# Com Bow Sling



## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

I was intrigued by Robert Blair's posts about his Com Bow Sling. I emailed him ... whined just a little ... and he agreed to make me up a kit with all the goodies. I was out of town teaching some art workshops, but it was here when I returned. I hope to do a full review of it at a later date, but I just had to tell you how impressed I am with it.

It came set up to fire bolts, but it also had another set of tubes and a setup to use regular arrows. I have not investigated either of these alternatives. Instead I installed the the tubes with attached leather pouch to function as a regular slingshot.

You can see a photo of the slingshot setup here:

http://www.combowslingguy.com/ComBowSlings.html

It has a very nice wrist brace that is adjustable for angle ... which I really appreciate. The tubes run along two aluminum chanels on each side of the hand grip, and over a roller on each side to the pouch. The pouch is actually a couple of inches IN FRONT of your hand. There is just enough slack to allow you to place a projectile into the pouch and grip it.

When you draw, you will have an amazing draw length. My draw length from my hand to my ear is about 33 inches (about 84 cm). The tubes are about 8 inches. On a normal sling shot, I would be stretching 8 inch bands only 25 inches (about 64 cm) ... that is the 33 inch distance between my outstretched fist and my ear, minus the 8 inches of the bands, since the pouch actually sits 8 inches behind my fist. But the Com Bow Sling design gives me a full 36 inch stretch (around 92 cm) of the bands!

Now here is the interesting part. I measured the draw weight at a 36 inch draw, and it came to 14 pounds (about 6.4 kg). That is actually pretty light. I set up my catch bag (more about my catch bag some other time) and did a little shooting, using .44 caliber (11 mm) lead balls. Well, it punched the heavy denim material of my catch bag right through a piece of corregated plastic sheet sitting behind the catch bag!!! So I hung an old, heavy cotton bath mat in the front of the catch bag, fastened only at the top, figuring the flapping bath mat would absorb the energy of the ball. I then proceeded to fire three balls right through the bath mat!!! Now, I am talking bath-mat-did-not-flutter, holes-punched-right-through the heavy woven material. Each ball made its own separate hole. The distance was only 5 meters, but still .... !!! I tried my various other slingshots, and none of them came even close.

Sure, I am willing to attribute part of this performance to fast latex tubes. But the major factor I am sure is that really long time the bands have to accelerate the ball. To get that same 36 inch acceleration path with a normal slingshot, I would have to have a fist to ear distance of 44 inches! To put the matter another way, with the Com Bow Sling you get the effect of a full butterfly draw (both arms extended), but using the normal draw method. For those of us who have not mastered intuitive shooting, this is miraculous. It means we can aim as usual, but get the power of full butterfly.

In case you have not guessed, I LOVE this thing. Another plus is that I find I am more accurate with it than anything else I am shooting. My only complaint is that I cannot fold it up and carry it in my pocket.

Cheers ...... Charles


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## dgaf (Jun 10, 2011)

nice looks cool


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## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

Well Charles you couldn't have picked a better guy to buy a slingsghot from or just to "talk the trade" with. Robert is a great guy, a gentlemen,funny,and a big kid at heart. He's been tinkering around with slingshots,designing , refining and coming up wih new concepts for many years. The Combo is a great Platform for short bolts,regular arrows and ball ammo. Looking at it you can understand how we came up with the moniker of "Starship" as a slang word for an extended fork slingshot. Good luck with her,she is part of slingshot history,and rightfully so-have fun! Flatband


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

I want one of those really, really bad!


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## AlmostHuman (Jul 10, 2011)




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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Just a little update on my Com Bow slingshot. I finally dug out my chrony and gave it a little test. With .44 lead ball, the average was a shade over 200fps. With 3/8 inch steel, the average was a bit over 250 fps. That was shooting it with the tubes and pouch it came with. The draw weight at my pull (knuckle in my ear) is only 14 pounds. The power comes from the extended draw length because of the ingenious design. Let me say once more how impressed I am.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## combowslingguy 1 (May 28, 2011)

Hi Guys,
Thank you all for your kind comments. I only saw this just now and when I give it a little more thaught I will write again. In the mean time thank you Flatband and especially to Charles and a great review. And as Charles says Cheers, Robert Blair- Combowslingguy


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## philly (Jun 13, 2010)

Great write up Charles, keep us informed with your progress. Awesome concept, very well thought out product design. I like it a lot.
Philly


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

I understand the arrows but I am confused about how it shoots the bolts....


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

I have not shot either arrows or bolts.

There is a rest for the arrows. And there is a separate set of bands with a string instead of a pouch and an attached bulge covered in leather to use to draw back the bands with the arrow.

Bolts are made with a hook at the point, and a gripping bulge just aft of the fletching. There is a third set of bands for bolts with just a string instead of a pouch. To shoot bolts, you place the hook on the string and draw the bolt back and release. These remind me of the Pana darts used in India and the Philipines.

There is an example of a Pana dart here ... this is NOT what I got with my combow sling.

http://www.primitiveweapons.com/products/sshot.html

Cheers ... Charles


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## combowslingguy 1 (May 28, 2011)

Thanks again , Charles,

Thank you for explaining a few things. I think that many on this forum think that flat bands are faster. I think that the way that bands are used is very important. I think that when 1 thing is changed sometimes it changes many things. I have a saying I have said for 30 or more years, " When you change 1 thing you change everything." Sometimes it isn't as dramatic if it is only a small change. But with a big change there can be a big difference.

I have bands that are heavier than the ones that you used that would give 15 to 35 % better speeds. With the Linear Bow back in 1987 I forget the exact speed but we got up to a 125 # draw. We used 490 gr field point arrows the speed was near 280 f p s. as we sent that arrow 560 yards. There is some about it on a crossbow forum. If one were to type Robert Blair Linear Bow on Googol it will come up.

My web page www.combowslingguy.com says that I am not taking orders. Yes I am trying to get some one to get involved to help out. I still make a few Com Bow Slings. You can also contact me at [email protected] Thank you again Charles. I wanted to get back to this for a while. Cheers Robert Blair


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