braid breaking strength
 

So,
Last season I used 55 lb daiwa samurai. The previous 5 years 50 lb power pro.

I have never given my mainline much thought....like I have, never really
had it tested on a fish. Sure, I have had mainline failures with structure,
but overall I have never felt like the line under performed.

I switched to samurai last year out of curiosity and noticed some
differences in performance.

1. it seems to cast better....just an impression...no scientific tests.
2. I noticed that the line broke easily when popping wind knots. Like, the
same technique on power pro does not cause a failure, but trying it on
samurai, causes an immediate failure with barely 10 lbs of pressure.

So I decided to test the break strength of both lines.

1. multiple tests where a 5' length line was tied to a cleat and to a digital scale
2. I didn't count knot failures....just failures that occurred in the middle
3. line was fresh from the spool....not ever used.

50 lb power pro - failed consistently at 30-33 lbs.
55 lb samurai - failed consistently at 27-29 lbs.

both surprising and disappointing.

Has anyone else found the same mismatch of advertised and actual breaking strength?


I didn't count the knot failures, but the knot failures happened at a
much lower threshold....like around 18-20# which may suggests a
poorly tied knot.

I would say I did 5 tests for each line....and 1 of the 5 broke at the knot.

It was just a quick comparison. Not extremely scientific....but if its
happening with brand new line...kind of makes you wonder the
strength of line that has been around the block.

If anyone can confirm or disprove my findings, I would like to know.

perhaps I got 2 bad batches of line?

My only thought on the problem might lie in the testing method and the line's posted strength.

The method sounds solid enough, but how do you know if 5 feet of line will give the same results as 1 foot, or 3 feet or even 10 feet?

As for the line's posted strength, how do they gauge what the breaking point is, and is it determined by the same parameters as your test or maybe based on the extension of line during a long cast?

I'd hate to have anyone waste good line for nothing, but if you can verify that the line breaks at specific pounds of force, at various lengths, and it does so consistantly, and does so with more than one spool of their product, you would have reason to complain to the manufacturer about possible misleading information about their product.

Unfortunately you can't base the results of any tests from one spool as proof of a product-wide problem, but it's a step in the right direction.

In reality if you put 25 pounds of pressure on your blank it would shatter long before that. I fish braid with at most a 1/4 breaking strength of the line. ( doubt it's even that high ). I use it for its sensitivity as opposed to its lock up ability.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Most of the time my drag is set around ten.

50# is a buffer

My issue is... if age, nicks, and wear degrade the line to half...suddenly I am really near my drag setting.

Not sure on the odds of two 1500 yard spools from 2 different companies being bogus.

I did the test last fall and left the line spooled. I am not a big fish hunter...but it would hurt to loose a pb over weak line.

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Why do you change your line so much? I never change it until it is a problem. I see people replace rusty hooks too,seems like a waste.

Soak the braid in water before testing the breaking strength for the physics of wet strands vs dry strands under tension at the molecular level should reveal higher breaking points
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I don't change my line much. If I can get away with a season without
changing, I would...and sometimes I have. It really depends if I know
I have made a lot of contact with rocks. It happens ...and
sometimes it does make sense to change. Tf the line is abraded at 50' out ...not gonna leave it there.

I mostly buy the big spools because I got sick of the waste in the
smaller spools....like ending up with partial spools. I am not
into splicing a bunch of 50' segments together.

Now I have two big spools of line rated under the advertised breaking
strength.....nice move.

The samurai was on my reel all season...spooled once. I left it on
even after I knew the breaking strength was not accurate. I mostly
catch the small fish so it mostly doesn't matter, but there might be a
day it does matter.

is that for real...or are you messing with me.

I will try it tomorrow....hahaha...but I always felt like new braid shed water more than it absorbs it.

very very interesting...

so I look at this site and if what it is saying is true.... the guy has a
special way of testing line and shows this below method to be
incorrect for testing braid strength.


he writes:

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps657f82fb.jpg

http://www.paulusjustfishing.com/for...96669343d4#p52

ding ding ding....I think this is a winner. Every thing he says not to do
to line prior to testing is what and angler does to line.

Even the above illustration suggests a possible 30% loss in strength.
how is it different from a line coiled around the spool and the other
end tied to terminal tackle.....It is the same.

30% would account for my numbers to be accurate.

Wow....blows my mind.

Thanks....at least I don't feel robbed anymore....just ignorant.

Glad to hear your going to do a wet line test that simulates the real conditions.
I wasn't messing but to prove it would require more effort on my part without getting a headache.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

One of the big problems that I had with Samauri was very poor abrasion resistance. Not the quality I want for the Canal.

With hooks, if it's only surface rust, I just hit them with the file. If the shank looks corroded enough that it might snap, that's when I replace it.

Hahaha...well I probably will develop a headache myself the next time I decide to follow your suggestion.

Gave you the benefit of the doubt just repeated same test... soaked the line in water for ten minutes.

Same results.

I suppose I could put on swim fins and do the test underwater next.

I think the site throwingtimber linked is the real answer...been reading it. Very interesting.

Anyway. It really goes to show...one really needs to go the extra mile and not take things for granted.

50# Samurai and powerpro should be treated as 30#.

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device