# getting the most out of your Tubes/Bands



## nutthrower (Dec 18, 2011)

hey guys, I put this out there some time ago and thought I had a handle on it....but.....I was hoping we could do this one more time. my question is, and by the way I use tubes but I would think it goes for bands as well. I'll put it this way, you have a distance of 10" of rubber from frame to pouch, you pull to the back of your ear, which for me is 32", with the tubes I use, this gives me approx. 25# draw - so I shorten the length to 8" of rubber from frame to pouch, same draw length with poundage going up to #30lb. with that said am I getting the most out of my tubes/bands at the shorter length ? I was told earlier that the more rubber length used the better performance you will get, this makes since but I loose poundage by doing this, I see these slingshots that shoot arrows and owners are saying they will come with 50lb. tubes and they only pull to the back of the ear, but my arrows do not seem to fly as well or fast as theirs do? sorry for dragging this out, but any help would be nice, maybe even some suggestions on tubing to use. I use 7/16" od X 3/32 wall and I realize size doesn't matter, ........well here anyway  thanks guys


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

sorry wrote a long post and then realized you were talking about arrows.

wll


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

My post did not pertain to arrows, sorry

wll


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## nutthrower (Dec 18, 2011)

hey wII, anything you have to say has always been worthwhile - I would have like to seen what you had, I guess my question didn't come across very well to others either, I've seen questions answered in sort about tube length but that's not what I'm looking for, my question I think would work be it arrows or lead, I'll throw it your way like this, can you get as good of performance from short tubes verses longer tubes? I once saw here that someone stated with longer tubes or bands you have more working rubber so better performance - agree?

at any point thanks for your thoughts , always appreciated

Nut


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## honorary pie (Feb 12, 2015)

Optimum performance happens when you draw your bands around 500% of their resting length.. If you have10", then your draw is only stretching to 300%.. You are underpowering your bands by either having them too long, or not drawing far enough? Either way, its the same result, slower shots, better band life. ... If you shorten your bands to six inches your draw will be a bit heavier, and much faster.. Wll is probably chiming in with lots of info regarding appropriate bandsets for crazy heavy ammo. Riiiight, about... Soon


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## nutthrower (Dec 18, 2011)

honorary pie - thanks for the reply to start with - so you feel shorter tubes (min. length say 6") will perform as well as say 10" length tubes as long as each is drawn to their 500% ?


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## honorary pie (Feb 12, 2015)

all other things being equal, you are correct. 500% is what most people feel is optimal as a starting point, this is why tall people aren't inherently better shooters..because the draw length itself means little, but rather the ratio to the 'un-stretched' rubber. this is only a guideline, I personally stand around 425-450, (because I like to change up ammo) so I use 8.5-9'' active length for a 40-45'' draw.. however, going beyond 500 is still possible, and will negatively affect your band life, and vise versa. if someone has mentioned using longer bands, it was probably in reference to hands slaps or band life.

I'd definitely suggest you shorten you bands, but perhaps not quite to 6, as the change from 10 will be dramatic, and may find yourself wanting to draw beyond your current anchor point.... however this is just my opinion.


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

nutthrower said:


> hey wII, anything you have to say has always been worthwhile - I would have like to seen what you had, I guess my question didn't come across very well to others either, I've seen questions answered in sort about tube length but that's not what I'm looking for, my question I think would work be it arrows or lead, I'll throw it your way like this, can you get as good of performance from short tubes verses longer tubes? I once saw here that someone stated with longer tubes or bands you have more working rubber so better performance - agree?
> 
> at any point thanks for your thoughts , always appreciated
> 
> Nut


Honorary Pie is correct, you need that 500% elongation factor, who ever said the longer tubes/bands the better performance you get is very, very wrong. it may be easier to pull and the tubes may last for a very long time, but performance will suffer greatly.

I have really seriously shortened my tubes to give me a 500%+ elongation factor, and if I only get 250 to 300 shots, so be it, the difference in performance is tremendous. I was using a static length of 8.5 to 9 inches and a 38" draw ... now I try to be in the 7.25" area for my 38" draw. ...... Same draw length = 524% elongation plus the weight of about 2 inches less rubber = big increase in speed !

If you are going to use you sling for hunting, you want you ammo to hit your target the same day you shoot it.....lobbing ammo with a slow pitch softball trajectory is unsatisfactory to me.

If you want to save a bit on tube life then cut down to a 450-475% elongation, I would not go less than that, as performance really depends on percentage of elastic stretch.

wll


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## nutthrower (Dec 18, 2011)

many thanks to you both - (wII and Honorary pie) my focus now, as it should have been it seems will be on the % factor, mainly due to the fact all my shooting has to do with hunting only.


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