# Anyone tried this?



## poekoelan (Jan 1, 2013)

It seems I'm going through a bandset a week ( flat bands and I shoot alot ) and the failures are ususally at the pouch. I've thought about wrapping a very small piece of a scrap flat band just in front of the pouch before I make the pouch tie to see if that will extend the life of the bands at all. Anyone tried this? What was your experience?


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

I go through a band set a day. I used to use a latex finger from a glove as a sleeve the way you describe. Worked well. At that time I was using double on inch thera gold. I got wise and went to singles. Double is over kill.


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## DaveSteve (May 16, 2012)

Haven't tried it yet.
I will give it a shot.
Good idea. 
I like the also the latex glove idea from treefork.


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## GrayWolf (May 14, 2012)

During last month's contest, I was going through 3 to 4 bandsets a day on my weekends. One thing that will help is not tying too tight. It took me quite a while to learn this. I get a lot more life out of a set that is not over tight. I use a cotton twine and run it on a stick of beeswax then use a cinch knot and only use a medium tug. The beeswax seems to help keep things snug...in my mind anyway. I know a lot of people use just the twine and don't have any problems. For a long time, I was over tightening the knot at the pouch and it would fail after only a couple hundred shots.

Of course, a heavy taper will fail a lot sooner than a straight cut, all things being the same.

Experimenting is half of the fun of this sport. Find out what works for you. If nothing else, it gives you a reason to shoot some more 

Todd


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## ash (Apr 23, 2013)

I wonder if teflon plumbing tape (PTFE) would be useful in some way? Perhaps one wrap of it before tying the band to the pouch to isolate the tie from rubbing on the band. Might be too slippery, but might work ok.


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## poekoelan (Jan 1, 2013)

Treefork, I went through a couple bandsets of straight 1" double TBG . I found out that it was really hard on pouches and my accuracy suffered a bit. But I wanted a little more speed than single 1" gave to my 44 lead balls. I found double 3/4" TBG to be just the ticket for me. In terms of speed and draw weight it's perfect for me. If only I could get a band set to last longer, I'd say it's my perfect set up. But I can't stand cutting four bands and attaching a pouch once a week.

Gray Wolf, I've never used string for a pouch tie, only small very thin strips of thin rubber using the wrap and tuck method. I pull this weak rubber to it's max when I make a pouch tie. You have me wondering if maybe I shouldn't pull it that tight. You also have me wondering if I should use some type of string and knot instead of rubber with the wrap and tuck.

Ash, I think that's a better I idea than the one I had. Slippery is good since friction is what causes failure.

I have a few more bandsets worth of TBG left. I'm going to give some pouch tie protection to them and see if it helps. I'll also not pull my rubber ties to the max. If I don't see a noticeable improvement, I'm giving up on flats for now and looking into tubes


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## lightgeoduck (Apr 3, 2011)

ash said:


> I wonder if teflon plumbing tape (PTFE) would be useful in some way? Perhaps one wrap of it before tying the band to the pouch to isolate the tie from rubbing on the band. Might be too slippery, but might work ok.


I don't use Teflon, but I do use tape... Check out this thread on my cotton tape attachment http://slingshotforum.com/topic/17420-how-to-use-cotton-tape-to-attach-band-sets-to-your-pouch-and-fork/?hl=cotton

I don't do it on the forks a lot but most of my sets at the pouch are tape , and no issues

LGD


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## All Buns Glazing (Apr 22, 2012)

A bandset a week isn't that bad is it? I'm all for increasing bandlife, but that seems ok to me, even if you're just casually plinking through the week.

I've used teflon tape before, Ash, but not as a protector at the pouch. Interesting and worth a try, even if for no other reason for the enjoyment of experimentation.


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

Anything that will move the stress point away from the pouch will help. The down side is any weight that you add at the pouch end will slow the speed and increase the hand slap. Also you need to be sure that the fork tips are smooth with no sharp corners or rough surface as the pouch pushes the rubber into the fork tips and tends to bruise the rubber right at the pouch. -- Tex


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## Aussie Allan In Thailand (Jan 28, 2013)

Well all,

I am hardly an expert on too dang much.

However for my own, and I have never had a band snap at the pouch end, but rather at the fork end.

Also a check of my signature block will establish that I shoot at the higher end of band strength, and stretch always; with usually heavy ammo as shot.

I merely use thin cotton, and never synthetic, string to tie off my pouches, after my wife assists by stretching the rubber from the pouch (be it latex, or TBG) slightly to avoid any pouch curl if overstretched.

I trust this may be of assistance to some.

Cheers Allan


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## poekoelan (Jan 1, 2013)

I also sometimes get band failure at the fork as well as the pouch since I do a bands same side style. In other words, I pull against the tie. I tried an OTT for a while but no what ammo I used or how I held the slingshot, I got major handslap so I settled on this style. So my band failures are always at the pouch tie or the fork tie. Anyway...

I took Ash's idea and used teflon tape for two experimental bandsets. First I wrapped the fork tie areas on two frames with teflon tape. Then I attached a double 3/4" TBG bandset. I wrapped the bands with a little teflon tape at the forks before I secured them with a scrap strip of TB. So the bands are sandwiched between thin layers of tape. I'm hoping the first layer will protect the bands a little when they slam into the fork, and I'm hoping the second layer will aid against the rubber on rubber friction from the tie strip. Then on the pouch tie, I also put a small strip of teflon tape around the bands and tied in my usual way with very thin rubber strips.

I do know that any additional weight at the pouch will translate into a loss of speed. But this tape is super thin and light. I doubt I'll notice a difference. But even if I lose one or two fps, it will be worth it if it does what I'm hoping it will do.

I also made a second bandset and did all of the things I mentioned above except that I arranged it so that edges of the bands aren't exposed at the pouch tie. Kind of like Bill Hayes' method only not as neat looking. And instead of it being double 3/4", it's single 1 1/2" folded over.

I'm hoping one or both of these will show improvement in band life. If not, I'm probably going to throw in the towel on flat bands for a while and look for longer lasting alternatives. Speaking of that, my red 32 rubber bands just showed up in the mailbox.


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## moongalba (Sep 2, 2013)

Not sure if I am in the right place to post this bit of information, and that It has mot been posted elsewhere. But for what it is worth I will summit it. I have noticed that the wrap and tuck way of attaching tubes to the slingshot seem to waist a lot of potential energy which can be turned into kinetic energy. I have taken to plugging the end of the tubing with a dry stick fallen from a tree. I sharpen the end of the stick to just under the width of the tube which is poking out about one eighth of inch. Turning the stick this way and that so that the tubing is level all the way to the pouch, I push the stick in as far as it will go than pull the tubing as far as it will go, just in case the stick has not done it's job properly. I do this two or three times to be on the safe side. If all is fine I cut off any surplice stick, the tubing should not require touching.

Now time for testing proper. I pull the tubing a quarter of the way, check that it has not slipped past the plug, then go for three quarters the at full stretch. If all seems ok I go for half a dozen at full stretch. I find that by using this method I have at least the width of the forks tubing is not wasted.

I apologize if this has been mentioned before. If it has then I take no credit for what I have written, but give all credit to those who have submitted it in like manner.

The Old Codger.


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