Hello.

Suppose you go hiking and wander off too far and get turned around and lose your way back. What will you do if you cant find civilization or get help? It wont be long until you start to get hungry. You will need energy to continue searching for your way back. You could benefit from a simple weapon that is fairly easy to produce in the wilderness. A Slingshot is enough to get you a squirrel or rabbit for a nice warm meal.

In this instructable I will explain how to make a keychain that you can use to make a slingshot if your ever in need of one.

Step 1: Firstly...

You will need a 24 inch piece of paracord, and a piece of rubber tubing or some other type of small but very strong and stretchy material. What I have used here is actually a tube made to keep you from dropping your sunglasses. I got it on sale at my local Wal Mart store for 2 dollars. It is very strong and can stretch to double it's relaxed length. Perfect. I have heard it called surgical tubing also. You will also need a piece of leather about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long.

Of course you will also need a sharp knife or scissors, and a lighter to singe the ends of the paracord.

Step 2: Getting Things Ready

You will need to cut the tubing into two pieces about 8 to 10 inches long. The paracord needs to be 24 inches long.

The piece of leather will need a hole in each end just big enough to push the tubing through. I just used an exacto knife to cut the holes about 3/16" in diameter and was sure to leave at least 1/4" between the hole and the end of the leather.

Step 3: Paracord

The main part of the key chain is the paracord as it will hold it all together.

measure out about 10 inches and make a bend in it. then measure back from the new bend about 4 inches and make a new bend. Then with the remaining cord, start winding it around the doubled portion leaving about a half inch of the loop sticking out. wind it around until you reach the end of the cord or until you reach the other end of the loop.push the end through the second loop and pull one side of the first loop to tighten it against the end. This will lock it all together. Cut off any remaining cord leaving just 3/16". This you will singe with a lighter to keep it from unraveling. It makes a long coiled slip knot. Once you are finished with this part you will need to thread the long end of the cord through both of the holes in the leather piece. Finally you will either tie a big knot on the end to keep the leather from falling off or do as I did and thread on a large wooden bead, or several wooden beads, and tie a knot on the end to keep them in place. The wooden beads could be used as ammo for the slingshot.

Step 4: Finished Key Chain.

This is roughly what your finished key chain should look like. It is small enough to fit in your pocket without being uncomfortable.

Step 5: Now for the Sling Shot

If you need to make a slingshot from your key chain, here's how.

Find suitably shaped tree branch that forms a Y shape. If you can't find one you can use another method that I will describe later. Then disassemble the key chain. Cut off the tips of the cord that were singed so you can remove the inner cords. Fold One end of the tube over the top of one side of the Y. Leave about a half inch . Then begin wrapping one of the inner cords around it about 1/4" from the end of the stick. Wrap it as tightly as you can and keep tension on it all the time to keep it from loosening. tie the ends with about 4 knots and singe it to keep it from unraveling. Then grab the other piece of the tubing and do the same thing with the other side. Next you will want to push the loose end of one of the tubes through one of the holes in the piece of leather and fold it back on itself with about 1/4" of the tubing past the edge of the leather. This is where you will wrap it with a piece of the inner cord tightly using the whole piece. Then tie it off with about 4 knots and singe the ends. Do the same thing with the other side and your done.

Step 6: Finished Sling Shot.

Your finished sling shot should look something like this.

Step 7: Alternate Sling Shot Design

If you are unable to find a suitable stick that makes the traditional Y shape you can use this method instead. Find a long straight stick about a half inch in diameter and cut it into 3 pieces. 2 pieces are about 10 inches long, or about the length between the bend of your elbow and your wrist. The third piece will need to be about 3 inches long.Start by laying the long pieces side by side and then putting the short one end to end with the long ones making a triangle shape. You will need to use a knife or saw to cut a flat spot on the sides of one end of each long stick. This will help keep them from trying to twist and roll when you shoot it. Then about a half inch up from the same end you will need to cut a notch out of the side of it opposite from the flat spot. This is where you will wrap a piece of the inner cord tightly around it using the whole piece and keeping it tight. Tie it off and singe the ends. Then get the short piece and cut a notch in it 1/2" from each end. the notch only needs to be on one side. This side will face away from the two long pieces. The notch will keep the cords from slipping and closing up the gap when you shoot. Place the short stick across the middle of the long sticks and tie it off using a criss-cross method. use the whole piece of inner cord for this and keep it as tight as you can. You should now have the frame for your sling shot. Attach the tubes to it like mentioned earlier and you're finished.

Step 8: Bonus

After you finish disassembling the key chain to make your sling shot you will still have the outer casing from the paracord. You can use it to re-assemble the key chain and still have the slingshot.