Splicing PARALOC?

[tamishel]

**crickets...** OK.



I've received my line, and my inexpert observations:

wow... this stuff is woven super tight yet the line on the whole is flexible. It's kinda kewl stuff, really. The claim is that it has a good hand, doesn't slip in clutches, doesn't flatten out.

I've found some references online to splicing Paraloc, and they're doing Brummels, and the caveat is apparently they're losing about 25% of the strength in the Brummel splice, likely because they don't (can't) bury any tail? or maybe because of what I'll get to in a minute. So the splices I've seen are Brummels with a whipping, or more often a shrink-wrap to finish, tail left out, that is.

Ok. So, having the line in my hand, I can't imagine how these guys are opening up the line enough to do a Brummel unless they're just plain brutalising it. I've managed to get my very fine pointed Wichard marlinspike somewhat through it, and I was sitting watching TV and working this thing for what must have been 20-30 minutes. That is, I only managed to get the point to barely appear on the other side of the line.

Ergo, like I've suggested, to open this Paraloc stuff, these guys MUST be using some sort of press to just whale a spike through the line.

The other option I've seen is to install a 'tippet' of Amsteel, milking the Amsteel over the Paraloc and whipping it down. Again, no way to crossover bury the Amsteel into the Paraloc so it's just a whipped finish at the overlap. I'm thinking you can 'sort of' taper the Paraloc's vertically woven fibres, so I expect the buried Paraloc may be tapered inside the Amsteel tippet. The tippet I saw had a regular Brummel eye, it being Amsteel and all.