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Ultimate Cord/Guylines?


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  • #1262136
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    I've been wondering if pure dyneema braided fishing line would be the ultimate for light weight guylines/cord since it's cheap, unbelievable light and reasonable strong.

    On eBay you can get braided dyneema/spectra fishing line in a variety of weights, but 100lb test might be the sweet spot. You can buy a 100 meter (330 ft) roll of it for $6 Buy It Now with free shipping. At 1/45" thick and with a breaking strength of 100 lbs it seems adequately strong for guylines. Compare this to BPL 'Aircord 1' which is 1/25" thick spectra with a breaking strength of 216 lbs and a cost of $17 for 50 feet. Aircord 1 is 0.004oz (or .11g) per foot and this cord would likely be no more than half of that. Honestly, there wouldn't be much of a weight savings over AirCord 1, but it is lighter and this stuff is a lot cheaper plus it might be more visible due to the apparently bright colors.

    It also comes in a range of colors including bright yellow. Just search 'spectra fishing 100lb' on eBay.

    Example: http://cgi.ebay.com/SPECTRA-PE-DYNEEMA-BRAID-FISHING-LINE-100LB-100M-SY-/320573149702?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

    Spectra 1

    Spectra 2

    What do you guys think? It might be slightly annoying to handle because it's so thin? I think it would be fine for applications where you aren't regularly tying knots. It would definitely be too thin for bear bagging. For $6 you could replace every guyline and drawstring in your kit.

    #1636668
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    I've got stuff like that, and I have used it a fair bit. It works very well, but making some sort of adjustment (knot or toggle) is hard.

    But then, I have had great joy with fixed-length guy ropes of this stuff, and just move the stake. Lighter than having toggles of any sort.

    Cheers

    #1636711
    Tom Holbrook
    BPL Member

    @zandar

    Locale: Central Coast of California

    I just bought a spool of the 100lb line.

    I paid $7.99 w/free shipping.

    I want to compare it to the line sold in the guide line kits via BPL, which I just pick up too.

    Looks like it would be great cord for stuff sacks, as well.

    Z.

    #1636727
    Brad Walker
    Member

    @brawa

    Locale: SoCal

    Just an FYI: Any knots you tie in that cord are going to reduce it's breaking strength significantly, from like 30-70% depending on the knot. It's probably not a problem though, since the actual breaking strength could easily be 3x the 100lb rating depending on how conservative the manufacturer is.

    #1636898
    Marc Kokosky
    BPL Member

    @mak52580

    Locale: Washington, DC Area

    I personally prefer my Kelty Triptease. For my guy lines and ridgeline on my tarp, I like to have the reflectiveness, especially for those middle of the nights, groggy constitutionals.

    It is pretty thin as reflective cord goes (1.75mm I believe)has a pretty good breaking strength and weighs less than an ounce for 50'.

    Only downside is it is pretty expensive at usually ~$15/50' of line… but worth it IMHO. If there are other reflective cords out there with the same specs that anyone knows of and is cheaper I'd certainly be open to it.

    #1636936
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    1.6mm spectra weighs ~0.5oz for 50 feet, so I would expect this 0.55mm stuff to weigh .1-.2 oz for 50 feet. Perhaps there is something you could do to it to make it more visible like give it a quick spray with reflective or glow in the dark paint. I dunno if this would last or not.

    #1636993
    Bruce Thibeault
    BPL Member

    @brucetbo

    Locale: New England

    not sure how knots would hold with the fishing line but i like to use prussic loops on the end of my guylines anyway. you eliminate knots and have great flexibility in adjusting your lines

    #1636999
    drowning in spam
    Member

    @leaftye

    Locale: SoCal

    "not sure how knots would hold with the fishing line but i like to use prussic loops on the end of my guylines anyway."

    Have you tried this with a thin spectra line? I tried it with other tension-adjusting knots and found that while it would tighten the lines, it'd slip with little provocation.

    #1637040
    Eric Blumensaadt
    BPL Member

    @danepacker

    Locale: Mojave Desert

    I like TarpTent's answer. They use Kelty Triptease reflective lines W/ their own very light and very reliable plastic tensioners.

    The weight difference between the Spectra 100# test braided fishing line and Triptease's ease of use/reflectivity can't be enough to get me to go with the fishing line. Getting even TT's excellent plastic tensioners to work with the slippery fishing line may be difficult.

    #1637048
    Dan @ Durston Gear
    BPL Member

    @dandydan

    Locale: Canadian Rockies

    Triptease = 0.82g per foot
    1/25" Spectra (AirCord 1) = 0.11g/foot
    100lbs Test Spectra Fishing Line = estimated 0.04g/foot

    Shelters really vary, but if yours uses quite a bit of guyline then there is going to be a significant weight difference. 50 feet of TripTease is 41g (1.45oz) whereas 50 feet of 100 lbs Test would be just 2g or under 0.1oz. If you want something that will work with your tensioners than Aircord 1 from BPL should work and still would weigh only ~6g instead of 41g.

    I will still use thicker cord on key shelter guyouts that I want to retain the ability to adjust the tension but I think the fishing line will be perfect for secondary stake out points where you don't need adjustability.

    #1637066
    Colin Krusor
    BPL Member

    @ckrusor

    Locale: Northwest US

    I have been quite happy with my braided Spectra/Dyneema (UHMWPE) fishing line guylines. Whoopie slings (with a longish pass-through) work perfectly for length adjustment. Several companies make 16-strand braids for saltwater fishing that splice easily and make very secure whoopie slings. The more common 12-strand braids are cheaper and work fine, too.

    #1637270
    Jacob D
    BPL Member

    @jacobd

    Locale: North Bay

    Pretty much an easier to see version of trip tease. Knots tie/untie easily. Ok, so it's not as light as the other stuff mentioned, but when it comes to a few grams I don't get too worked up.

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