# tapered bands vs rectangular bands



## kobe23

*flatband type*​
*which type are you using/prefer? tapered or rectangular?*

tapered13058.04%rectangular6026.79%i don't care3415.18%


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## kobe23

attached pics of my naturals, Dagon(thin w/ marble attached) and Basher(fat). well Dagon's been around for like 2weeks and Basher is born this afternoon.

few days ago i shot a pigeon which was at the rooftop antenna of the house behind mine(approx 16-18m horizontal 6-7m vertical). used Dagon, glass marble, 11mm, chest shot. heard a thud, pigeon fell backwards then fly. was confused, so i made Basher with tapered flatbands today.

slingshot setup:
Dagon
-approx 15mmx260mm usa pro purple bands(much cheaper than thera, pull slightly harder than thera black)
-fork width 65mm

Basher
-approx 260mm length, tapered 20mm to 10mm, usa pro purple bands
-fork width 65mm

done some coke can killing, well true, tapered bands pull is lighter than rectangular, but the results on the coke can is very similar. 
did anyone do any comparing experiment on like:
-same surface area, rectangular vs tapered
-rectangular width = tapered max width
-rectangular width = tapered min width

i would like to experiment with them more myself but unfortunately will be having exam soon, and flatbands are hard to come by. 
hope we could come up with some side my side comparison solid proof for this. thanks for all the hard work in advance! =D


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## Nico

I have spoken on a set of straight cut flat bands which I found to be as fast as anything tapered they were made from black therabands. Its all about the cut that makes the straigh cut flats powerful shooters here's the quote from this post I made in a blog regarding related topics. It made for a band with more force than the doubled gold therabands.


_*"I used shorter bands with black thera bands straight cut 1 inch wide by 8 inches triple bands per side, my reasoning for the shorter band was to compensate for the softer pull creating more inertia vs the heavy hunter bands. What I found and this had a wider pouch for stone shooting than the hunter catapult, that it still shot 44 cal lead balls faster than the all mighty hunter catapult. Unfortunately at that time I didnt have a chrony now I do. Still you could visually see the difference and distance shots with both my homemade with the black theras vs the hunter catapult showed that mine shot faster."*

Nico_

Dont use marbles on pigeons its a gamble unless you get a head shot or shot impacting right at the heart area there's always a chance they will survive.


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## kobe23

Nico said:


> _*。。。shorter band was to compensate for the softer pull creating more inertia vs the heavy hunter bands.*_


i did this too, poundland fishing catapult tube which is 5inch long way overpower the ARMEX Black Shadow yellow tube which measures 8inch.
but i had to compensate my accuracy as the extension 5inch tubing could barely reach middle of my biceps and the heavy pull. is there any specific method of shooting you used for short bands?


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## Henry the Hermit

You might get better response if you included an "I use both_" _response. In my experience, there is little advantage to tapering light pull bands, and it doesn't make sense to taper 107 rubber bands, one of my favorite bands for give-aways. I always taper power bands.

Henry



kobe23 said:


> _*。。。shorter band was to compensate for the softer pull creating more inertia vs the heavy hunter bands.*_


i did this too, poundland fishing catapult tube which is 5inch long way overpower the ARMEX Black Shadow yellow tube which measures 8inch.
but i had to compensate my accuracy as the extension 5inch tubing could barely reach middle of my biceps and the heavy pull. is there any specific method of shooting you used for short bands?

[/quote]


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## NaturalFork

When I cut them I like straight cuts as it makes the bands last so much longer. And the speed is still decent.


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## dgui

With me, Tapered Bands break quicker. I Rip the Bands 3/4 inch and less, less is better, Very Good performance is achieved with 9/16 inch to 7/16 inch Rip. I see no real benefit with Tappered FlatBands. And no longer than 10-1/2 inches and no less than 5 inches in length. 7-1/2 to 8-1/2 inches from pouch tie to fork tie is good, at least in my hand.


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## mckee

this may ound like a sllly question but what does tapered mean?


