Hi YoDuh,

Proficient with a David/Goliath style version?

Well, I'm not too terrible with them. I spent 1 hour a day for almost 5 months straight to be "not terrible."

When I started I had to be in a field with nothing around for 100 yards in every direction. I had about a 40% chance of sending a stone in the forward 180 degrees. I almost brained myself a few times with rocks launched straight up. I had to resist the urge to look up and just cross my fingers.

After two weeks I had a 75% chance of firing a rock forwards.
After 3 months I could place 4/10 rocks on a bucket 30 feet away. By the end I could do almost 9/10 shots into a pop can at 30 feet.

I was told that you had to learn at full power (unlike most other sports). I could put a stone through light sheet metal or through half inch board. I figure I'll need about 7 more months at 1hr per day until I'm ready to hunt for food (unless it is an emergency).

You can also lob massive rocks with it (pop cans/molotov cocktails) Very fun and horribly dangerous to learn (for bystanders mostly).

With a large rock you could easily kill a human. The great thing is you can make the sling itself for free and carry it anywhere. I fly with mine all the time (as a belt). Works as a garrote too. The technology is so old that it is slipping from knowledge.

A very fun toy to play with! My only regret is that there was a tree near where I was learning that lost many branches to powerful yet very errant shots.

I learned a few different ways to launch it. All of the shots required none of the circling around and around. I didn't want to learn a method that would startle game and you can only gain to much power by doing so. I found that only with the overhead shot did you need to spin the stone around your head to make a level trajectory to keep accuracy.

One of the things I found most interesting was that I had my best accuracy when I realized that the sling wasn't actually a launching device that had to be aimed...but rather an extension of the throwing arm.

One of the sneakiest shots was to fire a stone like you'd strike out with a nun chuck. The stone is held in the pouch with your left hand with the strings going behind your back to your right hand. A quick flick forward with the arm and the stone launches forward....ummmm forget it. I suck at describing it....

I'll have to do a Youtube video sometime.

-NIM