# Bands made from cricket bat handle wrap



## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Dr. J sent me some bands which he wanted me to test. They were from a real odd ball source ... the material was made to wrap the handles of cricket bats!!! He sent two sets of bands, one green and one brown (sort of brownish purple) set. I attached the bands to pouches, and this is what they looked like:









Both sets were about 12 inches long to begin with. The green set tapered from 5/8 of an inch down to 1/2 of an inch. The brown set tapered from 3/4 of an inch down to 5/8 of an inch. Both band materials were smooth on one side, but textured on the other side:

















When it comes to determining reality, I am a firm believer that objective measurement trumps subjective impressions, so I dragged out my test bed slingshot and went to work. Here is a table of results.









I began with the green. I set the draw length at 33 inches, which would be about at my ear. I then tried a variety of slack lengths with the bands: 9, 8, 7, and 6 inches. At each slack length, I used a variety of ammo: 3/8 inch steel and lead, and 1/2 inch steel and lead. For each configuration, I fired 5 shots, recording the mean and the standard deviation. The low standard deviations indicate great reliability in the mean velocity measurements. I also measured the draw weights for each slack length when drawn to 33 inches. These weights seemed quite heavy to me, given the relatively low velocities obtained. I then tried the brown bands, but I did not bother with the slack lengths of 7, 8, or 9. A bit surprising was the fact that the draw weight was less for the brown than for the green bands, but the velocities were significantly better across the board.

As a further experiment, I cut the brown bands to a width of 1/2 inch. With a 6 inch slack length and a 33 inch draw, the draw weight was only about 10 pounds. But the velocities were so disappointing, I did not record many: 3/8 steel went only 158 fps, while 1/2 lead lugged along at 124.4 fps. However, these relatively narrow bands were so easy to draw that I set up a small frame with them, having a slack length of 11 inches. I was then able to quite comfortably draw almost to full butterfly ... 58 inches by my measurement. Using 3/8 inch steel, I took 10 shots across the Chrony. The average velocity was 178.9 with a standard deviation of 4.79; the large standard deviation was a result of hand held shots, as my test bed slingshot does not permit a 58 inch draw.

My conclusion is that in terms of velocity, you could probably do better with office bands. However, this material might well be available in areas where appropriate office bands are not readily available. Although I did not do longevity tests, just from my limited experience with them, I would think that these bands might well last longer than office bands.

Cheers ...... Charles


----------



## HarryBee (Jun 29, 2013)

Very interesting Charles. And it just goes to show that there aren't many folk who don't have something they can make a catty out of. I have a cricket bat around somewhere but if I use the rubber off that I'll just about have an 'antique' band set.  Harry


----------



## Dr J (Apr 22, 2013)

Thanks Sir Charles of BC! The wait was well worth it. Speed is ok but longevity means more to me. I usually use these on thin folks, and am impressed with their durability. Material is everywhere and often found in the most unexpected places. Once infected with Slingshotitis you see potential material in everything. Once again thanks for the excellent work done on this project. It is very much appreciated. Keep well, Dr J


----------



## hickymick (Feb 23, 2011)

should see the elastic on moon shoes for kids :naughty: :wave:


----------



## HarryBee (Jun 29, 2013)

Don,t start him off, hickymick, or he,ll be hot on the trail of those next ! Harry


----------



## orcrender (Sep 11, 2010)

Or some of the rubber Flatband found on the hazmat boot.


----------



## ash (Apr 23, 2013)

Dr J said:


> Thanks Sir Charles of BC!


BC? He's not that old is he, Doc?!? :rofl:


----------



## Dr J (Apr 22, 2013)

As in British Columbia LOL!


----------



## hickymick (Feb 23, 2011)

HarryBee said:


> Don,t start him off, hickymick, or he,ll be hot on the trail of those next ! Harry


I tell thee its really good ... shoes just don't last for kids but the elastic on them is very powerful

:wave: :king:


----------



## whippetlad (Aug 29, 2013)

Think I'm going into town tomorrow..


----------