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## kobe23

mckee said:


> this may ound like a sllly question but what does tapered mean?


A tapered tube will look something like this










_ta·per__verb_ /ˈtāpər/
tapered, past participle; tapered, past tense; tapering, present participle; tapers, 3rd person singular present


Diminish or reduce or cause to diminish or reduce in thickness toward one end
- the tail _tapers_ to a rounded tip
- David asked my dressmaker to _taper_ his trousers

Gradually lessen
- the impact of the dollar's depreciation started to _taper_ off


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## Tex-Shooter

The main reason tapered band shoot faster is you are just pulling less weight. The more the band taper the shorter the band life. Everything in life is a compromise one way or the other, so every one must decide for there selves what they want. That is why there is both Chevy's and Ford's and several others. -- Tex-Shooter


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## kobe23

Tex-Shooter said:


> The main reason tapered band shoot faster is you are just pulling less weight. The more the band taper the shorter the band life. Everything in life is a compromise one way or the other, so every one must decide for there selves what they want. That is why there is both Chevy's and Ford's and several others. -- Tex-Shooter


Yeap, this I noticed. Torn badly at the pouch, wasn't happy, removed bands altogether XD
Going to fix a straight cut, don't like changing bands often


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## Ferret1959

kobe23 said:


> i shot a pigeon which was at the rooftop antenna of the house behind mine(approx 16-18m horizontal 6-7m vertical).


What is beyond the house behind yours?
What happens to the ammo when you miss?
Is there a chance some one could be in your shooting range?

Not wanting to piss on your fire but your shooting is a little irresponsible from the way you talk.

Make sure you can always see where your miss will land and that it's safe to take the shot.


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## kobe23

at least 30m backyard in length? well it's the spur of the moment, not like I don't know.
Sometimes smart people just do things they know are stupid, just like how the fork hit broke the window. lol...


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## Ferret1959

kobe23 said:


> at least 30m backyard in length? well it's the spur of the moment, not like I don't know.
> Sometimes smart people just do things they know are stupid, just like how the fork hit broke the window. lol...


Have you thought of taking up tiddlywinks, I think it more your limit.


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## kobe23

Ferret1959 said:


> Have you thought of taking up tiddlywinks, I think it more your limit.


Wow tiddlywinks is cool, never knew such thing existed









Okay, lesson learnt, I stopped shooting since, until I find a good shooting range. No more kerosene on hot ash..


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## Dayhiker

I have been shooting with some red flats from Gold's Gym - first time I've tried them - and I have cut them 9" long, tapered from 1" to 11/16". I'm getting more shots on them than I usually do with Thera Gold cut the same way. Plenty of zip and power.

By the way, when I cut the Thera Gold that way, there is a noticeable easing in the pull and speeding up of the shot, and I get almost as good band life as I do with straight cuts.


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## kobe23

Dayhiker said:


> .. Thera Gold that way, there is a noticeable easing in the pull and speeding up of the shot, and I get almost as good band life as I do with straight cuts..


DH, is thera silver anywhere as durable as gold? Have some silver to play around with but not a strip of gold. And do you know if 4 strip silver will perform anywhere near or better than 2 strip gold?


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## Classic Slingshot




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## gamekeeper john

the bands i shoot on my personal hunting catapult are double theraband gold with a extreme taper from 35mm to 10mm, the band life isnt that long but it doesnt bother me, they shoot a 12mm lead over 300 fps, this is perfect for me when out hunting as i can take rabbit, duck, pheasant and pigeon with body shots, i can understand people who havnt got a lot of theraband or have to buy band set ups ready made would pick the life span over power, john


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## whipcrackdeadbunny

ZDP did a blog on how tapering works. Jeff, and myself discovered some interesting things about shooting pidgeons; mainly that a smaller 8mm steel ammo, has much more chance of a kill, because of penetration over impact trauma. It seems to be the feathers that make the difference, for squirrels can survive penetration shots long enough to scamper away, but the impact trauma is very destructive for them (as it is for Rabbits)


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## Dakdoeve

Although I have no experience with this for myself, I would say tapered bands snap rather on the pouch end than on the fork side, which in safety terms is an advantage.


