In my younger days I had a catapult which had 1/4" square elastic. I can't remember the make of the catapult but it was a silvery colour. I yearned to be able to give an effective pull on 3/8" square elastic but I was too puny. What's the strongest catapult elastic you can get these days?
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Valve cap problems, L'es?
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Peashooters are more discrete.
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BBD will be working overtime on this one, L'escargot.
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>> Valve cap problems, L'es?
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I wouldn't think that projecting valve caps from a catapult was very exciting!
;-)
Last edited by: L'escargot on Thu 14 Oct 10 at 18:26
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I see they are referred to as "slingshots". Rubbish; they're catapults. A slingshot is something you whirl around and let half of it go to release the missile. Something to do with catapults being illegal I believe.
Cliff, while I'm in grumpy pedant mode; it's "discreet". "Discrete" = separate.
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"Something to do with catapults being illegal I believe."
Don't think so - Amazon have dozens for sale and you can buy one in any fishing tackle shop. - Used for groundbaiting
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>> I see they are referred to as "slingshots". Rubbish; they're catapults. A slingshot
>> is something you whirl around and let half of it go to release the missile.
A catapauly is that thing with stretchy elastic; a sling is the thing you attack Goliaths with. A slingshot is normally a pebble. All this is down to creeping americanisation - and that's down to crap cartoons and cheap imports on TV.
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You're nowhere near being pedantic - just correct.
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>>
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>> Cliff, while I'm in grumpy pedant mode; it's "discreet". "Discrete" = separate.
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Yes, I'm so sorry. I felt something didn't look quite right as I typed it, but hovering between looking it up and pressing the button, I went nuclear.
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>> Sir will be wanting one of these...
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>> www.merlinarcherycentre.co.uk/acatalog/Barnett_Diablo_Slingshot.html
I've got one of those somewhere, which I bought about 15 years ago. Would effectively put a marble through a shiplap shed wall at about 5 metres. So I was told... ;-)
I have absolutely no idea what happened to it. ISTRC I paid about £15 for it back then, so it's actually got a lot cheaper since, with inflation factored in.
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>>Would effectively put a marble through a shiplap shed wall at about 5 metres. So I was told... ;-)<<
Shouldn't that be :-(
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I had one of those catapults as a kid. rather inaccurate. i preferred a slingshot which was brutally efffective - hurling a pebble at very high speed.
I never hit my target with either... rabbits...
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Moving up scale a bit, I've sometimes hankered after a trebouchet (I think they are called). I'm not sure where to get the elastic, but the performance is said to be impresive - hurling a piano half a mile, can that be true?
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Half a mile might be a bit of an exaggeration and pianos are not the ideal missile but they were very effective machines. They have a full size working model at Warwick castle and I watched a demonstration last year. Rather graceful to watch - Like a very slow bowler!
Build your own:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=pd_lpo_ix_dp_am_us_uk_en_trebuchet_gl_toy?keywords=trebuchet&tag=lpo_ixdpamusukentrebuchetgl_toy-21&index=blended
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Used to great effect on a Nissan Sunny by a relatively youthful looking Jeremy Clarkson in 1996, too.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwIbpVkxLKc
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Trebuchet; now you're talking! Youngest and I built one out of scrap as a school project using this handy online calculator. The machine is still around somewhere. We could lob marbles 15m across the garden and have them land consistently in a small wooden bowl. It was commended by class vote; it was the only machine that didn't naff out under test. Heh heh!
You don't need elastic for a trebuchet; it's all done by a falling weight and a long lever.
www.algobeautytreb.com/
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Sounds like two parts of my anatomy.
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I've remembered. My catapult was made by Milbro.
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