[Sca-cooks] slings

[Volker Bach]

Am Sonntag, 5. Juni 2005 05:43 schrieb Daniel Phelps:

> The hand sling was, if I am not mistaken, traditionally a rural
> peasant/poacher's weapon used to bag small game, i.e. the occasional
> squirrel, rabbit etc.  Sort of a medieval 22.  Yes it would require
> practice to use effectively but I would think that a bored sheepherder,
> pigherder, cattleherder etc. would have plenty of time to achieve
> reasonable
> proficiency as well as the incentive to do so if only to supplement his
> diet.   Of course hand chunking a smooth creek stone might be nearly as
> effective given sufficient practice.  Be that as it may I seem to recall
> reading that clay sling bullets have been found at battle sites in the
> middle east.  Does anyone recall any specific references?

I am still looking for references to clay projectiles, but throughot the 
ancient world you find lead ones (the Romans called the 'glandes' - acorns - 
because of their shape). Xenophon describes how these were much worse than 
arrows because if they hit unarmored flesh they would penetrate and the wound 
close after them...

> There was a short article I read quite a few years back written by a fellow
> over in Meridies regarding the staff sling as a instrument of war.
> Essentially it was apparently a "hand trebuchet" peasant levy weapon which,
> if used in mass fire mode, could presumedly interdict a specified area of
> effect with a substantial hail of projectiles.  Intuitively it would seem
> to have been less effective than massed arrow fire, albeit requiring less
> training and expense, yet questions remain in my mind as to maximum
> effective range vs. presumed appropriate projectile weights.  Does anyone
> recall any specific references?

I don't, but these guys might

http://www.slinging.org./

YIS

Giano


	

	
		
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