# New pouch concept!



## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

Hello,

the discussions about the lifespan of flat bands have been inspiring. Most shooters confirmed my experiences: The bands always break close to the pouch, and some forum members said that the kinking may be responsible for that.

So I "designed" (it is really a simple idea) a pouch with slits, made for looped flat bands. I call this the "Reverse Chinese Loop" method.

Advantages: Longer band life (hopefully), cleaner look, no band loss for pouch attachment, thinner pouch (no kinked rubber and string).

Disadvantage: Cutting the tapered bands is a little harder, you have to cut them in a romboid style.

But that is not so hard, you simply fold the band in the middle. So you cut a 44 cm long piece of rubber from the roll, then you fold it at 22 cm. Then you use your pen, mark it, say, 3 cm at the "open" side and 2 cm at the folded side. Then you cut both layers. That would give you a band that is 2 cm X 2cm at the pouch and 3 cm X 3 cm at the fork (like the Fish Hunter). This tapering automatically centers the pouch.

Tested this on my trusted old Freddy, works like a charm!

We will see how long the bands last.

Jörg

PS: This idea was inspired by the Saunders plastic pouch, and also of course by the Chinese "pretzel" shooters. I am sure someone used it decades ago already. But I haven't seen this concept used recently.


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

JoergS said:


> Hello,
> 
> the discussions about the lifespan of flat bands have been inspiring. Most shooters confirmed my experiences: The bands always break close to the pouch, and some forum members said that the kinking may be responsible for that.
> 
> ...


Looks like Pimp Daddys done it again. Will have to try this. The ol ladys about to loose another pair of shoes.


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

Not only Saunders but Blue Skeen had been using a triangular hole with flat side toward the rubber. I have a set of Saunders bands that I have shot well over a 1000 shots with, that still show no signs of breaking. They are set up like this but cemented together near the pouch. Tex


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## alru19 (Jan 7, 2010)

That is absolutely amazing. This design will also minimizes weight at the pouch end and maximize energy transferred into the projectile. I know that the first generation saunders tapered/looped flat bands (the model with the crappy, clear, small plastic pouch) acutally bulged back out where they looped through the pouch (demonstrated in the first image below). I think they did this for durability, so you may be able to try this if the way they are cut now (second image below) continues to tear. It appears that saunders did away with this bulging concept though in the second generation of flat bands (like black mamba) so maybe it is not important. Not to mention that cutting the bulge would be difficult and probably negate any weight savings. My one quetion is at the tension of full draw, does the leather pouch deform at the slits and curl?


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## NightKnight (Dec 16, 2009)

Nice Design Jorg!



alru19 said:


> It appears that saunders did away with this bulging concept though in the second generation of flat bands (like black mamba) so maybe it is not important.


Actually, they are still slightly wider at the pouch. The Black Mamba bands I have are ~14.5mm at their thinnest, and ~17.5mm at the pouch.


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## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

The only concern I would have would be, is there any pouch movement laterally and do you have to keep centering it after every shot? Flatband


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## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

Flatband said:


> The only concern I would have would be, is there any pouch movement laterally and do you have to keep centering it after every shot? Flatband


The tapering takes care of that. The rubber is slightly squeezed into the slots, and the bands get wider towards the fork. In other words, the center position is "easiest" one.

When you draw out, the pouch of course deforms. Every pouch does that. But it does not affect the setup, there is no bulging or kinking.

I guess glueing the rubber to the pouch for a cleaner look would work - but would it really enhance the efficiency? I doubt that.

Jörg


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## baumstamm (Jan 16, 2010)

i´ve used a simular design since 4 years. i´ve tryed this with linatex  but if u didn´t taper in a extrem way, u always have to sort the pouche. if u use thin bands, this hadn´t last long!


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