I wouldn't venture out there fellas. This sniper's got talent.
November 20, 2013 6:47 AM   Subscribe

 
I am *amazed* this has never been posted to Metafilter. The guide was first created in 1997! It has been on the net longer than MeFi. :)

The founder was the author of last year's 9,000 word Quora answer to: "What do all the controls in an airplane cockpit do?" (Previously)
posted by zarq at 6:50 AM on November 20, 2013


This is nice and all, seems pretty thorough, but the best way to shoot a rubber band is to hold it "mini crossbow" style two inches from your brother's face while saying "do you feel lucky, punk?" And then back away without shooting it while all the time reminding him you could shoot it at any time because as a sister you know that the only real weapon you have is fear.
posted by phunniemee at 6:54 AM on November 20, 2013 [5 favorites]


Oh, man.
Just the other day, I was thinking about why I no longer shoot rubberbands at people.
Back in probably 1998, I was aiming a rubberband at a roommate, and the rubberband slipped off the end of my finger and hit me in the eye.
Before I could blink.
That was pretty much the end of that.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:55 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]


With that kind of detailed knowledge of both rubber band warfare and commercial airliners (and presumably many other things), Mr. Morgan may be the last true renaissance man.
posted by TedW at 7:14 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


You'll put your eye out, kid.
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:59 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]


They don't show the model's face so maybe he or she was wearing safety glass.
posted by bukvich at 9:18 AM on November 20, 2013


Dominating the battlespace will come down to who fields the first rubber-band grenade (or similar ordinance)
posted by GhostRider at 10:34 AM on November 20, 2013


Grenades are made with popsicle sticks.

I do think this guy is off on his recommendations, undervaluing what he calls the shotgun (and he's holding it wrong). Front goes over the thumb, back is hooked over the dominant index finger. Of course if you pinch it or hold it up like that, you lose accuracy. (I admit I haven't tried the rifling, but some desktop play shows it has promise.)

I honed my skills in seventh grade, and have kept them up fairly well since. But that was the year that one of my friends got a paper route and suddenly had thousands of those green stinger rubber bands, and it was the year that my parents got a couch that came with a gigantic band all around it.

We also had a shop class together, taught by an amazingly oblivious old man (I later learned that his lack of attention to us came because he focused on sexually harassing female students). So, we'd get pretty much the whole class to go into the "technology room," where we'd fire paperclips, rubber bands, paper tweeters, whatever at each other. We learned that you can take sheet metal and bend it into tweeters, and that they're wicked when fired from a couch band stretched across a couple desks.

I also used to love setting up army men in vast formations, then mowing them down from a distance with rubber bands.

Whew, good times.
posted by klangklangston at 11:07 AM on November 20, 2013


I recently discovered that a spring-action mousetrap, cocked and propped up vertically, makes an extremely satisfying rubber-band target.
posted by rifflesby at 11:12 AM on November 20, 2013


I disagree on the optimal bands and launching techniques. My favored weapon is a heavy 1/4" band, 6-8" in diameter. The appropriate way to fire is a sideways variant of the "shotgun" method - dominant thumb forward, other hand pinching the back of the band between thumb and index finger. Tension should be higher along the top of the band to give it topspin. To fire, flick the forward thumb towards your target, pulling the band out of your back hand's grip, turning the wrist downward slightly to increase topspin and pulling your firing hand outward out of the way. If executed correctly, the band will not come into contact with your forward hand at all, will fly with a clear hissing/whistling sound, and will stay level or even rise slightly from the lift due to the topspin.
posted by NMcCoy at 12:17 PM on November 20, 2013


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