# cold weather bandsets



## oldstevie (Dec 7, 2013)

hi

just wondering if anyone uses different bandsets when it gets colder outside ?

for example do you modify your taper on flatbands or do you use tubes instead of flatbands or vice-versa?

thanks


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## Individual (Nov 6, 2013)

I think most people use the same sets and just accept the slower results, Depending on your area (Most members are in the us, so compared to scotland theres barely any change) they dont need to, But for us UK folks I'd imagine so. I shoot indoors 95% of the time, But if you want the same results outdoors, I'd reccomend you use a band calculator to play around and see what you need to change to up your FPS just a little for the colder days.


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## oldstevie (Dec 7, 2013)

thanks for the reply

i have started experimenting as you suggest

i wonder if anyone knows which is affected the most by temperature change , bands or tubes ?

or is it the same?

just wondered as i use both.

i suppose i could conduct some indepth testing but thought the more knowledgeable folks on here may be able to save me the trouble.

if one is less affected than the other then that is what i will use at the moment untill the weather stabalises a bit here , because some days are cold and some bordering on warm .

thanks


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

In my experience tubes were affected more than flats from cold temperature. I use double band tbg while im hunting in the cold


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## Individual (Nov 6, 2013)

Nicholson said:


> In my experience tubes were affected more than flats from cold temperature. I use double band tbg while im hunting in the cold


I'm not doubting you, But i just think logically flat's would be more affected because they're thinner and the cold would effect and go through the whole band, Whereas tubes are thicker and should stay warmer a little longer.


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Individual said:


> Nicholson said:
> 
> 
> > In my experience tubes were affected more than flats from cold temperature. I use double band tbg while im hunting in the cold
> ...


I would attend to agree with you as the flats have a lot of surface area compared to tubes. I could be wrong as I've been wrong before.

wll


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

well, i shoot flats but I had recieved a pfs with small tubes about a year ago and went for a walk pretty close to zero degrees and the small tubes were lagging badly. I use double flat bands in the winter and idk I havnt really had a problem with a terrible lag. After that experience I never used tubes in the winter again so my cold weather experience with tubes is very, very limited


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

Nicholson said:


> well, i shoot flats but I had recieved a pfs with small tubes about a year ago and went for a walk pretty close to zero degrees and the small tubes were lagging badly. I use double flat bands in the winter and idk I havnt really had a problem with a terrible lag. After that experience I never used tubes in the winter again so my cold weather experience with tubes is very, very limited


Don't be afraid to stand behind your actual experience in the field. It sounds like you've tried both in the real world, not just on a computer, and have good insight on the question.


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

I use the same set. I honestly cant tell much of a difference between 70 degrees and -20 degrees .... but that is likely just me.


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

I use the same year around and see no difference. Hehe.


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## oldstevie (Dec 7, 2013)

so the overall opinion would appear that any difference in temperature is un noticeable

thats good enough for me

saves me experimenting

thanks for all the replies

stevie


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## Tentacle Toast (Jan 17, 2013)

I use two slings, & at least one warm pocket when out in the cold shooting. I haven't compared one to another, I just notice that NONE of them seem to "like" it.


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

oldstevie said:


> so the overall opinion would appear that any difference in temperature is un noticeable
> 
> thats good enough for me
> 
> ...


My comment was made with tongue in cheek so to speak. It's about 75°F here year around.


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## oldstevie (Dec 7, 2013)

pgandy said:


> My comment was made with tongue in cheek so to speak. It's about 75°F here year around.


ah , i see

thanks for clearing that up

ha ha. :wave:

temperature varies a bit more here.



Tentacle Toast said:


> I use two slings, & at least one warm pocket when out in the cold shooting. I haven't compared one to another, I just notice that NONE of them seem to "like" it.


i also use 2 slings one smaller than the other.

this one is now going in a warmer pocket on the cold days

ta


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## reset (Apr 13, 2013)

I shoot at up to -25/-30F. Anything past that i dont shoot outside.

Tubes are slower in the cold noticably over bands. And also way less accurate when cold. They dont seem to take well to warming either.

Bands can be a little slower in winter but as others have said i use hand warmers in my pocket and two slingers. Ones warming ones shooting. Bands seem to respond better to heating as well. The tubes really dont seem to take to warming that well either.

Need to add: I have used only 1745's outside.

And the bands were exclusively TBG.


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## oldstevie (Dec 7, 2013)

reset said:


> I shoot at up to -25/-30F. Anything past that i dont shoot outside.
> 
> Tubes are slower in the cold noticably over bands. And also way less accurate when cold. They dont seem to take well to warming either.
> 
> ...


thank you

thats some handy real world info

i will have to break out the old pocket warmer

brilliant idea and a great excuse for me to buy another identical sling to my favorite.

been trying to justify getting another one as a spare in case i loose mine and you can,t argue with this :wave:


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## Bajaja (May 13, 2011)

I use same bandset, but I am carrying two slingshots for longer outside shooting. As *reset* says, one warming one shooting.


