Figure 1.--
|
Figure 1.-- |
I remember a lot of happy times shooting my slingshot when I was a little boy. We made our own out of a handy fork from a tree branch. The elastic was cut from an automobile or truck inner tube, and we made the pouch from a scrap of leather. Not many cars have innertubes anymore and those that do are made out of synthetic rubber which doesn't stretch very well. The old red, natural rubber tubes were really great. The kids today use surgical tubing, which is really stretchy and works great.
Marbles were our common ammunition, or lacking that, a round pebble made a fair substitute. The top of the line ammunition was steel ball bearings. My brother and I would hike the 2 miles to the auto junkyard and break up old wheel bearings to get the steel balls out of them. Our favorite hunting ground was the irrigation ditch near where we lived. We'd go there and shoot the "digger squirrels" that did terrible damage to the ditch banks. The ditch walker who patrolled the irrigation ditch would often give us a few coins for getting rid of the squirrels. With good ammunition, I could hit a squirrel almost every time at around 50 or 60 feet.
There are several companies that now manufacture sling shots. They are often called "Wrist Rockets". They are made from aluminum and molded plastic, with surgical tubing elastic bands. They sell for anywhere from $10 to $20. The police sort of frown on them and often take them away from kids if they catch them shooting them in the city limits. Remembering my early "slingshot" days, prompted me to look at the HBC review for the 1993 movie "The Slingshot". The Swedish title was "Kadisbellan". That was a wonderful movie that starred 14 year old Jasper Salen, in the lead role of Roland Schutt. His older brother, Bertil, as played by Niklas Olund. Jasper seems to have made the frame for his slingshot out of heavy wire.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main activities page]
[Return to the Main outdoor play page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossary]
[Satellite sites]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Sailor suits]
[Sailor hats]
[Buster Brown suits]
[Eton suits]
[Rompers]
[Tunics]
[Smocks]
[Pinafores]