Long-Shot Device

Hi TCI Folks,
Just thought I'd share this fun throwline device with you (see, this is what arises when it's been single digits and below zero degrees F, with 3 feet of snow all winter, and major cabin fever:-) ). I call it the "Longshot". It's a bit overly complicated for packing it in, but it can be reasonably portable. Components (in order) are: 1) Motorcycle Battery; 2) Jumper Cables; 3) Small Portable Air Compressor; 4) PVC tube with pressure valve stem on end (like on a car tire); 5) 1.25" Ball Valve rated at 150 PSI at 73 degrees F threaded to another length of PVC: the barrel(the threading is important so the barrel can be disconnected from the pressure tube, for shorter length and easier travel). The throwline and throwbag are placed in the barrel. I used a 10 oz. throwbag with 150 ft. orange slickline from NewTribe. With the ball valve closed (!), pressure is increased in the chamber between the valve stem and ball valve. To release the throwbag, the ball valve is opened. Even in the earliest attempts, at 110 PSI, the end of the 150 ft. throwline disappeared into the sky, even with my Converse tennis shoe attached to the end, and it seems to have good accuracy so far. I did spray some silicone into the barrel to minimize friction. This is just the first prototype. The possibilities are endless. I've planned some modifications to make it shorter, with some elbows in the long PVC pieces, and possibly extra valves for multiple shots. Word to the wise: pressurized pipes can be dangerous. Be safe! Any comments or ideas?
Enjoying tree-time in the winter,
Ogham (Alex in New Mexico)

Will post pix soon

That sounds like a fun toy to play with!

oooooh yeaaa...pneumatic cannons are a BLAST!

Here's the full view of the Long Shot. Until I figure out to post more than one pix at a time, that will have to do. U2U me if any questions.

& yes SRT-Tech & Leon, it's wayyyy too much fun to play with & a blast (PHOOSH!! surprisingly not so loud, though )

I'll have to bring the next phase to the Rendevous in Colorado 07

N'joying winter climbs @ 7800 ft. elev. in NM,
Ogham

So... I think it can be "loaded" using a bicycle pump, yes?

Will you be able to caibrate height of the shot per psi load?

Welcome to the board, looking forward to more of your reports and photos.
-moss

After a near fatal explosion of my 4" PVC pressure chamber I gladly hacked my cannon into parts that fit in the trash barrel. PVC fractures like a grenade if over pressured and luckly for my son the end cap blew off; gouged the yellow pine deck; bounced up and barely missed his face and stuck in the house siding.

I thought I had it all covered with a pressure guage; relief valve set at 150psi and electric sprinkler valve. But the weakest link is always the one that breaks.

Not one to ever give up I replaced the pressure chamber pipe with a metal tank that used to hold oxygen. With all heavy weight metal fittings my fear of blowing up is relieved. For even longer shots I have an old freon storage tank that holds great amounts of air ( it barely fits in a 5 gallon pickle bucket)

My advice is to not use PVC for storage and my son agrees.

See you at the top,

Dan

Yes, Moss, you can use a bicycle pump on it. The best would probably be the foot-pump kind, with a pressure gauge, as it will take a while to fill & you want to know the pressure.

As for calibration with pressure and height, I achieved 150 ft. with 1.5" diameter, 5 ft. barrel PVC with a 12 oz. shot pouch on orange polyethylene slickline, at 110 PSI. I believe it could be calibrated for different heights, but it will need some more testing. 60-70 PSI is more than enough for trees around here,where we're lucky to find 50 ft. anchors nearby. If we take a road trip North, we can find 120 ft. plus in about 2 hours.

I'm sure I'll be experimenting with many different materials, sizes and designs & will keep you posted.

Thanks TreeTramp, for the wise words about PVC. We experimented with all kinds of PVC devices when we were kids, & it's probably a miracle we're all here. I'll take your advice, and the next phase will probably incorporate a metal pressure tube, with its own pressure gauge etc. Glad you and your son weren't hurt by the PVC exploding.

Climb (and launch!) safe, and have fun, too

I have thought about building another PVC cannon with a design that eliminates end caps. The physics of the stress on the ends makes me think that they all be built without end caps at all.

Two parallel 2" PVC pipes with elbows at each corner would form a rectangle or a square. Then halfway along both opposite pipes have two tees connecting one side to the other with a third tee pointing up. Using a 2" tee with a 1" female threaded side port will allow you to screw on metal pipe nipples for the valve and barrell asembly.

The rectangle could be made in a size that will also be used as the ground base so the barrell is already standing tall like a flag pole. Make the barrell tall enough so no idiot could look down the barrell to see if it loaded. Air it up and tip it to aim.

The 12 volt air pump and battery could be mounted on the base and all kinds of gauges and relief valves could be positioned well.

Using a 1" lawn sprinkler valve and a Radio Shack push to close button wired to the battery makes a deluxe cannon.

All that is left is some kind of sound supressor to rid your shooting of that annoying pipe organ tune when you fire.

When I was shooting potatoes the sound brought out all of the neighborhood kids.

Good luck and safe hunting.
Dan

SRT-Tech,
I like the modification ideas. If I try PVC again, I'll definitely incorporate a no-end-cap design. I've thought about trying the flexible pipe used for LP gas also (any thoughts?). Pressurized PVC makes me nervous too, especially when it's cold. I still like the metal designs you mentioned before, except for the weight-factor.

All in all, I see why people like cross-bows, lol.

Since you mentioned shooting potatoes, have you ever heard of pumpkin-chucking? There's a serious sub-culture of pumpkin-chucking cannons in the area. The local competition has cannons that fit on a semi-tractor trailer bed and shoot a serious distance. Maybe I could just climb in one and launch into a huge tree, lol.

Safe launching,
Ogham