# Alliance Rubber bands, confused



## poekoelan

I've been playin with chained bands lately. Decided to research them a bit more and I'm confused. Does a high rubber content also mean a high latex content?? What is the difference ( if any ) between actual rubber and latex?

Most seem to say that the Alliance pale crepe bands lack any kind of performance. But Alliance's web page says that the pale crepes have the highest rubber content. Here's what their web page says.

Pale Crepe Gold:The rubber band with the softest stretch. It has the highest percentage of rubber content and the greatest number of pieces per pound. Pale Crepe Gold® is highly recommended for repeated application and for packaging pliable goods where a soft hold is most important.

Sterling:The best value per rubber band. It has a high percentage of rubber content and an excellent count per pound. Sterling® is highly recommended for fast application and repeat use.

Advantage:The rubber band for everyday use. It has a mid-range rubber content. Advantage® is recommended for industrial applications where a sturdy band with higher tensile strength is required.

Assuming that rubber content and latex content mean the same thing, the Pale Crepes should be the best. But most say they lack any kind of performance. And most people here say the Sterlings perform better than the Advantages. The web site says the Sterlings have more rubber content than the Advantages, so that makes sense to me. But it also says the Pale Crepes have the highest rubber content. That doesn't make sense to me.

Can anyone add any clarity to this? Thanks


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## Sunchierefram

Woo! You've got my brain all mixed up!!


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## Sunchierefram

My advice is to try all of them out to see which one shoots better.


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## BrotherDave

I've tried all three formulas from Alliance. I'd read about the rubber content too (I think rubber in this case means vulcanized latex).

You'd think the Pale Gold Crepes would be fastest, but they're not. They must be compounded with something that softens the rubber, so they stretch forever with very little pull weight, but don't contract very fast (great for practicing butterfly though). The Advantages must have too much clay in them, so don't stretch far before "stacking", and break more easily. The Sterlings are the fastest and are pretty long lasting. (In between the Sterlings and the Pale Crepes are Alliance "file bands". A fourth formula from what I can tell. They stretch further and easier than the Sterlings, but aren't quite as fast. But they are much faster than the Pale Crepes. Hope this doesn't confuse the issue more. I was a real office band junkie until I started shooting latex. ) Charles and others have posted lots of info about office bands if you want to search the forum.

I love Sterling size 117b. With two per side I was getting about 190 fps with 3/8" steel, and they lasted up to 792 shots before breaking. Great plinking set up. If you shoot Sterling 107s, realize that with two 117b's per side you are shooting 80% of the same rubber with no cutting or tying needed (see picture). (107's, 1 strand per side is 5/8"x1/16". 117b's are 1/8"x 1/16", times 4 strands per side, equals 4/8"x1/16".)


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## Imperial

professor charles is perhaps the best to explain the whole office rubber stuff. im sure he'll respond , just give him time.


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## Charles

Personally, I found the Alliance crepe bands to be crap bands. I found the Alliance Sterling bands to be quite noticeably superior to crepe and to advantage bands, both in terms of speed and longevity. For flat bands I prefer the Alliance Sterling 105s to the 107s. Cut in half, the 105s are 10 inches long, which is a good band length, given enough length for pouch and fork ties but not a whole lot of excess. But the 107s cut in half are 14 inches long ... too long for one band, but not long enough for two bands. You get 50 107s in a one pound box, but you get 70 105s in a one pound box, and the price is about the same. So the 105s are more economical. As I have said many times, the 105s and 107s are not the fastest bands in the world, but they do handle heavy ammo well. And they are tough to beat for ease of setup.

I like the Alliance File bands as well ... doubled they give good power and speed.

I have no great analytical reason for the differences. But my experience seems to be well confirmed by others.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## V-alan-tine

To me softest stretch = low return speed


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## poekoelan

Thanks guys. I've been playing with red 32s from rubberband gun and I like them. Though the draw is heavier, I can come close to the speed of flats. I have some alliance file bands that I'm going to try too. After that, the sterlings are next on my list. My son has been playing with the advantage #64s. They lacked speed in a 333 set up. Going to a 433 showed a noticeable improvement. So much yet to try with TBG and chained bands, I may never get around to trying tubes!


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## Sunchierefram

That's the spirit! Just trying things out until you see what works for you and what doesn't.


