Breaking Line

[olephart]

Great site. I've learned a lot. I’ll try to contribute something.

Lee’s video in the OH WAHOO thread reminded me of one of my great crime scene investigations. Namely why 30# mono line seemed to be failing around 20#.

You guessed it. The tiny wire size on the micro swivels was cutting it. I spared no expense developing a test rig. 2 loops of 200# leader with a variety of swivels on each and a 65# Cardoza fish/drag scale.

I just tied between the swivels and put my foot in one loop and pulled the other loop with the scale. Like I said, no expense spared.

The force required to break the line steadily increased as the thickness of the swivel wire increased. The line started breaking below the advertised test.

Topped out around 27# for 20# Big Game and 37# for 30# BG using a swivel with .046 wire diameter. The 40# BG required a .065 swivel to reach a 45# breaking point.

Slightly smaller wire size may work just as well. I didn’t have any other sizes to work with. The breaking point varies with the particular brand of mono and how well the knot is tied.

I tied some poorly executed knots and tightened them incorrectly on small swivels and managed to break 30# line at 14#. Stuff matters.

I found out a lot of other interesting things about line to line connections and general knot strength, but that’s another story. So is crimping properly. Lots of surprises.

I don’t think you can generalize about line and knots and crimps, etc. Those “best line” and “best knot” threads just kill me. Lots of repeating internet lore and little testing to back it up.

It depends on lots of specific things including how well you execute the knot or crimp. I would highly recommend that you tie up a short test rig that represents your gear from main line to hook and give it a test. Lemme know what happens.

[gottaflylee]

olephart, here is one for ya that I hepled Box do on line stretch.

LINE STRETCH VIDEO


One of the cool things that I got out of when we did it was the crimped connections were stronger than all the different knots that we used. Hope you like it...

[olephart]

I couldn't get it to play - It said it was loading, but it wasn't. I read the comments, pretty cool. I think the floro leaders are the worst for stretch. They stretch about the same as mono, but they don't snap back to original size like mono. It's a good idea to change them if ya put a good bit of strain on them.

Just like with the swivels and knots, small details are most important and are not readily apparent to me without testing. I figure you and the Box have good equipment and know how to use it correctly. I'm not surprised you are getting 100% with the crimps.

I did a little testing with my crimps on 80# leader. I found a surprising number of crimps that appeared solid with a hand tug that would slip or break at around 1/2 of rated strength.

I spoke with a local pro and he said my particular hand crimpers were about useless. The size if the sleeve, pliers and line have to work such that the correct crimp is applied when the pliers fully close. Otherwise, it overcrimps causing crushing/breakage or undercrimps causing slipping.

It's gotta be just right to get 100%. Only one of the 4 locations on my crimping tool did the job correctly with the line and sleeves I was using.

I don't have a fix for insuring 100% crimping. Too much heavy testing involved for me. I just increased the size of the leader a bit and keep on crimping. If it fails at 50%, I'll be fine and the abrasion resistance is up quite a bit.

One day I'll get the good stuff and learn how to use it.