
* Hemp ropes and fabrics, found near Stuttgart, Germany, are dated to this time period.(400 BCE)
Khaire
Giannis

[morhathol]

Somebody help me out here. Are not jute, hemp, sisal etc. relativekly modern materials in Europe? Shouldn't we be using leather, grass and linen?

Jute and sisal most probably are, that's why I didn't want to continue making jute slings.

Hemp should by okay, for some periods at least. As Giannis pointed out, Herodotos mentions (4.73 - 75) hemp being used by Scythians and Thracians, though in my translation by R. Waterfield it's not clear wheter they both use it as cloth or only the Thracians, with Scythians only inhaling the fumes. Herodotos accentuates that hemp and linen fabric is unrecognisable to anyone not familiar with hemp. Greeks did not know hemp by the time Herodotos writes his Histories, so probably linen should be used for 5th century slings.

For Iberians, esparto could be the option. E. Barber states (E. J. W. Barber 1991: Prehistoric textiles, 33 - 34) it has been in use from late 3rd millenium in Spain (even earlier in Egypt) and that Pliny mentions it in his Natural Histories (19.7.26-31), though this I can't check as I don't have a translation and my Latin is not good enough.

Nettle, grasses, papyrus and bark fibers could also be historical for some regions.

I would not take the Hemp Sisters too seriously, as it lacks proper citation and backing. See Barber for things concerning early fibers and clothing.

(edited for number typo)