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## Charles

Those Rubberbandguns red #32s are also good bands. I used a braided setup of those to shoot a qualifying score for Power Rangers.

As you note, it is easy to play around with tapers when doing braids or chains with office rubber bands.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## ash

BrotherDave said:


> I've tried all three formulas from Alliance. I'd read about the rubber content too (I think rubber in this case means vulcanized latex).
> 
> You'd think the Pale Gold Crepes would be fastest, but they're not. They must be compounded with something that softens the rubber, so they stretch forever with very little pull weight, but don't contract very fast (great for practicing butterfly though). The Advantages must have too much clay in them, so don't stretch far before "stacking", and break more easily. The Sterlings are the fastest and are pretty long lasting. (In between the Sterlings and the Pale Crepes are Alliance "file bands". A fourth formula from what I can tell. They stretch further and easier than the Sterlings, but aren't quite as fast. But they are much faster than the Pale Crepes. Hope this doesn't confuse the issue more. I was a real office band junkie until I started shooting latex. ) Charles and others have posted lots of info about office bands if you want to search the forum.
> 
> I love Sterling size 117b. With two per side I was getting about 190 fps with 3/8" steel, and they lasted up to 792 shots before breaking. Great plinking set up. If you shoot Sterling 107s, realize that with two 117b's per side you are shooting 80% of the same rubber with no cutting or tying needed (see picture). (107's, 1 strand per side is 5/8"x1/16". 117b's are 1/8"x 1/16", times 4 strands per side, equals 4/8"x1/16".)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sterling 117b 792 shots.jpg


As a 117b user, you should definitely look into FAI Supersport model aircraft rubber. 1/8 x 1/16 and specifically engineered for extreme energy storage. "FAI Model Supplies" is the source.


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## flipgun

I am also on the Rebelslingshot forum and they are more oriented to hunting with naturals and chained bands.

There seems to be a consensus that the #32 clays in a 3-3-3 pattern are optimal for a majority of hunting functions. #32 clays are the ones that are sold to be shot on rubber band guns. They are not expensive and are easy to get.

Tryin' to help.


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## BrotherDave

BrotherDave said:


> As a 117b user, you should definitely look into FAI Supersport model aircraft rubber. 1/8 x 1/16 and specifically engineered for extreme energy storage. "FAI Model Supplies" is the source.


Thanks Ash. As a matter of fact I recently got some off of eBay. I'm still experimenting, but it's performance is superior to any office rubber bands. It's a continuous strip, so you still have to cut and tie. My dream is that Hygenic and Alliance will collaborate and make precise tolerance, pure latex rubber bands in an extensive array of sizes. Slingshots are such a big market, it's only a matter of time. :lol:



flipgun said:


> I am also on the Rebelslingshot forum and they are more oriented to hunting with naturals and chained bands.
> 
> There seems to be a consensus that the #32 clays in a 3-3-3 pattern are optimal for a majority of hunting functions. #32 clays are the ones that are sold to be shot on rubber band guns. They are not expensive and are easy to get.
> 
> Tryin' to help.


I know the Rubber Band Gun bands are supposed to be the best for chained bands. I'm no one to question this consensus, but I got some size 125 (5"x1/8"x1/16") from them (Magnum Enterprises) and wasn't too impressed. They have a nice feel, but I never got them to perform as well as the Sterlings in any of the straight or pseudo tapered configuration I tried. The quality is really inconsistent too. Many of the bands had thin spots and broke easily. Alliance are pretty high quality and consistent in my experience. YMMV.


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## poekoelan

On a side note, I tried two more chain set ups. One was the alliance advantage file bands in a 222 chain. I doubled them over on themselves before making the chain so it looks like a 444 chain. Not too impressed with this set up. Not very fast and about the only time I felt much hand slap with chains. These are supposed to be good bands so I might try some other type of set up with them. Ammo was .44 lead and 3/8 hex nuts

The other set up was office max brand 64s. I got a handful from work. Wow. A noticeable improvement over the advantage 64s. A 433 chain seemed very comparable to the red clay 32s in a 544 chain. Anyone else had a good experience with office max 64s? How do they compare to the sterlings?

Probably gonna order some sterlings soon.

Brother Dave, the ones that most people like are the rubberbandgun.com mediums. Size 32. Some people call them red clay 32s. Those are what I have. Very good.


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