(Continued from Part 1.)
On any frame with forks there are also two options for the orientation of how the bands are attached to the forks – Through The Forks (TTF) or Over The Top (OTT). TTF means that the bands come around the sides of the forks, and the ammo passes through the forks roughly centered on the bands. OTT means the bands come over the top of the forks, and the ammo comes out roughly centered on a line across the tops of the forks. Here’s a picture that illustrates the two layouts (TTF on top, OTT on bottom). The red line on each illustrates the approximate level at which the ammo will pass through the forks when it’s shot:
The OTT layout is slightly safer for beginners, as it reduces the risk of the ammo hitting your hand/fingers or the frame since it positions the path the ammo travels further away from your squishy parts. However, think of a lever with your wrist as the pivot point – the further away from your wrist the bands are the more leverage the slingshot will exert on your wrist, reducing the maximum strength of the bands you can pull. You can find people that swear by one method or the other, so I’d recommend trying both as you gain experience and confidence and seeing which works best for you. I find that I use both orientations depending on which slingshot I’m shooting. Note that some slingshots are designed specifically to attach bands only one way, while others support both orientations.
Fork width is another variable in frame design – forks that are further apart are better for beginners since they allow for a much wider margin of error to minimize forks strikes, but they’re also larger and bulkier.
Moving down the fork length/width hierarchy, a Pickle Fork Slingshot (PFS) is one that barely has anything that could be considered forks. There’s usually a small slot in the center to allow some minimal room for the ammo to pass through, and they almost always only support an OTT band attachment. Some shooters consider pickle forks to be more accurate and powerful than longer fork options, but they take a lot of practice and skill to avoid hitting the frame or your hand. Here’s a good video that discusses what they are and how to shoot them.
There are also frames without any forks – this is the forkless slingshot, also known as a ‘stick’ slingshot or a ‘stick shooter’. This is simply a stick with the bands attached to the top (OTT obviously). It’s a lot simpler to make, and shooting it is very similar to shooting a Y slingshot. Here’s a good video of a Stick Shooter. One cool variation of a stick shooter is to use a long stick and instead of holding the stick vertically in your hand when shooting it, you hold it with the top pointing at the target and draw the band along the length of the stick. This allows you to use longer bands which can give you a more power, and it can be a more accurate since you can point the stick at your target to aim. Here’s a good example.
As I mentioned earlier, with any frame-based slingshot that you hold in your hand an important point to keep in mind is that the frame acts as a lever with your wrist as a pivot point when you pull back on the bands – the further from your hand the bands are attached, the longer the lever. Longer forks or frames and OTT band attachment can reduce the risk of a hand/frame strike, which means hitting your hand or frame with the ammo instead of it passing cleanly, but they also reduce the strength of the bands you can use, since your wrist can only resist a certain amount of pivot force.
There’s also something of an odd man out in regards to framed slingshots – the circular frame. A company called Pocket Shot makes a small circular frame that you attach a stretchable pouch to; you place the ammo into the bottom of the pouch, grasp the ammo, stretch the pouch, and then release to fire the ammo through the frame opening. It’s a pretty compact and powerful device (they claim up to 350 fps), and they offer different pouches and other options to add flexibility. Aiming is usually instinctive, but I’ve found that it’s pretty easy to become accurate with a little practice. One big advantage of the Pocket Shot is reloading speed – you just drop the ammo into the pouch and it automatically falls into the right position. They also offer a handle called the ‘Hammer’ that you can attach to the circular frame to make it more like a traditional slingshot. I have one and like shooting it, but my one complaint is that you don’t have access to the wide range of options in frames and bands that you get with more traditional slingshots (although some people might consider that a benefit – less complexity).
For those of you that don’t like being framed, there’s an entire class of slingshot shooting called ‘frameless’ or ‘bareback’. Remember looping a rubber band between your thumb and forefinger and shooting paper clips when you were a kid? This is essentially the same thing, just all grown up and a lot more powerful. Frameless can consist of a small ring that the band attaches to that goes around your pinkie or other finger to anchor it, or it can be a simple loop of band material with a pouch attached. Most people use their fingers as forks when they shoot frameless, although you can also shoot across the surface of your hand or over your knuckles. The big advantages to frameless shooting are simplicity and compactness – you don’t have to mess with any frame, and you can fit an entire slingshot into the coin pocket of your jeans. However, since the strain of supporting the bands is now on your hand and fingers, their strength becomes an additional limiting factor for power instead of just your wrist. Shooting a frameless slingshot tends to be a more advanced skill, so it’s not necessarily the best way to get started in the sport.
For any slingshot with a frame or a ring you’ll need some way to securely attach the bands. There are a couple of methods commonly used:
- Tying/Lashing – The bands are placed on the frame and thin pieces of string or cut band are wrapped around them to tightly secure them to the frame (Example); many frames have a shallow notch in them to provide additional grip for where it’s tied. I’ve also used small 3” zip ties to attach bands to a frame, but keep in mind that zip ties have sharp edges, so using them can reduce the life of your bands.
- Screw-on Clip – Some manufacturers design their forks to use small clips that are screwed tightly down on top of the bands to hold them in place. SimpleShot’s FlipClip is a good example of this.
- Ball Wedge – If a slingshot has a hole in the forks you can push the band through the hole, insert a small ball bearing that’s about the same size as or slightly larger than the hole into the tube/band, and then pull it back so the band around the bearing causes it to wedge in tightly.
- Plugs – These are similar to using a ball bearing wedge, but with a larger plug specifically designed to wedge into a hole in the frame which is used to hold the band in place. SimpleShot’s Ocularis is one of the best-known examples of this.
- Flip-up Clip – This is similar to a screw-on clip, but the clip is permanently attached to the frame and folds up and down to lock and unlock. Snipersling’s S-Pangolin is an example.
- Looped – Some slingshots have a loop formed on the end of the frame with a small open notch that you can simply slip each side of a stretched looped band through.
- Friction – This is a method most of you are probably already familiar with from the classic Daisy and Barnett slingshots. The frame is made of thick wire and a tubular band is slipped over the ends of the frame, with friction keeping them in place.
This list isn’t comprehensive – there are other ways to attach bands, but these are the most common. If you’re going to be using a slingshot to put food on the table I highly recommend going with an attachment method that allows easy band replacement in the field, since bands do break occasionally. The flip-up clips are the most obvious, but there aren’t many manufacturers that offer them as an option. My personal favorite for field use is the Slimple Shot FlipClip X with the optional thumb screws – it takes less than a minute to change a band and there are no extra fiddly bits or tools to carry or lose. The Torque from SimpleShot is another good option for quick band changes and is kind of unique in that it supports both the FlipClip X as well as looped bands by virtue of having small slits in the forks.
(To be continued tomorrow, in Part 3.)