Slingshot A slingshot , shanghai , flip , bean shooter , or a hand catapult ( primarily British English ) is a small hand - powered projectile weapon . The term wrist - rocket , sometimes used generically to describe any slingshot , is a registered trademark of Saunders Archery . The classic form consists of a Y - shaped frame held in the off hand , with two rubber strips attached to the uprights . The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile . The pocket is grasped by the dominant hand and drawn back to the desired extent to provide power for the projectile ( up to a full span of the arms with sufficiently long bands ) . History and use . Slingshots depend on strong elastic materials , typically vulcanized natural rubber or the equivalent , and thus date back no further than the invention of vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear in 1839 ( patented in 1844 ) . By 1860 , this " new engine " had already established a reputation for juvenile use in vandalism . For much of their early history , slingshots were a " do it yourself " item , typically made from a forked branch to form the " Y " shaped handle , with rubber strips sliced from items as inner tubes or other sources of good vulcanized rubber and firing suitably sized stones . While early slingshots were most associated with young vandals , they were also capable hunting arms in the hands of a skilled user . Firing metallic projectiles , such as lead musket balls , buckshot , steel ball bearings , or air gun pellets , slingshot was capable of taking game such as quail , pheasant , rabbit , and dove . Placing multiple balls in the pouch produces a shotgun effect , such as firing a dozen BBs at a time for hunting small birds . With the addition of a suitable rest , the slingshot can also be used to fire arrow s , allowing the hunting of medium sized game at short ranges . While commercially made slingshots date back to at least 1918 , with the introduction of the Zip - Zip , a cast iron model , it was not until the post World War II years saw a surge in the popularity , and legitimacy , of slingshots . They were still primarily a home - built proposition ; a 1946 Popular Science article details a slingshot builder and hunter using home - built slingshots made from forked dogwood sticks to take small game at ranges of up to 30 ' with No . 0 lead buckshot ( . 32 in . , 8 mm diameter ) . The Wham - O company , founded in 1948 , was named after their first product , the Wham - O slingshot . It was made of ash wood and used flat rubber bands . The Wham - O was suitable for hunting with a draw weight of up to 45 pounds force ( 200 newtons ) , and was available with an arrow rest . The 1940s also saw the creation of the National Slingshot Association , headquartered in San Marino , California , which organised slingshot clubs and competitions nationwide . Despite the slingshot ' s reputation as a tool of juvenile delinquents , the NSA reported that 80 % of slingshot sales were to men over 30 years old , many of them professionals . John Milligan , a part - time manufacturer of the aluminium - framed John Milligan Special , a hunting slingshot , reported that about a third of his customers were physicians . The middle 1950s saw two major innovations in slingshot manufacture , typified by the Wrist - Rocket Company of Columbus , Nebraska , later renamed Trumark . The Wrist - Rocket was made from bent steel rods that formed not only the handle and fork , but also a brace that extended backwards over the wrist , and provided support on the forearm to counter the torque of the bands . The Wrist - Rocket also used rubber tubing rather than flat bands , which was attached to the backwards - facing fork ends by sliding over the tips of the forks , where it was held by friction . Military use . Slingshots have been used as a military weapon , but primarily by guerrilla forces due to the primitive resources and technology required to construct one . Such guerrilla groups included the Irish Republican Army ; prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq , Saddam Hussein released a propaganda video demonstrating slingshots as a possible insurgency weapon for use against invading forces . Slingshots have also been used by the military to launch unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAVs ) . Two crew members form the fork , with an elastic cord stretched between them to provide power to launch the small aircraft . Dangers . One of the dangers inherent in slingshots is the high probability that the bands will fail . Most bands are made from latex , which degrades with time and use , causing the bands to eventually fail under load . Failures at the pouch end are safest , as they result in the band rebounding away from the user . Failures at the fork end , however , send the band back towards the shooter ' s face , which can cause injuries . One method to minimize the chance of a fork - end failure is to utilize a tapered band , thinner at the pouch end , and thicker and stronger at the fork end . Designs that use loose parts at the fork are the most dangerous , as they can result in those parts being propelled back towards the shooters face , such as the ball attachment used in the recalled Daisy " Natural " line of slingshots , shown at right . The band could slip out of the slot it rested in , and the hard ball in the tube resulted in cases of blindness and broken teeth . Daisy models using plain tubular bands were not covered in the recall , because the elastic tubing itself does not cause severe injuries upon failure .