Anybody old enough to remember slingshots?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ieWrWLjii0


..a true national treasure.




**MODs/Admins** embedded video would be nice!

I had one!

Got me in trouble plenty of times too.

Yup! We used to make our own.

That guy's a true marksman! I wonder if he has the same skill with a rifle.
Thanks for sharing that video.

I've made them, too. Got one around here somewhere. Might have to go get one from Rufus. He lives pretty close to here.

Geoff

Edit: Did a search. R.I.P. Rufus Hussey

Hmmm remember? Ya I had one when I was very little, I could hardly pull the rubber band back. A few months ago a woman up the street who is a bit of an artist/craftsman made one for my son. Not the wrist rocket kind though she made it out of leather, she formed the leather so that when you twirl the rock around it actually stayed in the sling until you let go, at least for me, my son lost a few . No one got hurt though.

I have had many from the homemade ones, to Whamos, all the way up to the delux, at that time, Wrist Rockets. Used to hunt small game with them. Acorns were literally a blast in them too

Dang, you guys surprised me!
I was watching it again and forgot to refresh my page.


That really brings back memories for me. I used to be considered hot poop with one of those bean shooters, but I cheated by using one of those newfangled, hi-tech "wrist rockets". Since years before, I had dominated all the local competition at marbles(!), I had plenty of AMMO for practice/death/destruction.



..God, those were the days!!! Atari changed everything for kids.

Still available for sale here.

Was looking at SAKs in the display case earlier this week and noticed them on the bottom of the display, right under the air pistols.

Never had a slingshot myself, but we used to make homemade cross bows out of old 2x4's (back in the days when a 2x4 WAS a 2x4).

I used to run around as a kid in the Philippines with a sling shot in hand. We also had slingshot fights with rounded up clay for ammo. We'd shoot bats, flying lizards, spiders, each other and any critter was game. I am amazed that I came out unscathed. Fun memories. thanks

The shots that guy made in that video with a custom slingshot and rocks is more than astounding.

LuxLuthor said:

The shots that guy made in that video with a custom slingshot and rocks is more than astounding.

Click to expand...

Quoted For Truth!


Yes, you've succinctly pointed out something that isn't obvious to anyone who hasn't tried his hand at hitting something with a sling shot. Using ordinary rocks introduces a frustrating variable to the trajectory because of the lack of uniformity. The fact that he makes these things just like we did as kids and achieves what he does makes it all the more special. Like I said, a national treasure!


I especially liked how he "nicked" the top of that stick in the road to show the proper way to take out a rabbit! ..reminds me of "barking" squirrels. Anybody know about that?

Damn that guy is good. Imagine if he wanted to take you out, he could fire a rock right into your eye, lol.

Boy he was good in that video, amazing skill.

R.I.P.

Amazing what you can do when you don't have a TV. Try and explain that to my kids.

Thanks for sharing. Amazing Video. Makes me want to get my slingshot out of the gun cabinet! I don't think I've shot it more than a couple of times. Practically impossible to hit ANYTHING.

Bill

Of all the incredibly impossible shots he made, to me the most amazing one was hitting a quarter tossed in the air.

His own description of his accuracy was beyond what I could explain with repetitious "muscle memory." It is like he tapped into using "The Force."

Yep, still got a few laying around.

"The Force" that got me to thinking...

Yes, at first blush we all laughed, but when you think about it, it is spot on.

I'll give you a personal example of what I'm trying to explain.
Like I said, I used to be pretty good with a bean shooter. Nothing like Sensei Rufus here, but did you noticed that he said that he doesn't aim? I am the same way. It's nearly pure instinct and something I don't think can be taught, at least not easily, because I tried with all my friends. You could either hit stuff or not and the majority that try to use a slingshot cannot hit a damned thing and give up out of frustration. What seems to make it worse is that practice and effort didn't seem to help. A slingshot is a very frustrating device because it seems so bloody simple! Well back to my point, I naturally transitioned into archery but for whatever reason I wasn't nearly as proficient. My first bow was a Fred Bear recurve (pretty cutting edge at the time!) and I was a decent shot but I always yearned for greater accuracy and consistency. This led to buying nearly every "latest and greatest" bow, arrows, rests, sights, etc. etc. in an attempt to become "one with the bow". All the latest gear and practice didn't justify my meager improvements. I was considered a very good shot but in my mind it seemed like I had to try very hard and eventually gave it up. There is definitely a "Force" at work. After many years of observation, I think the secret ingredient is salt and Earth. Master Rufus seems to be made from this and that helps make him be in tune with it. He doesn't need to try, it just passes through him. Call it what you wish and call me crazy from inferring all this from a YouTube video, but that is what I know to be true. Peace.



P.S. For those that like good stories, do a Google search for "Whitefeather" and read about Gunny Sgt. Carlos Hathcock. He was also someone that was in touch with "the force" and you definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of it. Salt of the Earth he was too. RIP Gunny.

As a kid I was into high powered slingshots - dangerous stuff. You can't really consciously aim with these things - you just have to sort of feel when the aim is right. There were days when I was "in the zone" and I could hit really good, but that dude is just amazing :bow:

Thanks for the link.It's hard to believe how skillfull Rufus has become.Makes me want to grab the ol wrist rocket and head outdoors(still have the one I got as a kid).Too bad it's freezing outside.