Talk:Slingshot

This needs cleaning up, there seems to be alot of point form near the end. I'm sure it could be condensed.

Also, how about some history of the slingshot as a weapon, ie where and when was it developed, how was it used?

the sling shot is illegal in australia but is leagal in the untited states

Certain types of slingshots are illegal in parts of the United States. It's difficult to say what is legal and isn't, because this is determined as state law and not federal law. For example, New York State prohibits slingshots with an arm brace, but other states don't. --Glacialfury 21:15, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

The discussion on attaching the pocket with a dowel and cotter clear is not clear to me. Needs a better description or picture.

As well, there seems to be a Slovenian equivalent to the Slingshot article (locate it as "frača"), however, it is not listed within the languages bar on the left. That's my only nit pick. --Ryan Cordell (Guest) 19:03, 28 April 2009 (GMT) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.212.235.197 (talk)

Crossbow-slingshot

I have also seen a type a slingshot which was made like a crossbow with a long boom. I saw this on a picture taken by Guido Sterkendries. Might have been with pygmy population, not exactly sure. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.244.192.17 (talk) 14:56, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

reference is ad

At the end there's a reference to a website, which looks a lot like an advertorial and hasn't anything to do with the history, accept that they exist since 1954.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.95.101.38 (talk) 15:26, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Terminology

My understanding is that this device is a 'slingshot' in North America but universally a 'catapault' in the UK. Unless someone thinks I'm wrong we should probably make that explicit. DJ Clayworth (talk) 19:40, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Agreed. I'm British, and it's never called a slingshot here, to the extent that I wasn't sure what "slingshot" meant when I first encountered it with this meaning. "Catapult" and nothing else in the UK. 86.154.9.177 (talk) 21:55, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the slingshot in the way it is described here (and not as a US word), so it is certainly called a slingshot here in Britain, even if not by you. However the OED does also list in its definition of catapult that, as well as the primary examples of such devices, it is also used (chiefly Brit.) instead of slingshot, so Okay, I'll take out the word "incorrectly". 86.9.117.51 (talk) 23:39, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

Larger?

Slingshots are not confined to hand-held y-shaped weapons. Larger versions, which consist just of the elastics and pouch exist to be held by a person at each end, with a third person launching, or else tied to two stationary objects (poles, etc.) These are also slingshots, are they not? Or do they have their own term? The article shouldn't limit to only small handheld Y-shaped ones TheHYPO (talk) 05:25, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Possible error in this article

Russian word "rogatina" (рогатина) is a name for a heavy spear with a very strong shaft (pole) used against horses in mediaeval warfare and for hunting purposes, mostly to hunt bears, up to the twentieth century. Such a weapon usually had some crossing below the head to avoid the hit animal sliding closer to hunter and being able to damage him. See appropriate article in Russian section of Wikipedia (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0). Check the sources of the article once more, please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.113.122.85 (talk) 20:17, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

P.S. And there was surely no vulcanized rubber in the early middle ages.

Actualy, you misunderstood the whole case. What was written in the book that in Russia the Rogatina was the ancient father og Rogatka, which is true because when the Rogatka was invented in Russia it used the idea of Rogatina. And that whole paragraph is from that book! Kostan1 (talk) 14:55, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Merge ancient artillery to this article

Ancient artillery looks like a school project or something and overlaps considerably with this article. Any thoughts? PDCook (talk) 15:32, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

I nominated Ancient artillery for AfD. PDCook (talk) 22:50, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Name and legality

It is odd that the article seems to have been previously written with complete disregard for the fact that in many places catapult is the primary term, not slingshot. I have made a small addition to the article that reflects this usage, as previously no acknowledgment was given to its alternate name, which is frankly rather arrogant when it is undeniably the most used term in places such as Britain, where I live.

Also, I feel that a section regarding the legality of catapults is necessary; it is unclear to many people what the law is, and an addition stating whether or not they are classed as weapons in various jurisdictions couldn't go amiss. Liamoliver (talk) 02:16, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

The name issue is dealt with in the lede to the article and discussed above. DIscussing the legality would become rather lengthy and complex, as this varies with jurisdiction as well as the exact type of device, and probably changes over time. Wschart (talk) 17:07, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Rewrite

I removed everything that was not referenced (which was almost everything) and rewrote the article with references. Almost everything got worked into the "History" section, which goes back to the earliest reference I could find (1860) and covers many construction elements that evolved over time. I think a section on legality would be good; it wouldn't have to cover every jurisdiction, it would just have to note that slingshots are regulated, and give various examples (they cannot be shipped to a number of US states, other states and a number of countries outlaw only wrist-braced models, etc.). I'd also like to have a section on the dangers of slingshots, such as snapping bands, broken forks, and that system that Daisy recently recalled due to band failure injuries. scot (talk) 20:13, 22 April 2011 (UTC)