I shall endeavor to give a brief introduction of myself, and my background with sling making. I am, first and foremost, a follower of my Savior Jesus Christ, and it is to Him that I dedicate my work and this website.

My first introduction to the sling (and I expect this is true for many others) was through hearing the account of the combat between David and Goliath recorded in I Samuel 17. It was many years after the first time I heard the story that I made and used my first sling. I became more interested in sling making after watching the Royal Armouries “Arms in Action” series, and saw a reproduction of an ancient sling being demonstrated. The sling had braided cords and a woven pouch, and I decided to try to copy it. I had a beginning knowledge of braiding from working with horsehair, and after studying the video closely, I made my second sling. I was rather pleased with it, and wanting to learn more about sling making, I began to search the internet for information. I found that although instructions for making slings were available, there was very little information on making slings the way they had been made in historical times.

It was some time before I pursued slinging again, other than launching a few rocks or snowballs from time to time. My interest was renewed in the summer of 2008 when I started studying a photograph of two slings found in the tomb of Tutankhamen. From the photograph, it seemed that the pouches of the slings were not woven flat, but they were made in a formed shape. This intrigued me, and I set about trying to discover how they could have been made. After a number of failed experiments, I came up with a simple loom design which produced a pouch that was very similar in structure to those of the slings in the photograph. It was during this time that I decided to write a book on sling making, and I am currently in the process of doing that. I have been studying different types of slings from around the world, and in my spare time I work on trying to reproduce them.

Among my other interests are music and agriculture. I play the tin whistle, Irish flute, Appalachian dulcimer, and am learning the bagpipes. I do a little work on tweaking tin whistles, and restoring old instruments. I enjoy gardening, and am a small scale beekeeper.

-Timothy Potter

Copyright 2009 by Timothy Potter