Splicing Amsteel

[Tedder]

I need to replace my 1/8" stainless wire topping lift and I consider using 1/8" Amsteel (Dyneema) or smaller. However, I have never worked with rope this tiny. I have a small splicing wand, but it seems way too big. Any ideas or hints?

[Matthew Sebring]

On 1/8th inch I always just tape it to the tip of a homemade fid pusher (for samson fids) made from an old VHF whip antenna. Anything similiar (coathanger) should work. Just use a minimal amount of tape. If you do it right you wont have any problems. I've done at least a hundred in that size and don't think I've ever had the tape let go on me.

[Brion Toss]

Hi there,
Yes, you can splice that stuff with just about anything that will fit into the rope, even a short piece of material that you just milk along. Some types of HM are stiff enough that you can just push the end through. I still prefer, however, to use a method that doesn't require even a brief pause to tape and untape, which is one of the Wand's strong points.
As for the size to use for 1/8", the small one will work just fine for uncovered HM, especially if you taper it. Which you should.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss