Jörg Sprave

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Jörg Sprave
Personal information
Born (1965-04-07) 7 April 1965 (age 59)
Dortmund, Germany
NationalityGerman
Websitehttp://www.slingshotchannel.com/
YouTube information
Channel
Years active8 April 2008 – present
Genre(s)Weapons construction, tutorial, analysis
Subscribers3.02 million[1]
Total views544 million[1]
Last updated: 15 October 2023

Jörg Sprave (born 7 April 1965) is a German YouTuber, known for his (predominantly) English language channel JoergSprave (or The Slingshot Channel).

Career[edit]

On his channel, Sprave produces and tests self-made, sometimes exotic slingshots and bows. Although most of his designs include at least one rubber band, the projectiles used vary according to the model. Some examples include saw blades, arrows and Oreo cookies.[2][3] While mainly focusing on slingshots, Sprave occasionally makes, modifies and tests other weapons such as crossbows, knives and air guns. Sprave's designs have been the subject of numerous English-language reports, often highlighting their creativity or power, such as in Popular Mechanics,[4] Gizmodo,[5] and UPI.[6] As of December 2021, the channel has over 2.8 million subscribers.[7] The videos, which are nearly universally in English, are viewed mostly in the United States, the source of the majority of his subscribers.[8]

Sprave is known for the invention of the "Instant Legolas", an add-on magazine device for a bow which converts it into a repeating-style weapon, firing up to five arrows per magazine.[9][10] It was first introduced in his YouTube video entitled "'Instant Legolas' - Archery Reinvented", uploaded on 6 August 2017.[11] A commercial version, "The Fenris", was released in June 2020, made by Steambow, an Austrian crossbow manufacturer, and sold by GoGuns GmbH.[12]

On 2 March 2018 Sprave started a labor union for YouTubers together with the largest German union, IG Metall, called FairTube. The goal is to improve transparency and fairness for YouTube creators against unfair demonetization and banning. The union hopes to force changes to YouTube policies using the GDPR, which requires transparency in dealing with personal data, which the union argues includes moderation decisions and categorization.[13][14]

Personal life[edit]

Sprave expressed an interest in slingshots from an early age, and sold some of his own creations to classmates in school.[citation needed] Sprave holds a degree in economics from the Universität Paderborn. Since 1989, Sprave has been on the board of directors of MacroSystem Digital Video AG, a manufacturer of video editing software, including the Casablanca video editor.[15] For some time, Sprave worked on his channel full-time, but out of fear of financial dependence on Google, he turned to a part-time video production schedule in September 2015. [citation needed] On 1 January 2017, he reinstated his position as a full-time YouTube creator and as a partner for the channel's online store, which was incorporated into the "GoGun GmbH" in May 2017. Sprave became CEO of the GoGun GmbH in December 2017.[16]

Awards[edit]

Sprave receiving a Webvideopreis Deutschland award in 2014

Sprave's winning video for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Condom-Challenge consisted of the design of a slingshot for condoms.[3] As of April 2017, the video remains one of his most popular clips with more than 6.1 million views.

Year Award Category For Result Ref.
2014 German Webvideo Prize (Deutscher Webvideopreis) OMG Bill Gates Calls – The Slingshot Channel Answers Won [17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "About JoergSprave". YouTube.
  2. ^ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg Germany. "YouTube-Star Jörg Sprave: Wenn die Klobürste einschlägt". Spiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  3. ^ a b Katja Auer, "Youtube-Star Jörg Sprave: Der Klobürsten-Kanonier", Sueddeutsche.de (in German), ISSN 0174-4917, retrieved 2016-05-21
  4. ^ Limer, Eric (January 8, 2017). "Behold the Fearsome Glory of a Full-Auto DIY Crossbow". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
    Limer, Eric (January 23, 2017). "This Full-Auto Crossbow Just Keeps Getting Crazier". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
    Limer, Eric (February 21, 2017). "A Wooden Sword Can Actually Do Some Serious Damage". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
    Orf, Darren (October 10, 2016). "This Monster Slingshot Can Throw Bowling Balls More than 300 Feet". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
    Grossman, David (May 27, 2016). "A BB Sniper Gun Modded With a Slingshot". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
    Weiner, Sophie (February 3, 2017). "This Micro Machine Gun Slingshot Is Adorably Fearsome". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
    Limer, Eric (April 7, 2016). "It Almost Seems Fun to Get Shot By This Full-Auto Ping Pong Gatling Gun". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  5. ^ Liszewski, Andrew (October 3, 2016). "A Bowling Ball Slingshot Is Exactly As Destructive As You Hope it Would Be". Gizmodo. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  6. ^ Hooper, Ben (August 18, 2015). "Weapons enthusiast turns disc into 'Frisbee of death'". UPI. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
    Hooper, Ben (October 11, 2016). "German YouTuber's slingshot fires bowling ball more than 300 feet". UPI. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
    Hooper, Ben (June 30, 2016). "German man launches lawn darts to show dangers". UPI. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  7. ^ "joergsprave YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics – Socialblade.com". socialblade.com (in German). Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  8. ^ Christiane Wittenbecher und Henrik Neumann (February 11, 2015). "Mr. Slingshot schießt mit Bäumen". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2016-05-21.
  9. ^ "Instant Legolas". Glasgow Archers. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  10. ^ Cutler, Tod. "Instant Legolas Bow". Tod's Workshop. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  11. ^ Sprave, Jörg. ""Instant Legolas" - Archery Reinvented. - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  12. ^ "FENRIS". Steambow. 2021-07-13. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  13. ^ "Can This Slingshot-Building German Unionize YouTube?". New York. July 30, 2019.
  14. ^ "YouTubers of the world unite!". DW. 2019-08-23. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  15. ^ "Jörg Sprave | Facebook". De-de.facebook.com (in German). Retrieved 2017-04-02.
  16. ^ "Handelsregisterauszug von GoGun GmbH". online-handelsregister.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2019-10-24. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  17. ^ "Webvideopreis 2014 – die Gewinner". Webvideopreis Deutschland (in German). May 24, 2014. Archived from the original on May 22, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
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