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

It's finally cold enough to test this here in Alaska, its about 19 degrees out. I just put a hand full of slingshots outside and I'm going to leave them out for an hour. I'm going to compare the velocities from my last test from chronograph killing time fun in fps. I did warm up the basement though this time to about 70 degrees. I tested the black squares in the previous test I got 156 fps I think, this time I clocked the half inch berring going 174 fps which is a pretty good difference. but I'm going to bring in the slingshots one by one and immediately take some shots and see what I get. Almost forgot to mention I will be testing the looped tubes, the person that started this topic might be interested in the results on the tubes performance vs the flatbands in cold weather


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## oldstevie (Dec 7, 2013)

yes i most certainly will be interested

very good of you to go to all the trouble

ta

stevie


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

I just tried out silver theraband and it seems to be shooting better than tbg in the cold weather less of a lag. I havnt done much testing just shooting. It's 31 degrees farenheight outside here in Alaska. Its just the first day of shooting the stuff in the cold but Silver theraband seems to be performing better than Gold Theraband.


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## D.Nelson (Feb 20, 2014)

I used two layers of Golds Gym green out in some single digit weather and it was shooting great.


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## oldmiser (Jan 22, 2014)

Thraband Black will work well in cold weather...I think Mr TreeFork use's black for cold weather..

TreeFork's Quote was some thing like this...bands will be faster in warm weather...slower in cold weather...but the black seems to work very well

Tubes seem to suffer a great deal in cold weather...1 reason I shoot bands 99% of the time...indoor bb shooting is tubes...~AKAOldmiser


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

oldmiser said:


> Thraband Black will work well in cold weather...I think Mr TreeFork use's black for cold weather..
> TreeFork's Quote was some thing like this...bands will be faster in warm weather...slower in cold weather...but the black seems to work very well
> 
> Tubes seem to suffer a great deal in cold weather...1 reason I shoot bands 99% of the time...indoor bb shooting is tubes...~AKAOldmiser


Yes that's why I don't use tubes. When I first started shooting I experienced and hard core lag in retraction in the very cold temps with tubes and since then stuck with flatbands


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Hummmm, I think bands are in order ;-) Anyone use Linatex in the cold ?

wll


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

wll said:


> Hummmm, I think bands are in order ;-) Anyone use Linatex in the cold ?
> 
> wll


I have used linatex in the cold and wouldn't recommend it. Theraband Black or any thin bands seem to work best. I like the Theraband Black best of anything I've tried, though.


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Dayhiker said:


> wll said:
> 
> 
> > Hummmm, I think bands are in order ;-) Anyone use Linatex in the cold ?
> ...


I think it may be time for some Theraband Black ;- )

wll


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## namazu (Jul 18, 2014)

Good info guys thanks . I think its time to consider using the other thereband colours. I too have been using golds green in 3/4 in straight cut at 11 1/2 in lengths on my scout . Its doing very well .


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## Nicholson (Sep 25, 2012)

I was shooting this today. I shoot flats because when I first started shooting slingshots, I experienced a horrible lag with tubes in sub zero temperatures. This shot well inside and I was pleased. I went outside and shot at a can, the first shot was a direct hit. after about 10 minutes in below zero temperatures, I decided to give it a try again. I experienced the same lag and couldn't shoot for crap. The retraction was very slow, and it was like I was lobbing the 7/16 steel ammo very slow and erractic shot placement. The below zero temperatures is the reason why I stick to flats.


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## D.Nelson (Feb 20, 2014)

I tried a PFS with some tubes outside, -18, I use the twist and tweak method and my shots were going far right, nowhere near point of aim, very erratic. It was almost funny.


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## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

When in my teens, I hunted with slingshots in cold weather-going for rabbits, pheasants,quail. I always used flats and they were pure gum rubber and they did fine. When tubes started getting popular (mid 70's) I gave them a try and had horrible results. There was just no velocity at all. I even tried pocketing the tubes but still they were very slow. At that time ,small diameter tubes weren't around (at least in my area) so I never did try them at the colder temps. I did find that thinner gauges of flat latex worked okay ( .015" up to 0.30" ) as long as you kept them tucked away in your pocket ( likewise with the gum ). The flat latex I did't try until years later. Stick with thin gauge flats or pure gum rubber unless someone has had good results with smaller diameter tubes.


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## M.J (Nov 1, 2010)

Flatband said:


> When in my teens, I hunted with slingshots in cold weather-going for rabbits, pheasants,quail. I always used flats and they were pure gum rubber and they did fine. When tubes started getting popular (mid 70's) I gave them a try and had horrible results. There was just no velocity at all. I even tried pocketing the tubes but still they were very slow. At that time ,small diameter tubes weren't around (at least in my area) so I never did try them at the colder temps. I did find that thinner gauges of flat latex worked okay ( .015" up to 0.30" ) as long as you kept them tucked away in your pocket ( likewise with the gum ). The flat latex I did't try until years later. Stick with thin gauge flats or pure gum rubber unless someone has had good results with smaller diameter tubes.


Nope, the small tubes hate the cold.


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## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

Thanks MJ been meaning to test them in the cold. Now I know!


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