I'd be careful using zipties are they become extremely brittle with time and with ones that small can be easy to break.
I'd be careful using zipties are they become extremely brittle with time and with ones that small can be easy to break.
Thanks - I'll keep an eye on them. I always carry 6 to 10 anyway, they are handy and easy to use and extremely light and take up almost no room.Originally Posted by The_Saint
Do you know if the nylon cable tiers have the same problem?
I could also use the stainless steel ones.
Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.
Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)
Just a reminder that the constrictor knot is a good alternative to zip ties.
I just purchased 100 yds of 40 lb braided Spectra fishing line on ebay for $12 ($0.99 + $11 S&H
So the recommendation of the constrictor knot is timely - Thanks.
Also, I plan on using the braided Spectra in my field splicing multi-tool. I have uses on my Bridge Hammocks also.
Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.
Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)
I've been pleased with Tuf-Line (available up to 800 lbs, though only up to 500 lbs with olive drab coating). All of their products can be purchased (from stock or special ordered) through Ron's Tackle.
HMPE is slippery enough that I imagine a constrictor knot may not hold; however, the ends can nipped close and melted which causes them to shrink in length and expand in diameter (mushrooming as it were).
I believe that my 200 lb stuff is Tuf-Line XP. It is hard to believe the rating even handling that stuff.
I looked at the Tuf-Line and the Power-Pro, but then found the Spectra on ebay. $0.99 vs approximately $20+ for either the Power Pro or Tuf-Line. I figured for my non-fishing use, I can afford that
Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.
Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)
Did you test it? I imagine it's a lesser quality fibre (which may not matter in many cases).
In any case, I like to know where things come from. Tuf-Line is made by Western Filament which seems to be a company of good people. They report that all constructions, 130 lb and greater, use Spectra 2000 (which has higher performance and price).
Of course price affects my decisions too, but I never forget that commerce is the effective democracy which shapes the world, while I inevitably cast my votes as I spend my money.
Probably would if I was going to use it for something that would test it's strength. But for STLs - nah, not worth the time. Even for my uses on the Bridge Hammock, I'm getting it more for the spectra/dyneema and small diameter, rather than the 40 or 50 lb strength.
The ebay stuff comes out of China which means either good or bad or nothing depending on a persons political sway. For me and for $12, I'll see what the quality works out to be. If good, then if I need more, the 300 M Spectra Extreme braid stuff looks good.
I find that relying on a company's reputation can mean nothing at all. For the cottage industry people like warbonnet or JRB or Opie or ... , their reputation can make or break them. For a large or even medium sized national or international company, their reputation is extremely hard to judge. Does one or 2 or 3 or 4 or ... bad products in a very large production run ruin their reputation? Should It? If the production run was a few million units and one or 2 thousand units turn out bad. Would you even know if people weren't killed or seriously hurt? Probably not. Who is going to be hurt or killed fishing with faulty line? If the editor of a fishing mag got one of the faulty lines you might know. If the editor got one of the majority of the good lines, how are you going to know to watch for the bad units? How are you going to know if there even are bad units? So how is anybody to judge whether or not they produce good or crappy products if only a small fraction are bad? And what is a small fraction? ISO has a means of measuring and quantifying such things, but what if the company cheats? Would you really know? Only way to do so is to buy something and try it. Does a sample of 1 really mean anything other than the fact that you may not buy anything more from them? Would they even know? Or care? You can make a lot of noise, but would you do so for something that costs less than $10 or less than $100 or less than $1,000 or ...? At what point do you just chuck the bad product or make noise? And then they can probably make more noise than you can, so when do you stop making noise?All of those decisions and more by thousands or millions of people are what determine the reputation of a company which really gives a person very little to go on in judging a national or international company based their reputation. I've seen people make a lot of noise about a product from a company they judged to not be worth the money or performed bad. An example: I purchased Merino wool underwear from a down under company. The price even with shipping was less than half the US national brands. It fits and performs very well for me. Another person purchased from the same company and complained bitterly that the underwear was only suitable for his very much smaller girlfriend. He complained on a hiking forum. The sizes were in metric. So was the other person incapable of judging the correct size in metric units? Was he shipped the wrong size even though he ordered the right size? He refused to give enough information to determine. Unfortunately, his complaint was taken to mean, by the others on the forum, that they absolutely should not purchase form the down under company even though they had insufficient information to make an informed decision. Their decision was based solely on the fact that the person had participated in the forums for a long time. I feel that the company was unfairly stigmatized and probably lost a fair amount of business. He felt that he had protected his buddies from a shoddy company and products. He made noise because it didn't cost him anything to do so and the company had no means of even knowing or of defending themselves. As a result their reputation was diminished.
So can you really judge based on the companies reputation?? Their reputation can sometimes rest on factors that they cannot even control.
Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.
Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)
Maybe you lost me. In any case, my statement that Western Filament "seems to be a company of good people" is based on my personal experience dealing with them directly.
I have some high quality things which were made in China. The reason which informs my behaviour is practical (rather than political).
Ahhh sorry - I meant no judgment of you or your post. I wasn't very clear.
No - your post just triggered a rambling post on my current thoughts on brand reputation.
Pre-Internet, I relied on brand rep a lot, as in I only bought reliable brands from my prior or close friends prior experience. What else was there? Consumer Reports was some help, but I found that by the time their testing and publishing time line brought information to me, the models they wrote about were no longer available. Buying other models from the same manufacturer most often did not repeat the test report. My recent experience has confirmed that.
With the internet, my shopping experience has broadened way beyond local stores. As such I am exposed to brands that neither I nor anyone I know has any prior experience with and that even the magazines cannot cover. So I have become my own personal Consumer Reports.
Just rambling posts.
Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.
Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)
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