Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Inner tubing: A comeback?

I recently tested inner tubing from bikes, not a very good slingshot band material. Unstretchy and slow.

But now I learned that until WW2, inner tubings were made from natural latex, until the shortages lead to using a material called butyl rubber as a substitute. That substitude was then kept to this day.

Except that some high end guys are using latex again, simply because they believe that it is lighter and has less rolling resitance.

Read about the inner tubing history here

So I bought the best stuff I could find (a whole 28" tubing set weighs less than 60 gramms =  960 gr) and it arrived today!

I immediately checked it out and it is VERY PROMISING. It stretches more far than TB Gold (about 65%) and feels more linear until the very end of the stretch. I banded a Panther up with 15cm effective draw, untapered. 5 kg draw! And fast. Probably the fastest tubular rubber I ever tested.



As soon as I have some time, I will make a tapered butterfly set and test the heck out of it.

30 comments:

  1. Realy good bandset you made there :)

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  2. looking forward to learning more about this

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  3. very interesting! I like how you explore different types always studying and testing!

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  4. How much did they charge you for a latex inner tube? Are they comparable in price to TB Gold?
    Have you tried "Super-Jumbo Rubber Movers Bands." I saw them at a harbor freight store.
    http://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece-super-jumbo-rubber-mover-bands-65906.html
    They are about 18-20mm wide and come in lengths from 29"-45" inches. They are basically giant office bands.?

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  5. Seems I've heard sunlight is an unforgiving enemy of this rubber, but your first report is very encouraging. The search for the fastest rebounding rubber continues! :)

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  6. Looks like those balloons that clowns carry around and shape into animals for little kids. Did you do any testing or comparison of your condom bands to theraband, they are latex too. I can't wait to see the numbers on this stuff. Good work!

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  7. Hello Jöerg. The "inner tubing" is quite wide term today, i bought some cheap tubes recently, and theyre made of some plasticky crappy material, that does stretch some 20-30% and then tears without much effort, real bummer. I remember the good ol' brick red tubings that were still sometimes available in early 80's. These were great.

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  8. Cool! Could this be a cheap alternative to Thera band?

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  9. im curious about the prices compared to performance

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  10. unbelievable . gotta get my hands on some .. are the prices worth it?

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  11. Interesting, where did you get that from?

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  12. That is exciting. I wonder how they would compare to Tex latex bands? ........... And ok I still want to win a panther. Nice job as usual on your new design

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  13. Yellow :)
    Wow, I have never seen a tubes like this.
    Normal black are weak an slow as you have mentioned.
    Best inner “tubes” I had in my hands came out of the football bals – my nephews little orange shooter:
    http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3392/img0688ak.jpg
    In my opinion faster that TBGold, but not so durable especially exposed to the sunlight.

    Waiting fore some tests of that tubes :)
    Cheers
    Rafal

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  14. Have you ever used the red truck inner tube

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  15. Probably not cheaper than theraband, in absolute terms. But theraband is only sheaper in bulk, so for me as a not very frequent shooter it could be a good alternative. There's a specialized runners bike store in my neighborhood, so if the test turn out good I definitely give it a try.

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  16. Sounds like a nice band :)

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  17. Interesting. That's all we used as kids when we made slingshots.

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  18. Is there the possibility to win such a slingshot?

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  19. hi jorg, i'm new here. just found your videos on youtube a few days ago when i was searching for instructions on how to make slingshots. i used to shoot homemade slingshots when i was a kid growing up here in the philippines, i was a crack shot, if i may say so myself! now i'm rekindling my interest and hoping i can get my kids interested in slingshots as well.

    today, i will look for latex inner tubes in the local bicycle shops. hopefully, they have it and i can build a slingshot patterned after one of yours. it's nice to have found your blog! keep building those slingshots!

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  20. Good to know!!! I can get that A LOT easier... Thanks!

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  21. Interesting stuff! have you ever tried Alliance #107's ??? real good easy bands! love to see a comparison of that and other elastics!

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  22. interesting to see how it works!

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  23. what is the best bands set up for long range precision shooting with the panther ?
    Thanks

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  24. very interesting, sir! i will try and buy some off ebay if they have any.

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  25. can u give the link of the yt video?

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  26. Useful information shared here. If anyone looking to buy michelin tyres pune then you can contact Shree Tyres.

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