Every once in a while a company says, “Hey, want to review our prime prepper products?” (or something similar, but less fun sounding). Montie Design offers a line of “Montie Gear” they’re looking to promote through the prepper market, so they gave me a shout out a while ago. I said, “sure, send it.”
What I got was a slingshot and a “tree rest.” Let’s talk about the slingshot first. Montie company pics below:
The first question I have to ask myself in giving SHTF Blog readers a worthwhile review is “what survival applications do these products have?” The slingshot is fairly easy – slay small game …. I guess. I mean, would I really recommend a sling shot for that? Nah, .22 rifle for the win. But the slingshot is virtually silent, that’s an advantage over the .22 rifle. Nah, bow and arrow for the win. So how could I justify buying a slingshot? They’re fun! Memories from my childhood of picking up pebbles and acorns to send sailing through the woods can’t be beat.
The Montie slingshot is lightweight, super strong frame and paracord wrapped around the handle. Unfortunately, that’s as far as its benefits go. The elastic band on the slingshot is like a physical therapy band. It’s not a slingshot band. And when you pull the band back, you have to force your opposite hand forward to keep the frame upright. Poor design on both of those attributes. But here’s the REAL kicker. They want $99.95 for the slingshot! No, that’s not a typo. A hundred bucks!
Now compare that to the Barnett Outdoors Diablo Slingshot with stabilizers, complete with “power bands.”
Witness the difference in design? Montie said “let’s make an overly strong handheld Y frame and stick a rubber band on it.” Barnett said, “let’s build a sick slingshot, powerful and accurate.” But here’s the REAL kicker. It’s only $31.54 for it on Amazon.com!
I like the tree rest they sent me better. Company pics here:
Survival applications? Nil. That being said, this thing is really lightweight and I can think of more than one time when I’ve found the perfect hunting spot without a reliable rifle/shotgun rest to aid a rapid or distant shot. This would be perfect for many instances like that. But here’s the REAL kicker. They want $59.95 for it!
Now compare that to adjusting your position a bit and finding a branch.
It’s natural and you don’t have to carry it. But here’s the REAL kicker. It’s free!
Tough review, I know. *shrug* I tell it like I see it.
- Ranger Man
…….But it’s got paracord!!!!!!! Don’t you know that if you buy 5K ft of that stuff and wrap anything with it ‘preppers will buy it’! Here’s the real kicker…..if you don’t want an honest review, don’t ask. Ranger Man this type of review adds credence to any other review you post. Thanks. Now I’m going off line for a few. My son and I are going wilderness camping. Hope for a good time and to practice the things I learn from you, JS, CJ and those I respectfully refer to as “the peanut gallery”. Thanks and God bless.
Thanks for the honest review. I have seen this thing on various websites, all proclaiming how great thou art. I agree. It’s still a hundred dollar slingshot. That buys a lot of .22 ammo…
Skil over gadgets. I know, some gadgets offer luxery for very little but these are not them. The slingshots hv liited to no vaue n reality. Ayone whs ever used one long enugh to have any proficiancy with it knows the %s are very low even if your familier with it The other thing is a joke. Even when huntng from a static position, the game never ever just apears where you need them to this thing is so limited in use by its very design, that you be far better off with a shoelace r some 50 cord and a cdoupe of sticks lashed together as a bi pod or tripod and throw that plastic crap away. I ll say t again, skill ad knowledge are better tan gadgets anyday If you rely on gdgets you are imted by thier limits, if you employ skill and knoledge you can mrovise and make due with anything.
Please Forgive my horrible morning typing, my laptop key board is crap.
I had one of those wrist rockets withe tubes and the wrist support as a kid. If you spend a little time getting used to it you can have a heck of a nice little squirrel or bird killer. It’s quiet and small and you can use pebbles for ammo. I used ball bearings when I wanted to be really accurate.
Agree with the very limited use of the slingshot. River 10/22 or even a good old daisy BB gun are far more practical. 99$?!?
i just bought an original wham-o “sportsman” at a yard sale for around a dollar. that will hold me until i can find the “wrist rocket” that’s lost somewhere among my other “preps”.
what is it good for? you can use it to shoot some line over a tree branch. then you use that line to haul up a heavier one. it’s a good way to put up a ham radio antenna, “bear bag” or climbing ropes etc.
(in my case, one of my toy airplanes is stuck 25′ up in a white oak tree, and i was hoping to pull it down with the string)
Paint the slingshot black, stick a picatinny rail on it, add the word tactical to the name, and they’ll probably sell thousands.
Nothing wrong with an honest review.
Here are some things for consder. The bands are the same high quality material (Thera Band) as the you would use in physical therapy for a reason. They are much higher performance that the medical tubular bands that were on the Wrist Rocket slingshot that I had as a kid. A third party evaluation of the performance difference is available at:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot55.htm
Barnett does make a nice slingshot, but it is a very different construction and our slingshot is American made, right here in NC. You can take a look at the sustainability reports for several of our projects at:
http://www.montiegear.com/modules/info/philosophy.html
Most companies don’t provide this level of transparency as to where the materials come from and where the assembly occurs. Having a high quality product that also happens to be handmade and made in the US adds cost. Ditto for the Tree Rest.
We make a heirloom product you can pass along to your grand kids. It not for everyone but it truly is a great product. Thanks for doing the review.
Montie
Oops, my email address is montie@montie.com if anyone has any additional comments or questions. Thanks again for the forum.
lets make some money guys. Make a cheap almost non functional slingshot out of metal. wrap some para cord around it, price is high so they think its really high tech, and those wacko preppers will buy up thousands!! NOT
The one advantage I can see a slingshot having over a bow is availability of ammunition.
Smokecheck,
I don’t think the non-functional comment is accurate. Check out this review:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot55.htm
As far as it being cheap, that is definitely not the case. We understand that not everyone is inclined to buy at higher end slingshot and that is fine. Having choices is a good thing and we are just offering one more choice, a choice that happens to be high quality, have high performance and is locally made.
Montie
If ya wanna see some freaky slingshots…check out the slingshot channel on Youtube. Watch Jorg demolish a car !!!
pick up more surgical tubing , they dont make it like they used to .
I can appreciate the quality of the products as they seem to be made from high quality materials. The fact that they are manufactured in the states is great, but if you can’t provide the product at a price where customers feel that they are getting a good value, I can’t imagine that many of these will sell. The benefits of the slingshot seem to be it’s high build quality lending it to multiple lifetimes of use, “tactical” appearance, and domestic manufacture. The downsides: high price point, relatively simple design. The fact of the matter is that I could not see myself spending more than 40-50 bucks for something like that, and that would be a stretch. I’m a middle aged, middle class male that makes a decent wage, and contemplates sustainable ways of living should the SHTF. Maybe I’m not your target demographic, but I would rather put $100 towards the M&P 15/22 that was reviewed a few weeks ago. Or a used bow. No offense but the tree rest thing just seems kind of silly. I’d give the slingshot a try if it was priced better, or maybe if there was a video of it in action putting food on the table, but the only thing I could see using the tree rest for would be a a foothold to get higher in the tree… just my $.02
~Primal
When we were kids Dad got a wristrocket and started plinkin. The rubber tube snapped at the end by the slingshot and came back and seriously hurt his eye. He had to lay still on his back for a few days in the hospital to save it. Please recomend to everyone wear some goggles. Thanks
that goes for many of our other activities also.