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Chains only or will cable do? |
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epdagger
Newbie Joined: 5/03/17 Location: East Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 8 |
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Posted: 5/08/17 at 2:10pm |
I asked this question in the AD forum about a week ago and have had no responses, so I thought I would repost it here to see if you guys have an answer.
The rules for weight for distance state "The handle can either be attached directly to the weight or attached with a length of chain". My question is, does it have to be chain or would a sufficient and proper length cable be within the "spirit" of the rule? Of course, I know that you can't retro fit old weights to cables because the weight would be incorrect. |
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dWood
Postaholic Joined: 8/29/04 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5110 |
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As far as I know and have haven been told. It has to be chain &or Shackles...went to one game and an athlete had a light weight connected to handle. Old time respected AD stated no go as if it is a rigid wire an advantage could be gained. Changes the whole event
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JUST BRING IT /
SPEED KILLS..BUT STRENGTH PUNISHES |
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epdagger
Newbie Joined: 5/03/17 Location: East Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 8 |
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My purpose for looking in to this question is that I feel the chain (in some cases, like with the 14#) weighs too much, and will actually slow the weight down as it starts to rotate after being thrown. Several of us noticed this happening during practice, but this may have been an optical illusion. This may just be unique to how my weights are made. Whether the physics support that or not, I feel that moving more weight into the implement and out of the handle and chain is better. I don't think that an implement built in this fashion would result in a benefit to any one athlete, although it could result in longer throws.
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Borges
Postaholic The Conrad Dobler of the Highland Games Joined: 8/30/04 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 2188 |
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Call me a dinosaur but I think that creating special implements that go farther just to soothe the egos of athletes who can't throw it that far in it's current form is pitiful. This is a sport based on tradition. We throw rocks for God's sake! Embrace those traditions even if you lose a few inches on your throw.
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Cheers,
Carlos "Live free or die" |
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epdagger
Newbie Joined: 5/03/17 Location: East Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 8 |
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Fair enough, the highland games are based on "tradition". That means we can't have innovation? You intend to go back to the old scale weights with recessed handles? How about using a wagon wheel spoke and hub for hammer? I suppose you're not going to complain when you lose distance throwing that mountain rock instead of a nice smooth river rock? I don't see what I'm talking about doing as making a "special" Implement. I see it as making a "better" implement(potentially). Is a Louisville Slugger a "special" bat, or is it a "better" bat?
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Borges
Postaholic The Conrad Dobler of the Highland Games Joined: 8/30/04 Location: Jamaica Status: Offline Points: 2188 |
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I have thrown actual scale weights and actual sledgehammers just fetched from the barn (and so many other odd objects it's hard to remember them all). They don't go as far but each time the best athlete was the one who threw it furthest or highest. That's the tradition that drew me into the games.
Other folk see it different ways. Nothing wrong with that, just not that interesting to me personally.
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Cheers,
Carlos "Live free or die" |
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throw50
Groupie Joined: 9/09/13 Location: Niagara Falls Status: Offline Points: 65 |
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I guess I'm more of a pragmatic nerd. I don't think the rule that it has to be chain has to do with anything but safety. Repeated throws would flex the fibers of a braided cable, eventually weakening some of them. Once enough fibers are weakened, the cable could fail without warning. That's my take on that requirement.
Having come from a Field & Track background, I have seen implements constantly improve, from cast iron, brass, stainless to rim-weighted tungsten. I've also seen safety in a state of constant upgrade, with many facilities having elaborate throwing areas, away from the main crowd. Many Highland events have nothing more than some distance and barrier tape between the thrower and the crowd. Ensuring that the implement goes in a known direction is a good thing, and chain seems like one of the reasonable ways to ensure that. Plus I like the idea that it's a sport of rocks, sticks and hunks of iron.
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TomLawrence
Postaholic Joined: 1/11/13 Location: Blairsville, GA Status: Offline Points: 2696 |
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Best thing I've read today. Tom |
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Aim high. Stay hungry.
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Sammy68123
Senior Member Joined: 6/15/08 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 735 |
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+ 1 on the safety as well!
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Teresa Merrick
Bellevue, NE |
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mike landrich
Senior Member Joined: 4/12/09 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 306 |
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I asked the same question several years ago, for the same reason, and the answer was chains only. A cable would actually be safer. A well-crimped cable has far less chance of failing than a screw shackle has of working loose and coming apart. As far as the cable weakening, seriously? Cables are used for years in critical industry (think tow trucks, among others) and do not fail from repeated bending. I used a 1/4" cable to pull a 70' long 20" diameter beech tree out of a swamp, using a snatch block, so the cable was twisting around a pully. My tractor was doing wheelies and the cable held up fine
It's all about tradition. Don't overthink it. To epdagger's initial post about 14's, use a quality 3/16" chain and a lighter handle. I can do a chain and handle that weigh just over .5#, leaving 13.5# in the head. Edited by mike landrich - 5/20/17 at 8:35pm |
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"Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level and win by experience"-Mark Twain
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