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## M.J

Dayhiker said:


> I have been shooting with some red flats from Gold's Gym - first time I've tried them - and I have cut them 9" long, tapered from 1" to 11/16". I'm getting more shots on them than I usually do with Thera Gold cut the same way. Plenty of zip and power.
> 
> By the way, when I cut the Thera Gold that way, there is a noticeable easing in the pull and speeding up of the shot, and I get almost as good band life as I do with straight cuts.


I use those too, DH (although they look pink to me). They are the same thickness as Theraband Silver. I've had very good results with them cut 22mmx11mm, 22cm long. I've gotten really good speed and between 400 and 500 shots out of two sets cut this way.


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## Dayhiker

M_J: Let's split the difference and call them "hot pink".


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## M.J

Dayhiker said:


> M_J: Let's split the difference and call them "hot pink".


Oh they're hot alright!


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## Elastic Innovations

Where did you get that pink rubber? Pretty cool


kobe23 said:


> attached pics of my naturals, Dagon(thin w/ marble attached) and Basher(fat). well Dagon's been around for like 2weeks and Basher is born this afternoon.
> 
> few days ago i shot a pigeon which was at the rooftop antenna of the house behind mine(approx 16-18m horizontal 6-7m vertical). used Dagon, glass marble, 11mm, chest shot. heard a thud, pigeon fell backwards then fly. was confused, so i made Basher with tapered flatbands today.
> 
> slingshot setup:
> Dagon
> -approx 15mmx260mm usa pro purple bands(much cheaper than thera, pull slightly harder than thera black)
> -fork width 65mm
> 
> Basher
> -approx 260mm length, tapered 20mm to 10mm, usa pro purple bands
> -fork width 65mm
> 
> done some coke can killing, well true, tapered bands pull is lighter than rectangular, but the results on the coke can is very similar.
> did anyone do any comparing experiment on like:
> -same surface area, rectangular vs tapered
> -rectangular width = tapered max width
> -rectangular width = tapered min width
> 
> i would like to experiment with them more myself but unfortunately will be having exam soon, and flatbands are hard to come by.
> hope we could come up with some side my side comparison solid proof for this. thanks for all the hard work in advance! =D


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## kobe23

Elastic Innovations said:


> Where did you get that pink rubber? Pretty cool


It's USA pro exercise bands. Pretty sure it's stronger than there-black, not sure how much though.


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## Melchior

Concerning the band life of tapered vs. untapered bands: Mind that the tapered bands of the same power level need less material. A slight tapering (2:3 or less) will, in my opinion, not decrease the number of shots you get out of a given piece of rubber sheeting.


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## tubeman

whipcrackdeadbunny said:


> ZDP did a blog on how tapering works. Jeff, and myself discovered some interesting things about shooting pidgeons; mainly that a smaller 8mm steel ammo, has much more chance of a kill, because of penetration over impact trauma. It seems to be the feathers that make the difference, for squirrels can survive penetration shots long enough to scamper away, but the impact trauma is very destructive for them (as it is for Rabbits)


I remember similar advice regarding airgun pellets. The motto was 'pointed for feathers and domed for fur ' I think the reasoning was that feathers needed pointed pellets to penetrate them and reach the body.


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## Sofa King Lazy

Does latex have a grain to it (is there anyway to tell) ?


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## Tex-Shooter

Latex does have a bias, but not a real grain. Usually it runs across the roll or the sheets that I sell. Latex also has a long molecular string and I believe that is why thinner sheets shoot faster than thicker ones. Latex is also a very strong material. Mil spec latex has a 4000 PSI tensile strength. Slingshots could not exist without sap that Latex is made from up to this point in time. -- Tex


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## Melchior

Another aspect about tapering: It improves efficency by shifting the larger parts of the rubber's weight to the front, where it is less accelerated, and thus less "dead mass" that takes its share of the overall energy has to be moved.

