I am not sure if this is a problem or concern. We fish with conventional reels that are fished with hollow spectra. Flourocarbon and/or monofilament leaders are connected to the hollow spectra using the " chinese finger trap method" of connection with a small Sato crimp to secure the end of the connection. The Sato crimps are made of soft aluminum material, are football shape and are crimped using a specialized crimping pliers made expecially for the crimps. I have used this system for the past 4 years with no problems whatsoever and feel very confident with it's use. Now, I want to use this connection system on a spinning reel. The spinning system consists of a Stella 16000F reel on a short 60# line class rod and is expected to be fished with at least 20# of drag pressure. The guides on the rod are Fuji MNSGs with a MNST tiptop. The only difference that I can see between my previous experience with the conventional reel setup is the type of guide used (MNSGs vrs USGs) and the additional stress point of the reels bail roller. It appears to me, that the 90 degree angle of the line to the tip and the line to the rollers are of concern. Will the aluminum crimps cause harm to the ceramics used at these two locations. BTW, the crimps pass through the guides in the conventional setup without any hang ups whatsoever. Personally, I don't think that I will have a problem but would be interested to hear if anyone has had experience with this or has anyone had to replace a SIC guide because of cracking the ceramic ring. Thanks.

FOr the tip top I'd use a Silicone Nitride insert instead of SIC or ALconite.

Right, the Silicon Nitride was made for wire line use and it's somewhat more durable than the SIC inserts.

The only other idea I can offer is that you find and use a Carbaloy tiptop. They're still out there, but in limited sizes.

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Thanks, that is a good idea. One problem though is that on one of my popping rods, the ring size is a 16 and the nitrides just go up to a 12. I wish that I could use all nitrides on the rods but then again, I need up to a size 40 ring. Perhaps, I need to look at other brands. Anyways, I would be interested to find out if any builders have encountered broken or cracked guides and what was the cause. Myself, I have not seen any problems on the rods that I use. I surmise that the reason I don't see failures is because the crimps (with it's nice slope downwards to the line ) really do not " knock " against the guides as some of the knots that I have seen do. Most knots that do this have a abrupt end and of course that little bit of the tag end that usually sticks out. The knots that have the tag end with a whipped finish do not lock up but of course it has that nice sloping finish to it. Thanks.