Hi All,
I mentioned I would do some testing of this Salus aka Athem thread and it really looks to be good stuff to me so far. Barring the rainy days although from what I know rainy or over cast days have a higher UV rating the colors are holding up well. Okay it's only been a week or two but I'm just about sold. I'll post pictures after some more time has progressed. Any suggestions as just how long to sun soak this thread before I should be totally sold?


Tight wraps and lines,
Wylie

That's hard to say - putting it out in the sun for 3 weeks wouldn't allow you to emphatically state that it will never fade, only that it won't fade in 3 weeks under the same exposure you've put it against. How that constant exposure would compare to a rod used for say, twice a week, for 5 hours per use, for a year, under combination sunny and cloudy skies is something I couldn't even begin to guess at.

All these threads will fade at some point, although I would think there would be a reasonable time limit or amount of exposure that would classify as one being relatively colorfast. Keep in mind that most commercial rod manufacturers feel that the "lifetime" of a fishing rod is 3 years.

If I were doing this sort of test just to satisfy my own curiousity, I'd probably leave the thread out for all of June, July and August and then decide for myself how well the thread held up. Of course, you'll be keeping some samples in the cool, dark, as a control group to compare against later.

...............

Thanks for the answer Tom,
I do agree that it would all boil down to a matter of opinion. I do have matching wrapped dowel hidden from light in a cabinet for the controlled test so all is lagit. It turn out that one of the colors I was sent by Mom turned out to be rayon so I will just disregard that one as it is very weak compared to the poly.
Only time will tell with this one I guess.
Thanks again Tom.

Tight wraps and lines,
Wylie

Times up I guess and if I had taken my time with the coatings I believe the Salus poly would look a lot better then it does. The only areas that had anything I would consider rejectable are the areas where the coatings were thin and manage to expose the thread to the elements of the winter although very mild this year. I'll post a picture as soon as I get one shot for the photo page.



Tight wraps and lines,
Wylie