However, if you use very heavy projectiles, it "overrides" the advantages of tapering (and also the advantage of a light pouch), as the ammo is so heavy that it will take the lion's share of the energy anyway.
So, the lighter the ammo you use, the more you have to care about pouch weight and tapering.


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## Tex-Shooter

Mel, it is great to hear from you on this subject. You bring up an aspect of it that I have not fully explored or thought about. -- Tex


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## Berkshire bred

gamekeeper john said:


> the bands i shoot on my personal hunting catapult are double theraband gold with a extreme taper from 35mm to 10mm, the band life isnt that long but it doesnt bother me, they shoot a 12mm lead over 300 fps, this is perfect for me when out hunting as i can take rabbit, duck, pheasant and pigeon with body shots, i can understand people who havnt got a lot of theraband or have to buy band set ups ready made would pick the life span over power, john


that is a ridiculous taper, how many shots do you get with each set.


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## pop shot

Berkshire bred said:


> the bands i shoot on my personal hunting catapult are double theraband gold with a extreme taper from 35mm to 10mm, the band life isnt that long but it doesnt bother me, they shoot a 12mm lead over 300 fps, this is perfect for me when out hunting as i can take rabbit, duck, pheasant and pigeon with body shots, i can understand people who havnt got a lot of theraband or have to buy band set ups ready made would pick the life span over power, john


that is a ridiculous taper, how many shots do you get with each set.
[/quote]
2, but it doesn't matter because it's so awesomely fast.


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## M.J

pop shot said:


> the bands i shoot on my personal hunting catapult are double theraband gold with a extreme taper from 35mm to 10mm, the band life isnt that long but it doesnt bother me, they shoot a 12mm lead over 300 fps, this is perfect for me when out hunting as i can take rabbit, duck, pheasant and pigeon with body shots, i can understand people who havnt got a lot of theraband or have to buy band set ups ready made would pick the life span over power, john


that is a ridiculous taper, how many shots do you get with each set.
[/quote]
2, but it doesn't matter because it's so awesomely fast.
[/quote]








*FEWABAND!!!!*


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## pop shot

The parmswell ensures a secure gwip.


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## Adirondack Kyle

Love the golds gym red, and blue. They last long for me,
My brothers got double blues on the chalice i made him. I didnt wanna give up my last thera gold set. We went shooting and his double blues blew away my single thera set by far, which suprised me. My golds were a single 1 inch wide straight cut, his were 1 inch double blues.


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## pop shot

M_J said:


> the bands i shoot on my personal hunting catapult are double theraband gold with a extreme taper from 35mm to 10mm, the band life isnt that long but it doesnt bother me, they shoot a 12mm lead over 300 fps, this is perfect for me when out hunting as i can take rabbit, duck, pheasant and pigeon with body shots, i can understand people who havnt got a lot of theraband or have to buy band set ups ready made would pick the life span over power, john


that is a ridiculous taper, how many shots do you get with each set.
[/quote]
2, but it doesn't matter because it's so awesomely fast.
[/quote]








*FEWABAND!!!!*[/quote]
Nothing speaks class like chronying over a trash can


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## Roman5150

Well I would speculate, in a hunting situation, one wouldn't need to get 100 shots from a set of bands. 2 shots however seems pretty hardcore. Just an observation from a newbie. Also I realize this is dead topic but nobody seemed to mention the difference between target practice and hunting, Sometimes there's nothing to shoot at.


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## Tex-Shooter

I use the same bands for target and for hunting. I use 1/2 inch steel to practice, shooting into my catch box and 44 cal. lead to hunt with. They weigh exactly the same so shoot the same. -- Tex


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## Roman5150

Ah, I was just trying to understand the reasoning for such an extreme taper. Good info.


