Test Your Braided Line, Don't Assume Its Strength

[jig42na]

You may know this better, but do you know what type of material the factories are using for squeezing the line. I thought that they used a cushioning type material and squeezed the line to test it's ABS. There may be a simple way of making a true testing machine if this is the case. You can't pinch it with something hard cause it will just crush it, too soft and it will not bite down enough to pull hard. Maybe with enough surface area it can be done. ALso you have a scale attached to the clamp. Just thinking out loud.

[Col. Kurtz]

From my experience the Bimini twist is weak when tied in braid. I have had much better luck with the Palomar for attaching terminal tackle and the 30 turn albright for attaching mono or flor leader.
Power Pro has always over tested for me except with the palomar it test a little under.
Berkley Fire line test a lot higher then the ratting but does not come in the higher test that we use offshore.

Fishduck

Just curious, but why would this be? My understanding is that the bimini is one fo the few knots to hold 100% of the ABS, so why would tying it in braid be less effective than with say, 80# mono?

[eppefour]

Interesting, isn't it?

The challenge is figuring out how to put a load on the line without tying a knot. I'm guessing you spliced end-loops in each end so you had a way to hold the line?

I wrapped it around the hook on the scale and locked it with a half hitch at the end so it didn't slip. The other end was on a reel, so I kept the spool from turning and pulled. Not totally accurate but a rough guess.

[johndtuttle]

The Bimini Twist is an outstanding knot for braid and ideal for those using loop to loop connections from braid to mono/fluoro top shots.

The key is not using too many turns. There was an outstanding write up in Sport Fishing Magazine that showed that a 12 turn Bimini was the strongest and many braids were breaking at 150% of rated strength or more.

12 turn Bimini is a great knot in braid, try it!

[pametfisher]

A couple of months ago, OTI shipped me a sample of its 80# Depthfinder Spectra braided line. I finally had time to make some tests on it yesterday. My impressions of the line are that it is a strong, well-made 8-carrier (thread) line that is smooth and consistent. The color marking seems well applied.

First I spliced a piece of 80# hollow-weave Spectra to the end of the OTI test sample, then I splice an end-loop in the hollow weave so that I have a knotless (no strength loss) method for attaching the test line (in this case the 80# OTI Depthfinder) to the weights that I use to check line strength. (Here is a link to the Hollow Spectra Techniques: Splicing Hollow-Weave line to Solid Line and other articles.)

Next I slowly lift increasing weights in 2.5 lb. increments until the line breaks to determine ABS (actual breaking strength). After that, for solid-weave lines like the 80# OTI Depthfinder I tie an 8 turn Uni Knot to a large swivel and repeat the process to measure KBS (knotted breaking strength).

One note: The tests I make have been very repeatable for a given sample of line but it has been my experience that ALL lines vary from lot to lot. The numbers below were for the samples I tested. Other lots could vary.

OTI Depthfinder 80# Spectra Braided Line
ABS: 104 lbs. (30% stronger than package marking)
KBS: 74 lbs. (70% knot efficiency. I have found it good practice to assume Uni knots will be nearer 60% efficient.)
Solid-weave pattern, 8-carrier (As a reference, PowerPro is 4-carrier)
Line is marked every 25' using Red, Yellow, Green and Blue

I also tested another sample of JB 60# hollow-weave line that I received from on a customer Stella 20000 SW that I was setting up for wind-on leaders. The line had been loaded with the BHP Tackle high-tension winding process and was very nicely spooled.

JB 60# hollow-weave
ABS: 89 lbs. (Various samples this year have tested betwee 90 lbs. and 105 lbs.)
Hollow-weave pattern, 12-carrier

Comments:
Both lines are well made and turned in very good strength results. One consequence of a line "over-testing" is that you will get less of it on the spool than a Spectra line that does not over-test. A key reason to know the ABS of a line is so that you can trade-off strength and line capacity.

If you splice 25' of white JB 80# hollow weave line on top of the 80# Depthfinder, you can get the benefit of marked line AND strong spliced connections.

Note also that once you have the JB hollow spliced on, you could splice a second 25' of a different color JB hollow weave and have your first two sections of line be spliceable. Splicing hollow-weave line to hollow-weave line takes literally a few minutes and is 100% strong and very thin.

[d-a]

The Bimini Twist is an outstanding knot for braid and ideal for those using loop to loop connections from braid to mono/fluoro top shots.

The key is not using too many turns. There was an outstanding write up in Sport Fishing Magazine that showed that a 12 turn Bimini was the strongest and many braids were breaking at 150% of rated strength or more.

12 turn Bimini is a great knot in braid, try it!

12 turn Bimini's is Ok in power-pro, however high quality braid it will slip every time. In 8-16 carrier braid I need atleast 50 turns to maintain 100% breaking strength

d-a

[pametfisher]

12 turn Bimini's is Ok in power-pro, however high quality braid it will slip every time. In 8-16 carrier braid I need atleast 50 turns to maintain 100% breaking strength

d-a

50 initial twists in any Spectra braid is a smart idea.

In the Bimini, if you start by twisting it 50 times and then form the knot, you end up with 30 wraps on top and 20 twists underneath the top wraps. 20 twists creates just enough friction so that the knot doesn't slip.

If you start with 12 twists, 8 form top wraps and there are only 4 twists underneath the top wraps. (Talking still about Specrta braids) 4 twists won't hold in the following test:

1. Make the 12 twist Bimini
2. Put the loop over a scale.
3. Pull on the other end of the line until the scale gets to the box rating of the line (80 lbs. for 80# test).
4. If the line doesn't break, the loop will slip long before you get to the box rating.

I've always wondered what mistake the Sportfishing Magazine author made that led to the conclusion he published. I bet both legs of the loop were grabbed by the line holding fixture (clamp) at the same time. The correct way to test a Bimini is to load each leg independently.

Best to make 50 initial twists if you want full strength, as you said.