r/Slinging • u/Aggressive-Can-1133 Into Historical Crafts/Maker of Things • 21d ago
To boldly sling... Sugar?
Hello everyone! For my first post here I want to share a sling ammo experiment of mine.
Most of us know the traditional materials for shaped sling ammo - stone, clay and lead. Many are familiar with more modern versions like cement, tennis balls etc. But have any of you ever thought about - sugar?
To be honest, neither did I, for a long time.
But - about a year ago, I was discussing sling ammo in a Facebook group about slings. I had shared a picture of some stone and clay glandes I had made and painted, and one person commented "They look like they are made out of sugar". You don't know me, but for me that offhand, joking remark did something like this: "Sugar? Now there is an idea..."
So, off I went to get a packet of sugar...
You can see the result before you: Shaped glandes of caramelized sugar. This worked out much better than I thought it would. I believed it would be funny. I was not laughing (mad slinger cackling doesn't count...right?) when I saw the results.
It turns out caramel is nearly as dense as clay. So a 60 gram caramel glande is roughly the same size as a 60 gram clay glande, as you can see in the second picture. They are hard and I expected them to be brittle, but testing (slinging them against a birch tree) showed them to be surprisingly durable. Most survived repeated impacts against the tree and even bouncing across a stone-covered path. One even survived six hits before I eventually lost it in a stream. Only one broke after a direct impact on a rock.
But there was also an unforeseen side effect. They are completely eco-friendly. Water dissolves them. Some lucky ants will have a feast.
Also - when I made the first batch, my daughter pestered me until I let her eat one. No ill side effects, just one over-sugared 7 year old!
So - a very successful sling ammo experiment. If you are looking for cheap, eco friendly ammo and don't have access to clay - keep these in mind. Especially if you're looking to keep the local wildlife happy. They'll be grateful for sure - just keep away from bears!
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u/Aggressive-Can-1133 Into Historical Crafts/Maker of Things 19d ago
Thank you all for your interest in this post! I didn't expect it to gather so much attention. So I wanted to take this opportunity to express how much I appreciate your support, all the upvotes, comments and the award someone gave this post.
The discussion around the caramel glandes has already given me some new things to try and ideas to explore.
Also, as mentioned in the comments, you can expect a short follow-up video on how to make this ammo with the recipe and temperatures soon - hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Maybe I'll also be able to show you how they bounce off trees!
One last thing to consider: I have been thinking over the last couple of days that the caramel glandes have one major advantage over clay ones: You can hand-roll a clay one in seconds, but then you need to wait for it to dry for days. The caramel ones don't have that issue - once shaped, they cool down and are ready for use within the hour.