Braid Diameters and Breaking Strains
In my last post I mentioned that I had ordered some 4lb Sufix Nanobraid mainly out of frustration whilst waiting for a seller in Japan to ship the YGK X3 that I had ordered.
So the Nanobraid arrived quite quickly and being somewhat inquisitive I took it to work to check its diameter in our quality control department. The packaging has a claimed breaking strain of 4lb and a claimed diameter of 0.08mm - great I thought to myself "It will fit nicely on my new Shimano Rarenium 1000S, but I might have to put some backing on so I will check its actual diameter so I will know roughly how much backing I will need."
Got to QC and measured the line on our Quadra-Chek 2000 optical measuring machine - 0.18mm - what! It's meant to be 0.08mm! Check it again but still the same results.
Sufix Nanobraid on the Quadra-Chek 2000
Next I checked it on another measuring machine, a Mitutoyo Absolute which is a device which puts a slight pressure on things being measured. It gave a reading of 0.15mm, which given the slight pressure on the line explains the difference but still way more than the claimed 0.08mm
Sufix Nanobraid on the Mitutoyo Absolute
A little bit disheartened I got home and loaded the Nanobraid on the Rarenium to see how much would go on. The Rarenium 1000S has a claimed capacity of 100 meters for a line diameter of 0.148mm (PE 0.8). Okay at least I will be able to get 100 meters on there - not as good as 135 meters (the amount I bought) but good enough.
So I proceeded with loading the line but the spool filled up pretty quickly and there still seemed to be a lot left on the Sufix spool. No worries; I didn't cut the line but instead went outside, rested the rod against something stable and walked down the [deserted] path unspooling the remaining line as I paced 1 meter steps. The line finally came to an end after 50 steps - that's approximately 50 meters - that means there was only about 75 meters on the Rarenium! Doing a quick reverse calculation, assuming Shimano's line capacity chart was pretty accurate, then it means that the 4lb Nanobraid really does have a diameter of between 0.15-0.18mm.
I then decided to test the Nanobraid's breaking strain. Using a very non-scientific method - basically a digital scale and a carrier bag with groceries in it (weighed each time, starting at 4 pounds) I slowly lifted to bag with a length of Nanobraid tied to a couple of lure clips with a double Palomar knot with the digital scales on the other end of the line.
The line lifted the 4lb bag no problem but did eventually break at just over 6lb. Not what a braided line of 0.15mm should break at - or should it?
PowerPro has always been a sort of standard for braided lines with its image of being a strong (everybody knows that it breaks above its stated breaking strain), abrasion resistant, albeit rough, dependable line.
Have a look at this chart on the WSF Forums for an explanation of PowerPro's correct sizes and breaking strains. Yes there is a bit of a confusion between the labeling of US and EU lines.
According to the above chart PowerPro 10lb line has a diameter of 0.15mm, which is what it also says on the spool of 10lb that I have. But is it really 0.15mm?
I took my spool of PowerPro 10lb line to our QC and measured it on both the Quadra-Chek 2000 and the Mitutoyo Absolute - they gave readings between 0.22-0.25mm. A bit more than stated on the spool! No wonder that PowerPro has a reputation of breaking above it's claimed breaking strain if its diameter is actually about 65% more than stated; which means that the average of 0.18mm for the Nanobraid 4lb, which actually breaks at 6lb, isn't so bad after all!
Is it just Sufix and PowerPro that apparently artificially exaggerate how thin their lines are? I recently bought some Daiwa J-Braid in 10lb and its claimed diameter is 0.15mm but its actual diameter is between 0.16-0.19mm (not too bad of a difference from its claimed diameter) and it actually breaks at about 12lb so kudos to Daiwa for being pretty accurate on their labeling.
I suppose the reason I am a bit frustrated with all of this is because, having bought the Rarenium 1000S, which has a shallow spool and therefore a lower line capacity, I wanted to get a thin line that would give me at least 100 meters in case I hooked into that fish of a lifetime and not have to worry about getting spooled on an ultra light set up.
Now I'm waiting for the YGK X3 PE 4 (it should be around 0.11mm but I will check anyway) to arrive so that I can hopefully get some decent thin line on my new Rarenium 1000S.
Tight lines!
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