# Band Wear Clues



## ZippyBands (Jun 30, 2020)

Many slingshot fans already know how to determine if your bands are about to fail. But, for those who would like to have that information, I offer a few thoughts about spotting imminent failure due to wear in flat-band latex.

Why would you care if your bands are in the last 15% of their life?

*Some reasons to care are:*
If you are out walking or hunting and don’t want the delay of having to stop and change bands.
If you are going to a sling meet and do not want to change bands in the middle of a shoot.
Friends are coming and you want them to have a good shooting session without needing repairs.
You are running out of fresh, new bands and need to make or acquire more.

I am assuming that you are experienced at band cutting or that you have purchased professionally cut bands. In these cases, your bands are likely to “wear out” rather than fail because of edge nicks or edge stresses caused by rough cutting. Rough cuts lead to very short band life and failures that are not gradual or predictable. Band failures can also occur if the latex material has flaws. But this is much less common with modern elastics.

Below are some of the clues that indicate when flat bands are nearing the end of their useful life.

*Visual clues:* Look for small, rough, sawtooth “fuzzy bumps” on band edges near the pouch tie or at the fork tip. These look like fabric frays (see the photos). Also look for small holes, notches, cuts or tears.




































*Where to look:* If you have shot a particular sling often, you have a good idea where most breaks occur. I shoot tapered flat bands and for me the area just in front of the pouch tie is the most common break point. The pouch tie area is the spot that sees high impact forces as rebounding bands and pouch hit the sling. For tapered flats, this area is also stressed the most during the “pull and launch phases” of a shot.

If you have “ears” on your bands at the pouch tie, be sure to lift and check under them. Wear here is common and could be easily overlooked. If you have a sling with rough fork tips, this is another place to look.

*How to look:* Use both hands to stretch the bands in the suspect areas as you look. If your eyesight is not as sharp as it used to be, use a magnifying glass or headband magnifier. Look in good uniform light with a light, contrasting, colored background behind the bands. Direct sunlight is harsh, so shade can often be better. Artificial light that is above or behind your head works well too. The background should be a light and a contrasting color to the bands. Trying to see edge details on black bands against a black background would be tough.

*The stages of wear.* The first stage is fresh bands with little wear and no defects. The second stage is the appearance of fuzzy bumps on the band edges or heavily scuffed areas if you are looking at a fork tip. (See photos.) In stage two there should not yet be notches, tears or holes. But you might notice the bands being easier to pull and less powerful. Stage two means you have about 10% to 15% of band life left.

The third stage (See photos) is when small notches, small holes or center-line tears appear. The bands will be noticeably easier to pull and less powerful. In this stage you have only 2 to 10% of band life remaining. The fourth stage is “Busted”.

*When to stop shooting and replace the bands:* If I am just shooting at targets or cans at the house, I will continue until the bands break. This assumes a likely pouch break. If the wear is at the fork tip, there is the potential for the band to break and slap you in the face. This is dangerous. For significant fork tip wear, I might stop shooting at stage two rather than continuing until the band breaks.

*How often to check the bands:*
If your bands are at stage one, you should probably check them at least every 25 shots. If you are at stage two or three, you might want to check them more frequently.

*Some other band wear clues:
Band pull force:* As the bands wear, internal damage accumulates. This reduces the pull force for a given draw length. The bands feel “softer” as you pull them. You might also notice a drop in velocity and lower point of impact.

*Handslap decreases:* Because the pull force is less, the total energy that goes into the bands is also less. This can translate to less handslap or maybe no handslap.

*Sound of rebounding bands and the catchbox:* Lower energy in the bands also means the sound produced as you shoot is also less. Fresh bands tend to have a “snappy” sound. Well-worn bands are quieter.

You might also notice less noise as your projectile hits the catch-box backstop. For my catch-box, fresh bands will send the steel ball faster and make a solid “thump”. Worn bands will generate less sound.

What I have written above applies to flat bands. I don’t shoot tubes often. Does the information above also apply to tubes?

If you notice more clues about band or tube wear, photos or experiences that are helpful, please reply or post that information.


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## ukj (Jan 10, 2021)

Well noted and explained.
Would be interesting to read your experiences if you shot well thought out and installed cuffs.
At least for me its a no brainer closely observing pulling the connection to max the different load distribution properties.
Cuffs provide a flexable friction "give and add play" while tieing has a "hard stop" 
Having a well rounded frame limiting band crash damage and choosing the apporiate cuff id , od and length for a given band width, installed correctly ,
at least in my findings greatly extends band life.
ukj


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## Tag (Jun 11, 2014)

Excellent post, I know I can forget to check tubes and flats alike. Thanks for sharing


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## StringSlap (Mar 2, 2019)

Only thing I would add is to listen for the tell tale little "tick" sound as you draw the bands. That's the moment the tear starts. You don't always hear it, but I've caught it several times and avoided total failure while shooting.


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## ZippyBands (Jun 30, 2020)

ukj said:


> Well noted and explained.
> Would be interesting to read your experiences if you shot well thought out and installed cuffs.
> At least for me its a no brainer closely observing pulling the connection to max the different load distribution properties.
> Cuffs provide a flexable friction "give and add play" while tieing has a "hard stop"
> ...


Thanks for the reminder about cuffs. 

I have tried cuffs in the past, but did not notice any significant improvements in band life. Maybe it is time for a more controlled test with shot counts rather than just impressions. 

What I have tried that should have similar flexibility at the pouch is to wrap the sling bands to the pouch with 1/2 of a #32 rubber band. Have you tried that and how would you rate the use of rubber ties Vs cuffs? 

I have also tried tying the piece of rubber band a bit looser on the sling bands. In doing that, I was hoping to give even more flexibility at that joint. That method did not seem to help either. So, I have gone back to the easy and light constrictor knot with cotton string. 

You are right about trying to minimize "crash damage" from the bands impacting the frame. Like many folks, I have gradually moved to smaller frames. These shoot and handle great but the compromise seems to be more band crashes to the frame since there is less space for the bands to pass through the forks on the rebound. 

Thanks for your reply.


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## ZippyBands (Jun 30, 2020)

Tag said:


> Excellent post, I know I can forget to check tubes and flats alike. Thanks for sharing


Yes, when we are shooting it is easy to just keep going. 

I tend to glance at the bands, when I pick the sling up for the first time of the day or after adjusting the catch box and coming back to the sling. That is usually a quick glance. 

Maybe once a day or every few days, I will go through the slings that are regularly used and check the bands more carefully. If I am about to travel with slings (in the checked luggage) they get examined more closely.


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## ZippyBands (Jun 30, 2020)

StringSlap said:


> Only thing I would add is to listen for the tell tale little "tick" sound as you draw the bands. That's the moment the tear starts. You don't always hear it, but I've caught it several times and avoided total failure while shooting.


The "tick" is interesting. I don't think I have heard it before. Maybe, the "tick" might also be felt as a quick vibration as the sling is pulled. I need to be better at sensing a "disturbance in the Force" like Luke Skywalker from Star Wars... 

But, I confess that my hearing is so bad that I now look carefully before stepping off street curbs to avoid becoming the next victim of the "assassin class" of electric cars....!


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