# Fast Bands..are they really? where do you get them?



## desert drifter (Jan 14, 2012)

I'm an ol'timer when it comes to slingshots but a newb to all the latest high tech stuff. I came across this youtube..






Its of a fella getting over 800' feet per second with "heated Fast bands"

To be honest.....I'm a little sceptical. But whats the difference between the Therabands and these fastbands? Anyone ever try the Fast Bands? Where could you find some to try?

Anyhelp or information you care to share will be appreciated.

Thanks

'drif


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

800 fps I didn't see that on the video plus that has to be impossible, that is 38 special velocities. Chris


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

Torsten makes his bands from theraband. Here is a video on how he does it.


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## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

August West said:


> 800 fps I didn't see that on the video plus that has to be impossible, that is 38 special velocities. Chris


its in meters per second so yea its 800 fps


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

Does anyone know what the projectile was? I have a hard time believing that it is possible with any type of functional projectile, admittedly I am a modern slingshot noob. Chris


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## torsten (Feb 9, 2010)

Yes, this is my video.
It is a test from 2010. I used 7,5mm steel balls and extremely tapered black Thera Band. Measurements (hope I remember right): 30 mm on the fork side and 7mm on the pouch side - two layers per side and cut to 27cm (maybe 26cm?) length.
I heated the bands up with VERY hot water and put a few shots over the chrony - with the results you can see in the vid.
There was a little discussion when I posted the vid in different forums in 2010. And to be honest, I myself had a lot of doubts if these results where correct.But interesting was the fact, that the first shot was the fastest and the others where slower and slower: the water in the bottles cooled down!
So I did a similar test with nearly the same mesurements, hot water and black Thera band in the last summer. And I was surprised about the results: not THAT much speed but nearly 240 m/s with the fastest shot. And then slower with every shot (the water in the bottles cooled down!).

Other shooters also put a few vids on youtube about tests with heated bands- - also with results you can`t get with non heated bands. But not faster than in this video, something around 550 fps and Thera band gold.

I know, heated bands are NOTHING for daily use!
But my goal was to find out what is the limit in terms of speed for a slingshot projectile.
And I like the results a lot

However, I reached 507 fps with non heated bands the last summer. Which is also a VERY good speed for a slingshot - and way more practical than the heated stuff









http://www.youtube.com/user/1611torsten#p/u/7/MeGvDShYUuY

Best regards
Torsten


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

I believe it is a 6.35mm (1/4") steel ball bearing.

These weigh approximately 1.05 grams.

Moving at 800 ft/s will yield around 23 foot pounds or 31.2 joules of energy.

A very functional projectile indeed.

EDIT : Lol,too slow, well there you have it.


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

WOW!!!! I understand that it is not practical but just a test to see the max speed but whatever, that is amazing, I would not have thought it possible for a normal slingshot pulled by a person. Your getting close to blackpowder speeds. LOL Chris


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## desert drifter (Jan 14, 2012)

Thanks Torsten, your video and results are very interesting. Those are some phenomenal velocities.

'drif


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## bullseyeben! (Apr 24, 2011)

I have never even tried heated bands, but have got very small amo aprox 6mm hit 500 fps... add 300fps to that! Wow !


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## torsten (Feb 9, 2010)

bullseyeben! said:


> I have never even tried heated bands, but have got very small amo aprox 6mm hit 500 fps... add 300fps to that! Wow !


500 fps are more than enough! You need very warm days (over 25°C - the more the better!) to get this speed numbers
I can get only 15-25 shots from one band (first attachement) with this speed. Really not that much - but these few shots are amazing...









Regards
Torsten


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