Editing Sling (weapon) (section)

== Variants ==
[[File:Liber3.jpg|thumb|left|[[Middle Ages|Medieval]] traction trebuchet next to a staff slinger]]

=== Staff sling ===
The staff sling, also known as the stave sling, ''fustibalus'' ([[Latin]]), and ''fustibale'' ([[French language|French]]), consists of a staff (a length of [[wood]]) with a short sling at one end. One cord of the sling is firmly attached to the stave and the other end has a loop that can slide off and release the projectile. Staff slings are extremely powerful because the stave can be made as long as two meters, creating a powerful [[lever]]. Ancient art shows slingers holding staff slings by one end, with the pocket behind them, and using both hands to throw the staves forward over their heads.

The staff sling has a similar or superior range to the shepherd's sling, and can be as accurate in practiced hands. It is generally suited for heavier missiles and siege situations as staff slings can achieve very steep trajectories for slinging over obstacles such as castle walls. The staff itself can become a close combat weapon in a melee. The staff sling is able to throw heavy projectiles a much greater distance and at a higher arc than a hand sling. Staff slings were in use well into the age of gunpowder as grenade launchers, and were used in ship-to-ship combat to throw incendiaries.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

[[File:Friezen vallen de toren van Damiate aan.jpg|thumb|Medieval staff slingers (stern castle)]]

====''Piao Shi'' (whirlwind stone)====
''Piao Shi'' (飃石, lit. 'whirlwind stone'), also known as ''Shou Pao'' (手砲, lit. hand cannon) during the [[Song dynasty|Song]] period, is the Chinese name for staff sling. It consists of a short cord tied to one end of a five chi bamboo pole, and is usually employed in siege defense alongside larger stone throwers. It is depicted and described in the ''Ji Xiao Xin Shu'' (紀效新書).

=== ''Kestros'' ===
The ''[[Kestros (weapon)|kestros]]'' (also known as the ''kestrosphendone'', ''cestrus'', or ''cestrosphendone'') is a sling weapon mentioned by Livy and Polybius. It seems to have been a heavy [[dart (missile)|dart]] flung from a leather sling. It was invented in 168 BC and was employed by some of the [[Macedon]]ian troops of King Perseus in the [[Third Macedonian war]].

=== Siege engines ===
The [[Trebuchet#Traction trebuchet|traction trebuchet]] was a siege engine which uses the power of men pulling on ropes or the energy stored in a raised weight to rotate what was, again, a staff sling. It was designed so that, when the throwing arm of the trebuchet had swung forward sufficiently, one end of the sling would automatically become detached and release the projectile. Some trebuchets were small and operated by a very small crew; however, unlike the [[Onager (siege weapon)|onager]], it was possible to build the trebuchet on a gigantic scale: such giants could hurl enormous rocks at huge ranges. Trebuchets are, in essence, mechanized slings.

==== Hand-trebuchet ====
The [[Trebuchet#Hand-trebuchet|hand-trebuchet]] ({{langx|el|χειρομάγγανον, cheiromanganon}}) was a staff sling mounted on a pole using a [[lever]] mechanism to propel projectiles.