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Denim finger tabs: how viable is it? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by The_Terrible_Humbaba@slrpnk.net to c/archery@lemmy.world

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Hopefully this community isn't dead and someone will see it.

I'm a vegetarian leaning vegan who just got into archery and I need some kind of finger protection. All finger tabs I see are made of leather, but obviously I want to avoid that; and I've also seen gloves made from plastics, but ideally I'd like to avoid plastics as well since they're not very sustainable.

I've seen some videos of people making their own finger tabs from leather and it appears quite simple, so I had the idea of making mine using denim from an old pair of jeans.

So, how viable do you think denim is? I expect one tab won't last as long as if it was leather or plastic, but I have an entire pair of jeans to go through.

EDIT: Thanks for all the answers! I'm still in the process of getting federated so I can start going to the range regularly, but I think once I do I will try the denim method to see how it goes and then post an update. I'll probably use it for a month or until it falls apart, whichever comes first.

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[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

Not really an archer, but I do mess around with scrap denim a good bit.

You'll need layers, and you'll need something to stiffen any parts that need to be. I use epoxy on a few layers of denim for some things, but that's essentially another form of plastic. I've tried wax, and it does okay for some things, but it would likely be too thick by the time the stiff parts are as stiff as you want.

As an example, I made a knife sheath out of denim. Sheathes need a good bit of stiffness, and wear resistance as well as cut resistance. I took a single play of denim, got it saturated with epoxy. Sandwiched it between two layers of untreated with a very light coat of epoxy to hold the stiffened piece to the inside face.

The "front" face was two layers, with the outside being plain, and the inner only partially expoxied.

So, you can make some really durable stuff with denim. I'm just not sure how long each finger guard is going to last against the division friction of a bow string. Three or four layers wilk get the job done, but you may end up replacing them every hundred shots or so