TargetTalk

My kids have some pillows that my wife got at Walmart -we call them squishy pillows in our house. Anyway, the outside is a stretchy knit material. They are filled with some very fine plastic beads that are very light. I bought one of the pillows yesterday and cut it open and filled my kneeling roll with the contents. I did have the bb size plastic beads in it but it was heavy- almost 5lb. The kneeling roll with these beads from the pillow now weighs about 0.45lb. The roll feels in position about the same as it did with the heavy beads. Anyone else tried this? I will say that filling the kneeling roll with these small beads is a messy process.

Now that we are on to this subject, does anyone know a "rule of thumb" to determine the aprox. thickness of the kneeling roll? when, for example, instructing a novice shooter for the first time.
Meaning the thickness of the part where the foot is supported.

Albert
(The Netherlands)

Albert, I set mine up so my ankle is pretty low. This seems to be more stable and to distribute the pressure from the roll on my ankle evenly.

pdeal,
Thanks. What I actually ment was: is there a relationship (in percentage or distance) in for example the shoe/foot size and the thickness?
I have done a little study myself on my club using some good shooters and found there was an average (aproximately) :
Devide the shoelength by 3.2 This is the thickness of the roll where the foot is supported. Mind you, this is only a starting point and small adjustments will be necessary.
I was hoping that others had simular experiences or know other rules of thumb.
All of you, feel free to comment.

Albert
(The Netherlands)

Albert wrote:(SNIP)
I have done a little study myself on my club using some good shooters and found there was an average (aproximately) :
Devide the shoelength by 3.2 This is the thickness of the roll where the foot is supported. Mind you, this is only a starting point and small adjustments will be necessary. (SNIP)Albert
(The Netherlands)

Looking at the section on kneeling in "Ways of the Rifle" (page 149), they suggest looking at the angle of the sole of the shoe as a guide - ideally being around 45 degrees. Too flat of an angle puts additional stress on the joint, too straight-up make the position unstable.


Jay V

i have small plastic beads in my k-roll, but it still weighs a ton. are you saying that the beads in the squishy pillows are lighter?

That's what I had and yes it weighed a ton (5lb to be exact) and yes the beads in the pillow are MUCH lighter the ending weight is about 1/10 of the weight of roll with the plastic beads. The little beads in the pillow are actually styrofoam beads but very small. I thought they might crush but they don't seem to. Give it a try.

Just spotted the squishy pillows at a local drugstore. Do they squish around less when in a roll? It didn't seem very stable, but maybe it's the stretchy nylon covering. Unfortunately they are rather pricey if you need to buy a few to fill rolls. Wonder if the beads themselves are available anywhere. Craft shop, like Hobby Lobby, or sewing store?

The instability of the pillow has to do with the stretchy outside of the pillow- almost like spandex. When you put it in a roll it feels the same as the heavy beads. I shot a match yesterday with mine and it seems fine so far. The pillow I bought at Walmart was about $8 and had enough filling for two kneeling rolls.

I'm familiar with the beads in athe spandex strechy pillows. I have another suggestion I hearned from the net. I went to Wal-Mart and bought plastic beads used for making beanie babies. Very inexpensive. These beads are larger than the ones in the spandex pillows but they work great in forearm rest bags. They would also be good in a knee shot bag.

Don: That is what I was using and it results in quite a heavy kneeling roll (5 lb as I said above). It does work very well but knocking 4 1/2 lb off of the weight of my shooting bag is my motivation. For people who fly with their equipment this can be very important.

The filling you discribe is good on the point concerning the filling.
When the roll is lighter it will move more easely when you are in position.
My filling is rice a little heavy but stabil and nice to fit around the ankel
greetings from belgium

My daughter changed to the squishi pillow stuff around the 1st of the year and likes it and has shot better kneeling scores. most of the kids on the Sutter rifle team are using it now and they don't seem to be complaining. The big plus is the reduction in weight from the doll filling that you get at walmart when flying. Its tough to try to keep that bag under 50lbs. The rice is a good Idea but it is also a bit heavy.

B & S wrote:...The big plus is the reduction in weight from the doll filling that you get at walmart when flying. Its tough to try to keep that bag under 50lbs. The rice is a good Idea but it is also a bit heavy.

Given the low cost of rice (v's excess baggage charges), would emptying the roll for air travel and refilling at the destination with a known weight of rice be an alternative?

Just my humble question (too old to be worried about 3P - enough trouble with prone)

Spencer C