# How to Take Care of Tubes



## Kodiak351

Hi everybody. I've been shooting my Marksman Hyper Velocity Tubes a good bit, and I got to thinking that maybe there are things that I whould be doing to take care of them. Are tubes maintenence free, or are there things that can help to extend their life and service?

Should I be giving them lubrication and/or cleaning regularly? If so, with what?

Should I store them away from the sun? Does it matter if they stay cool or warm?

And along the same vein, but a different question entirely, is there a difference in durability between the different colors of tubes? For example, i can get 2040 tubes in black or natural amber. Would one color degrade faster, perhaps due to UV exposure or something? Do dyes affect the life of the tube? Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!


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## All Buns Glazing

Keep them out of UV as much as possible and avoid extreme heat for prolonged periods (obvious stuff there I think). I've left dankung tubes out in the fresh air for months - they go white and look horrible but they still shoot fine, but no doubt lose some of their speed.

Flatband (Gary Miller) has established that natural latex wears faster than coloured latexes like theraband. He hypothesises that it's because they add things for durability because they're designed to be yanked about for exercise. Not sure about different colours.

I use dankung tubing and I don't care about maintaining it on my regularly shot slingshots because it's so damn cheap and fun to make new bandsets.


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## All Buns Glazing

Oh, and for some reason, I kinda prefer dankung's natural latex tubes than the black, more slippery bands. Not sure why, maybe I'm racist!


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## DaveSteve

I put mine in a dark plastic bag an store them in a drawer.

I take them out to make a tube set as needed.

I do no maintenance on them.


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## All Buns Glazing

Ooh, with rolls of tube waiting to be used, absolutely. I store mine in ziplock bags in a cardboard box at room temp! I was referring to bands on a slingshot being shot regularly.


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## Hrawk

I know for a while now, that Aerospace 303 protectant has been used and recommended by a few commercial makers and many forum members confirm that it's probably the best way to keep bands going strong. I think one commercial manufactured even included a small satchel of this with their bands.

Depending on how often you shoot though, well certainly in my case, this becomes redundant, as the rubber looses it's life long before I have to worry about environmental effects.


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## August West

Shoot them till they tear or break then make new ones.


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## AhnkoChee

I grew up diving and spearfishing using both the 3 point Hawaiian sling, as well as a speargun from the early 1960s onward. In the beginning we used rubber from real red rubber tire tubes. Later on when latex tubing was introduced it was great. To preserve we'd wash the salt off with fresh water then after drying we would apply silicone lubricant either the aerosol spray or the clear 100% silicone grease the type used for maintaining scuba regulators. It seamed to preserve the rubber and increase it's useful life. I still use it on the rubbers for my spears and spearguns. I was seriously considering wiping some on the flatbands to increase their life. Anyone here ever try silicone spray or grease on their slingshot rubbers? How about Armoral or similar products? Just curious.


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## JetBlack

Run you're hands over , if they are not powdered looking and smooth they are ok, when you feel something ruff, that's a tear, however it won't break right away.change soon though


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## nmcoyote

How is the 303 Protectant different from Armor All?


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## JetBlack

I don't know how its different from armor all but on Amazon there are many reviews explaining the differences


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## nmcoyote

I looked at the reviews on Amazon. Then did a Google search with the following key words, "armor all 303 protectant". This yielded a great many discussions on the differences. Most of the discussions relate to the use of these for protecting/restoring auto upholstery. It seems to be generally agreed that 303 is superior to AA. Armor all tends to feel greasy and leaves a shiny residue compared to 303.

I have occasionally put armor all on bands that have sat on a SS for a while. I have not noticed that it either extends or shortens the life.

I am wondering if 303 Protectant could extend the storage shelf-life of latex bands. Anyone done any experiments?


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## Hrawk

Although I have never used 303, Armor All is pretty common here down under.

From personal experience though, I find it's great to use on your auto, dash, plastic, vinyl etc, it does give it a great finish and helps with protection from the sun.

However, I have found and so have many others, that once you start using it, then stop, the surface you have treated starts to deteriorate a lot quicker than if you had never used it at all.


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## nmcoyote

Hrawk said:


> I have found and so have many others, that once you start using it, then stop, the surface you have treated starts to deteriorate a lot quicker than if you had never used it at all.


That is an observation concerning armor all I found in the discussions. It ends up accelerating the deterioration in the end. But the opinion of these posters seemed to be that 303 doesn't have this drawback. Hence my speculation about it being useful for extending shelf-life.


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## Cjw

Never had a problem when using 303 .I have put it on RRTs and not used the slingshots for months and the tubes were like new.


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## M.J

All Buns Glazing said:


> Oh, and for some reason, I kinda prefer dankung's natural latex tubes than the black, more slippery bands. Not sure why, maybe I'm racist!


It's not just you and you're not a racist ( I don't think...)

I like the amber ones better, too. They seem lighter to draw and faster, although only a little. They do degrade noticably from UV exposure, though. The blacks are mostly impervious to it.


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## All Buns Glazing

M_J said:


> All Buns Glazing said:
> 
> 
> 
> The blacks are mostly impervious to it.
Click to expand...

Racist


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## JetBlack

I like the black ones better, seem to be more durable


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## August West

I use 303 on my canoe, IMO it is too expensive to put on 15 cents worth of rubber.


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## Cjw

I buy it in gallon size it's cheaper that way that way I can use it on my cars too.


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## treefork

Kodiak351 said:


> Hi everybody. I've been shooting my Marksman Hyper Velocity Tubes a good bit, and I got to thinking that maybe there are things that I whould be doing to take care of them. Are tubes maintenence free, or are there things that can help to extend their life and service?
> 
> Should I be giving them lubrication and/or cleaning regularly? If so, with what?
> 
> Should I store them away from the sun? Does it matter if they stay cool or warm?
> 
> And along the same vein, but a different question entirely, is there a difference in durability between the different colors of tubes? For example, i can get 2040 tubes in black or natural amber. Would one color degrade faster, perhaps due to UV exposure or something? Do dyes affect the life of the tube? Any advice would be appreciated!
> 
> Thanks!


I'm a fan of 303. Used on tubes that sit on shooter for awhile. The tubes seem like they don't deteriorate when I apply. I have several shooters sitting out int the open for years with no apparent damage. I always use on my slingshots bands for a lubricating effect at the forks. I used on fishing rods that still look new after years of use in the sun. It is dirt cheap if you use it wisely. One spray to a gun patch and rub on band. One bottle goes a long way then. Just saying. Trumark realizes this because they include a small packet with their bands.


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## Bernie Boernsn

Silicone oil. I use methyl silicone oil 350 inside and outside of the tubes.


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