Which 8-plait/chain splice?

[Ian McColgin]

The back splice does not, in my experience, need chafe protection against the chain. It's a very quiet lay - no rubbing that will cause chafe. As Brion points out, the weave-into-chain system is a great mud picker. It also has a lot of chafe sites given the dynamics of how it moves into the chain.

The classic and normative eye splice on a thinble subjects the sholders of the splice to chafe as the line is dragged along the bottom. Because of the way the eye sticks out at an angle to the direction of pull, this chafe is more severe than chafe on the body of the back splice where the extra fibers both augment and protect the total line.

Interesting thought about the potential disadvantage of burning the strand ends. At one time dacron and nylon were seen as so slipery that burning was also viewed as a way to keep the line from slipping out in the splice. It is true that with low quality three strand nylon and a poorly done splice, an unburned last tuck may slip and the next to last tuck becomes the new last tuck. But really, quality so fixes that. I happen to mostly use a real knive just because I mostly splice where I don't have a hot knife, but I never gave it much thought before.