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## mopper

I find the weight of my ammo has an extremely high influence on the band life, much more than tapering. I have a HRAWK Rocket set up with single strand TB Silber, 4-3cm taper and its has survived hundred of 5,3g/16mm marbles without issue, but then I tried shooting much lighter 16mm beechwood balls from it and it developed a little tear after just a dozen shots. Might be just coincidence and they were finished anyway but I don't believe it. Same with my own Bad Company design. it is currently set up with vers soft bands (TB SIlver, 2-1cm taper) for indoor shooting. The bands will last extremely long with 7mm lead pellets, but will break very quickly with 6mm airsoft plastic pellets.

I have tried to salvage the bands on my Rocket by cutting out the tear along with a very wide and shallow (just deeper than the tear, obviously) bowl/crescent shaped bit of rubber. Seems to be working fine so far, I have gone back to marbles or use the big 20mm beechwood balls.

When you get frequent handslaps or the slongshot is "loud" (that loud slapping noise from the bands) chances are your ammo is too light and band life will suffer badly.

Also, I have found that a really sharp rollcutter results in clean and smooth edges, that too seems to have a very signifiicant positive effect on bandlife. I used a very old and cheap rollcutter with a dull blade for my first bands, they didn't last nearly as long as they do since I have sharpened the blade. My new OLFA ought to do even better, haven't tried it out yet though.


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## Adirondack Kyle

Yes, this is true, super light ammo beats the crap out of your band sets. Its just too much extra energy. But., if it allows you to practice indoors. Oh well. I like the 36 cal lead balls, good for hunting, still cheap enough for target practice. Not good for indoor use. But it would work well with your silver tb.


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## Tex-Shooter

I shoot indoors in bad weather and use 1/2 inch steel. It just takes a good catch box. The only problem that I have indoors is distance, but it is great for testing. -- Tex


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## M.J

Tex-Shooter said:


> I shoot indoors in bad weather and use 1/2 inch steel. It just takes a good catch box. The only problem that I have indoors is distance, but it is great for testing. -- Tex


Ditto.
Make your catchbox big enough to suit your skill level and there's no need to be limited to marshmellows or gummy bears or whatever.


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## Henry the Hermit

M_J said:


> I shoot indoors in bad weather and use 1/2 inch steel. It just takes a good catch box. The only problem that I have indoors is distance, but it is great for testing. -- Tex


Ditto.
*Make your catchbox big enough to suit your skill level* and there's no need to be limited to marshmellows or gummy bears or whatever.
[/quote]

Then I wouldn't be able to get it into the house.


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## drfrancov

Tex-Shooter said:


> I shoot indoors in bad weather and use 1/2 inch steel. It just takes a good catch box. The only problem that I have indoors is distance, but it is great for testing. -- Tex


Correct! I shoot in my basement. 20 feet distance with 12 mm steel ammo. The trick is to keep it in the catchbox.


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## drfrancov

I also shoot 1/4 steel ammo with straight 10mm latex bands. For my 3/8 steel ammo I use 12.5 mm bands. Anything bigger I shoot with 7/8 straight cut latex bands (scout ss). I know Tex-Shooter has pointed out before to shoot with the same ammo and same ss and same bands to improve and get better over time...but my ADHD makes me switch ammo size very often.


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## boby

Comparing pseudo-tapered vs untapered calculated speeds at the same pull force and draw for either flat bands or tubes (http://slingshotforum.com/topic/22870-force-wall-effects-in-slingshot-operation/#entry281893 ), well designed versions of either can give similar speeds when the pseudo-tapered stretch factors are high (e.g., 5.5+). If the pseudo-tapered stretch factors are lower (e.g., 5.0-), untapered is better.

I slightly prefer a single tube per side for target practice as there is less twisting/tangling of the tube(s), and I get better lifetimes than with pseudo-tapered, which for me tended to break after around 200 shots at the sleeve where the single band met the double bands.


