# Storage of complete band sets and failure ?



## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

I would like to set up a few (maybe3) band sets using rubber bands at the fork and pouch ends, my question is ..... what lifespan does that attachment have and does the constriction on the tubes or bands greatly decrease the life of the tube set. Will the tubes start to get cracks and ? within a short time, or is it best to make your sets just before you go shooting and then maybe disassemble them to take the pressure of the tubes or bands until your next shooting secession ?

Do I have lets say a 3-4 month span before the constriction destroys the tubes. I realize that if I shoot, the set up I have a limited life span, but I'm not talking about that.

wll


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## squirrel squasher (May 17, 2013)

Unless you tighten it all the way like trying to cut thought the band then you should not have any problem


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## reset (Apr 13, 2013)

I usually carry a couple extra of PFS's with me when i go out so if a band on my fav. one breaks i can just switch shooters. They have been banded up maybe 3-4 months. I dont take the bands off after shooting. Hope im understanding what your asking and that helps with your question. I dont leave anything with bands on out in the sun or anything either. They are stored in the dark in a cupboard in a cool room. All my TBG not been used yet is in the Veggy box of my fridge in baggies with some desiccant added.


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

i spent most of the day thinks about attachments for rubber on my sling shot.....still working on it ;- (

wll


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## Susi (Mar 3, 2013)

I've had less than good experience with the latex tubes I buy here in Ecuador. These tubes likely aren't the same elastic as what you use. I found that getting skin oil on them causes then to get "stale" faster so I wash my hands twice with detergent before handling any rubber. Oil of any sort will degrade rubber also.

Keeping the bands in a sealed air tight container is mandatory and possibly the refrigerator to slow down the oxidation process. Any chemical reaction, and oxidation sure is a chemical reaction, proceeds slower the lower the temperature. Nalgene plastic jars have a hermetic sealed cap. Lab supplies sell them and some outdoor adventure shops too. Anything with a tight screw cap seal will work.

If you wrap the elastic in aluminum foil it will prevent ultraviolet light from degrading the rubber. UV is hades on rubber...speeds up the oxidation process. Also the aluminum foil will partially seal the rubber off from oxygen. Remember, rubber is processed tree sap, iti's organic, vulnerable to foreign agents, oxyten and UV.

The pinkish red tube bands which came with a Marksman I bought a year ago from a friend have gotten stale already, they look a bit funny and when I pull them they exhibit sort of crack like surface blemishes. In short, they're shot and rotten. (the terrm "funny" is a technical word. Why won't lions eat clowns? They taste funny.)

I carry an extra set of bands in the hollow handles of two SSs I made out of electric drill handles...sealed, away from light. When I'm out and about one of these low tech SSs is always with me in the jeep or truck...that's why I made them...rough and tumble SSs that are not Michael Angelos. If you have fat handles you might be able to drill a hole and insert a pouched band set, then cap the hole well so it's airtight. Yes it looks odd. Or carry a band set in an airtight bottle of some sort.

Tieing bands to forks...

I eliminated that chore by cutting with a hack saw blade and sanding/roundiing them, slots in my SSs and do the "stretch and insert" method of attaching bands to forks. See Susi's gallery.I won't ever tie a fork again. I used to tie forks but that's as old fashioned as an Egyptian pyramid, at least for the type of forks I make, not PKS but long. I don't shoot OTT any more either, only TTF because of the attachment method I use. It's about simplicity and speed. I do tie the bands to pouches using 1/8th wide bands I cut from broken bands...nothing wasted. You can use ordinary office supply rubber bands as well...the wider they are the less they cut the slingshot band rubber. Just save the broken bands and cut them up into tie bands. If you shoot tubes you can also do the stretch and insert slot method or a hole with a BB plug in the tube. Try to keep things quick, easy and simple.

You can also use small cable ties instead of rubber bands to tie with. I used to for expedience and speed in the field...where I don't have a vice to hold my pouch while stretching the band to tie it...and often without Susi to help me. I never got chafing from a cable tie but some say they do..depends on if the tie is shart or rounded and the type of rubber used. It's worth a try for expedience. I don't use a tieing jig, just a vice to grab the pouch. I stretch the band with one hand and wrap the tie with the other. After about five turns it'll hold itself while I hold the tie and using needle nose pliers, wrap two more revolutions over the pliers and grab the tie, pull it under the two revolutions that passed over th epliers, and do the tuck thing. Jorg Sprage has a video on this on youtube.com. Some use a string, I find fine needle nose or round nose pliers work best for me. But in the field, a small cable tie works. You can hold the pouch in your teeth, put a cable tie over the area, pull the band to stretch it, and with the other hand yank on the cable tie. Cut off the extra piece. And sure, you'll die from lead poisoning in ten seconds from the contamination on the pouch! Not. But the worry worts are worry worts, Steelies are nice in that respect.

Since I don't use OTTs any more, I don't have PKSs. Like Old Miser, I am tired of bloody hands and fingers from errant shots on pickle fork SSs. I don't like TO HAVE TO duck my hand when shooting any more than remembering to duck my head when my sail boat boom came charging across when I put about, it's a must else you get skonked on both accounts. I used to sail a nice little sloop before I moved to Ecuador.

Chuck


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