# unusual resistance in new bands



## Rob Herrington (Jun 17, 2015)

The ss I bought had some yellow, lightweight tubular bands on them off the shelf. The vendor suggested I use them for a while before changing to a heavier duty, black tube band he sold me at the same time. When I wore out the yellow (after about 5 sessions of about 70-80 shots), I put on the heavier bands.

The problem, if it is a problem, is that I sense normal resistance as I pull the bands to about the midway point between fully relaxed and fully stretched against my cheek. But then the resistance becomes so strong pulling the rest of the way to my cheek that I feel the bands must be about to break! Are they supposed to become progressively harder to stretch after they are stretched halfway? Is this normal? The original bands stretched smoothly from fully relaxed to fully stretched.

Thanks,

Rob


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## honorary pie (Feb 12, 2015)

Its probably just because you are using heavy tubes, How long are they cut? They should be efficient to around 500% of their active (resting) length... Some push as far as 600%.. So if your tubes are 6" fork to pouch, 500% is a 30" draw...


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## Rob Herrington (Jun 17, 2015)

Thanks. I discussed this with the vendor and he informed me that the new bands are "20 pound pull," I think is the way he expressed it, that the harder resistance as you approach your cheek, and that they should become more linear in their resistance with continued use.

As for the bands, they are 8 inches long, measure from the fork to where they meet the pouch.


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Normal latex bands or tubes will easily stretch to 500% or more elongation, and will almost always maintain a fairly steadily increasing pull throughout the entire draw cycle...

It is possible your tubes are made of a latex free formula, or something else... There's not really a reason the pull shouldn't be increasing at a steady and smooth rate otherwise.


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## gonene1 (May 24, 2015)

Take a look at my older post

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/42628-barnett-magnum-band-is-it-too-big-for-me/

heavy tubes can be slower than the lite tubes , and make you shoot less accurate.

It takes time for the mussels to get used to the bands also the fingers (I am shooting for about a month and the skin on my finger where i hold the pouch became very tough and less sensitive)

what kind of ammo do you use? if you use 3/8 steel balls than you might want to stay as lite as possible with your tubes, going heavy does not mean the small ammo will fly faster or hit harder.

here take a look at this post as well.

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/42939-chrony-test-trumark-black-slower-than-red/


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## honorary pie (Feb 12, 2015)

Perhaps some muscularity differences between where you start pulling and where your arm is at full draw.. Different muscles are being used throughout your draw, try on some different bands and see what you think... I'm not sure but 20lb draw seems pretty heavy to me, I'd definitely consider some lighter bands.


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

I see you are a new shooter. I can tell you I had a very tough time pulling 500% because I felt the tubes were going to break, they did not break. just take your draw length divide by 5 and that should get you in a very close ballpark of where your tube length should be (from pouch attachment to fork attachment)

Yes it should get heavier, but gradually.

wll


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## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

Rob Herrington said:


> The ss I bought had some yellow, lightweight tubular bands on them off the shelf. The vendor suggested I use them for a while before changing to a heavier duty, black tube band he sold me at the same time. When I wore out the yellow (after about 5 sessions of about 70-80 shots), I put on the heavier bands.
> 
> The problem, if it is a problem, is that I sense normal resistance as I pull the bands to about the midway point between fully relaxed and fully stretched against my cheek. But then the resistance becomes so strong pulling the rest of the way to my cheek that I feel the bands must be about to break! Are they supposed to become progressively harder to stretch after they are stretched halfway? Is this normal? The original bands stretched smoothly from fully relaxed to fully stretched.
> 
> ...


Reading through your story, I suspect that the original yellow tubes were probably too heavy already for the ammo you use. Good tubes should last between some 700 upto 1500 shots, not break after only 350 - 400. Ammo and rubber should be well matched, ammo that's too light will cause premature band wear and, depending on frame model and holding style, may cause painful knuckle slap.

If anything, I'd recommend you get some thinner tubing from Dankung or one of the forum vendors. 
Good chance you will experience better band life AND easier pull AND higher speed AND better accuracy.

Do some reading in the "slingshot bands and tubes" section. You may be surprised to learn that in the slingshot world, unlike with bows, more pull poundage does not necessarily mean higher ammo speed.

Pertaining to your original question, after some use the pull resistance of your black bands will probably smooth out. But you probably need a lot heavier ammo with those than you're currently using.


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