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## Charles

boby said:


> Comparing pseudo-tapered vs untapered calculated speeds at the same pull force and draw for either flat bands or tubes (http://slingshotforum.com/topic/22870-force-wall-effects-in-slingshot-operation/#entry281893 ), well designed versions of either can give similar speeds when the pseudo-tapered stretch factors are high (e.g., 5.5+). If the pseudo-tapered stretch factors are lower (e.g., 5.0-), untapered is better.
> 
> I slightly prefer a single tube per side for target practice as there is less twisting/tangling of the tube(s), and I get better lifetimes than with pseudo-tapered, which for me tended to break after around 200 shots at the sleeve where the single band met the double bands.


Forget about "calculated speeds". To put it very mildly, the analysis in the thread to which you refer is DEEPLY flawed and does not represent the real world. Just try some experimentation.

You will find that tapered bands have significantly lighter draw than straights, starting with the same slack length going to the same draw length. So to get a straight band with as light a draw as a tapered band, the straight band will have to be a LOT narrower ... so much so that it will not begin to throw ammo of any appreciable weight at as high a velocity as the tapered band. To put the matter another way, the tapered band will shoot significantly faster than a straight band that has the same width as the widest part of the taper, assuming both have the same length. And this will hold for stretch factors below 5.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## boby

Charles said:


> You will find that tapered bands have significantly lighter draw than straights, starting with the same slack length going to the same draw length. So to get a straight band with as light a draw as a tapered band, the straight band will have to be a LOT narrower ...


There is confusion about terminology here when comparing a pseudo-tapered design having 1+2 bands per side. One might consider the untapered reference as having 2 bands per side (as you have done), or one band per side (as I have done and explicitly stated). i also consider the generalization of a single band per side that is stiffer/heavier as being competitive with a pseudo-tapered design. Such a generalization, at twice the stiffness/weight, is the 2 band per side case, but this rather extreme case tends not to be competitive with pseudo-tapered designs.


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## joseph_curwen

I am quite surprised that no one talk about tapered bands in terms of safety.

I allways shoot tapered bands, in butterfly style.

In my experience, my bands broke ALLWAYS at the pouch, never elsewhere, so, i never had my face slapped.

For that, i will allways use tapered bands!


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## boby

joseph_curwen said:


> I am quite surprised that no one talk about tapered bands in terms of safety.
> 
> I allways shoot tapered bands, in butterfly style.
> 
> In my experience, my bands broke ALLWAYS at the pouch, never elsewhere, so, i never had my face slapped.
> 
> For that, i will allways use tapered bands!


How many shots do you usually get before breakage at the pouch? I used to get only ~300, now the pouch ties outlast the rubber, which lasts over 800 shots. I think the pouch ties should last the same for butterfly as for non-butterfly, since the forces are similar.


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## joseph_curwen

about 300 I think


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## Arnisador78

Henry in Panama said:


> You might get better response if you included an "I use both" response. In my experience, there is little advantage to tapering light pull bands, and it doesn't make sense to taper 107 rubber bands, one of my favorite bands for give-aways. I always taper power bands.Henry
> 
> 
> 
> 'kobe23' said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 'Nico' said:
> 
> 
> 
> *。。。shorter band was to compensate for the softer pull creating more inertia vs the heavy hunter bands.*
> 
> 
> 
> i did this too, poundland fishing catapult tube which is 5inch long way overpower the ARMEX Black Shadow yellow tube which measures 8inch.but i had to compensate my accuracy as the extension 5inch tubing could barely reach middle of my biceps and the heavy pull. is there any specific method of shooting you used for short bands?
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Henry... Why doesn't It make sense to taper 107's? I did. I cut one band in half, and tapered them. It makes the short bands easier to draw comfortably to my draw point. I assume it shoots faster, I don't have a chrony.


