# Anatomy of a band break



## Frisky (Sep 13, 2020)

I broke a band on the 4th slingshot in three days. I expected this, as all four were in the 700 to 800 plus shot range. All four broke within 1/8th inch of the pouch tie, on the inside band. Obviously, that's the stress point in my shooting. I have an idea that someone else mentioned here in the past. Instead of retying or gluing the ends back together, I'm going to place the bands through the pouch, in the normal manner, but then fold them over and glue them together







with superglue. The glue should hold fine, as I'm gluing flat surfaces together and not the butted edges like I do when I'm gluing a break back together. That should reduce stress on the band and allow for improved band life. I'll test it on one slingshot and report.

Joe


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## Frisky (Sep 13, 2020)

Here's another pic.


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

Saunders glues some of theirs on their double bands and I really haven't been impressed by it because of the way that their pouches slip around in the glued loop. But that's the only time that I've seen glue used on the pouch. Are you going to stretch the band and glue it under pressure?


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## Frisky (Sep 13, 2020)

Good question. I was going to just pull it straight, with little pressure.

Joe


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## CataDave (May 17, 2021)

I would really hesitate to use super glue on that side of a band. Dried cyanoacrylate is very hard and creates sharp edges. If the band breaks again in the same spot or past that point, it could harm you much worse than the band alone. Especially if it hits your face. I would use latex-based glue like Copydex if anything.

Sorry, wrong thread. There were many similar threads lately. I wanted to reply to this one instead:








To retie or not?


I've been experimenting with band life. My bands were 8" active length, tapered 1/2" to 3/8" and made from Theraband Gold. I got close to 800 shots at 8" before they broke. I then retied to 7" until they broke and went to 6". In all, I got around 1,200 shots out of them. So, retying gave me...




www.slingshotforum.com


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## Frisky (Sep 13, 2020)

The reason it can't harm the shooter is if the band breaks at the fork tip, it can fly back at the shooter, but there's no glue on that end. If it breaks anywhere at the pouch end, where there is hard glue, it flies away from the face. 

Joe


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## CataDave (May 17, 2021)

Frisky said:


> The reason it can't harm the shooter is if the band breaks at the fork tip, it can fly back at the shooter, but there's no glue on that end. If it breaks anywhere at the pouch end, where there is hard glue, it flies away from the face.
> 
> Joe


Yes, I wanted to reply to another thread as it is mentioned. On the other hand, a hand-hit could be hurting too. Way less than the other way, of course. Still, I would not put anything hard and/or sharp on my bands. Just my personal opinion. Whatever floats your boat.

Anyway, I must admit that I find it pretty amazing that it is even possible to glue latex bands with cyanoacrylate and it apparently works. Good to know.


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