Rubber Band Characteristics

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
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-Our VEX team is looking at building a slingshot, and in order to get a reliably large distance we need to make sure to use the best rubber bands, that don’t wear out too quickly, but also contract at high speed and have a strong force.
-According to VEX rules, rubber bands must be either size #32 or #64, but besides that they can vary,* to an extent,* in material characteristics. (am I right?)

I was looking at the best rubber bands I could purchase, and I narrowed it down to:

-Have you had any experience with different types of rubber bands?
-How does % rubber content affect the characteristics? (It seems that with higher % rubber, the tensile strength increases, but the stretch/hold also become softer)
-According to: [http://www.theslingshotforum.com/f4/physics-theraband-gold-27834/ a slingshot forum, the thinner the elastic, the faster it contracts, and the faster it wears out. Why would this be?
-Where does VEX get their rubber bands?](http://www.theslingshotforum.com/f4/physics-theraband-gold-27834/ a slingshot forum, the thinner the elastic, the faster it contracts, and the faster it wears out. Why would this be?)

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Referees/Inspectors will not measure elasticity, they only have to be #32 or #64 rubber bands. (here’s the Q&A)

From the product page, VEX uses synthetic rubber (non-latex) rubber bands. This means that it is about equivalent to mid-high range rubber content rubber bands.

I conducted some tests on the Alliance Advantage rubber bands I have vs. the VEX rubber bands. The VEX rubber bands have the characteristics of rubber bands with a higher rubber content than the Advantage rubber bands (see above). For example, the #32 VEX rubber bands stretch to 11 inches while the #32 Alliance Advantage rubber bands stretch to 9 inches with the same force.

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VEX’s rubber bands are Alliance Non-Latex, most likely from Uline.

I like the Alliance Sterling rubber bands because they are quite strong and don’t wear out quickly. Alliance also has the Pale Crepe Gold line which doesn’t wear out quickly, but they are softer than normal rubber bands.

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