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## Charles

Arnisador78 said:


> Henry in Panama said:
> 
> 
> 
> You might get better response if you included an "I use both" response. In my experience, there is little advantage to tapering light pull bands, and it doesn't make sense to taper 107 rubber bands, one of my favorite bands for give-aways. I always taper power bands.Henry
> 
> 
> 
> 'kobe23' said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 'Nico' said:
> 
> 
> 
> *。。。shorter band was to compensate for the softer pull creating more inertia vs the heavy hunter bands.*
> 
> 
> 
> i did this too, poundland fishing catapult tube which is 5inch long way overpower the ARMEX Black Shadow yellow tube which measures 8inch.but i had to compensate my accuracy as the extension 5inch tubing could barely reach middle of my biceps and the heavy pull. is there any specific method of shooting you used for short bands?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Henry... Why doesn't It make sense to taper 107's? I did. I cut one band in half, and tapered them. It makes the short bands easier to draw comfortably to my draw point. I assume it shoots faster, I don't have a chrony.
Click to expand...

You do get an increase in velocity when you taper 107s. But the increase is not all that much, and there is a decrease in band life.

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/10911-taper-by-perforation/

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/11038-taper-by-cutting/

You have to decide for yourself whether the increase in velocity is worth the shortened band life.

Cheers ...... Charles


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## Charles

Oh, yes ... I forgot to mention, I used taper by perforation to achieve a higher score in the Power Rangers competition than I got without it. Compare these two videos:

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/21108-power-rangers/?p=269437

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/21108-power-rangers/page-8#entry270667

Cheers ..... Charles


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## MikmaqWarrior

Personally, I was going to post this exact same topic but decided to look for someone elses post for answers. It seems evenly divided down the middle, so I am still a little confused...
Do tapered bands hit with less, more, or equal force than straight cut? Putting all preferences aside, from a numbers perspective. I realize tapered would shoot faster, but are you giving up kinetic impact energy for speed? Enough to make a noticible difference?


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## SlingBowPro

Melchior said:


> Another aspect about tapering: It improves efficency by shifting the larger parts of the rubber's weight to the front, where it is less accelerated, and thus less "dead mass" that takes its share of the overall energy has to be moved.
> 
> However, if you use very heavy projectiles, it "overrides" the advantages of tapering (and also the advantage of a light pouch), as the ammo is so heavy that it will take the lion's share of the energy anyway.
> So, the lighter the ammo you use, the more you have to care about pouch weight and tapering.


 I completely agree with what is said here. So to answer your question, if you want to shoot light weight ammo then use highly tapered bands, if you want to use heavy ammo you can still taper them slightly which I feel will benefit but not near as much as with light weight. Tapered bands will always shoot faster than straight you just need to vary the tapering and the amount of rubber you use depending on the weight of your ammo.


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## Aries666

I love that marble decor!


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## Tendele

Has anyone tried tapered bands which then widen before the pouch end? I was wondering if this would extend their lifespan .


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## Adirondack Kyle

It would create a slower band set , all around, and I think because it's still a tapered set it would tear just as fast
If you want long lasting flats ,straight cut thera or latex works great, personally, I LOVE both thicknesses of gum rubber nathan carries, especially the 1/16 . I can't say enough about it
I shoot everything available, I always have Thera gold and dankung tubes on hand , but when I want to treat myself to something special, it's the gum rubber.


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## Tex-Shooter

A little wider at the pouch is what Saunders bands are and are patented. They are a little slower than straight taper, but faster than straight bands. As far as life, I have never shot any other set of thin (for performance) flat bands that have come close to the Saunders in band life. I run a test on Saunders black bands and got over 2500 shots. This is the bands I use on my LB2000 band sets. I am now shooting The LB2000 exclusivity myself.


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## nike

It looks very strong!


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## crapshot

wouldnt thinner band material .o15 .018 or .020 in rectangular bands be about as fast as .030in taper bands


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## Deltaboy1984

Thanks folks.


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## Oneproudmeximan

I'm a big fan of tapered .030 latex combined with 38 Cal lead very deadly for hunting but all very accurate. Lately I have been trying out .040 latex taper 1 inch to 3/4 and all I can say is the are super hot bands tapered this way and very accurate might have found a new favorite!


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