"Wrist Rocket"

A long time ago I went through a phase where I spent a lot of time shooting with a Wrist Rocket. My favorite was a folding version as it slipped easily, with fodder and spare rubbers, into a surplus ammo pouch. I got fairly good at shooting.

The main weakness of those units is the rubber tubing.

The latex rubber degrades quickly when exposed to sunlight or ozone. You can usually tell when they are getting because they develop a darker amber exterior sheen. You can often see surface cracks. Typically worse where they slide over the rods of the handle. When you see this they need to be replaced. Failure to replace them in good time risks the tube coming back at you. If it happens at full draw you can lose an eye. From experience, being lucky, I can say it stung the hand something fierce. I couldn't use my finger for some time.

Sunlight and ozone attack the rubber so limit exposure to both. More drastic is the effects on the rubbers of petroleum products. The oil in insect repellents, Vaseline and motor oil can destroy a set of slingshot rubbers in a a couple of hours.

If your planning on using a rubber powered slingshot I would inspect the rubber frequently and replace them when they show any weakness. Although I never did, seriously consider wearing safety glasses. Those rubber tubes hold a lot of power when fully extended. I used to put a 3/8" lead ball through a piece of 3/4" plywood with power to spare.

Gets me thinking. Somewhere around here I have at least two Wrist Rockets I haven't played with for most of twenty years. And I recently saw the replacement rubbers for them on sale.

Crossbows are IMHO quite acceptable as survival weapons. Granted that most of the small 'pistol' models are something less than serious tools I have seen them put to some use. We use one to shoot lines through the attic of a building. With that sort of power I figure you could shoot squirrels and rabbits at perhaps 30' or so. Which may be quite good enough for many of the brush clogged southern forests. Assuming your willing to do a bit of stalking, hiding and using trickery to get close enough.

Looking at cheap unit I could see myself making bolts out of materials at hand. Biggest wear item would be the string. So I would keep a supply of appropriate light line to make replacements.

Snares and traps would be more efficient but you would have to stay in the area longer and regularly check them to keep your game from being lunched by predators and/or the game dying a slow death. Their presence would make yours known. Not a problem in most cases and if it is your land but something to keep in mind.

Larger and more powerful crossbows are certainly much more capable than the discount store pistol version. These were the original sniper weapon. The later 500 pound pull and above crossbows were essentially primitive anti-tank weapons used on the armor of the day, knights.

Crossbows are simple, adaptable and quite capable of doing a number of serious jobs. The larger versions can rival the power of many rifles at moderate ranges.

With a nod to both their strengths and limitations both slingshots and crossbows can easily justify their weight and cost. Neither would be my immediate first choice for short term survival but as an adjunct to other resources when I might be operating from a fixed base I think they pull their weight.