Norman Miller Wrote:
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> All Braided lines are made from either Spectra or
> Dyneema fibers
Those are marketing names aka brands. The line is actually PE plastic or from wikipedia: "Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW) is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. Also known as high-modulus polyethylene, (HMPE)
Dyneema and Spectra are brands of lightweight high-strength oriented-strand gels spun through a spinneret." Based on a particular patented formula and process unique to the patent holder of each one.
Some years ago I did some research on braid line and found out some interesting details...
1)Virtually all brands of braid line do NOT make their own PE gel spun fibers.
2)Virtually all brands of braid line buy the gel spun PE fibers in bulk and all the particular brand in question does is weave, dye, and coat with lubricant sometimes, and then markets their braid line as the best out there.
In my research I delved into the plastics industry - outside of the fishing industry- for my answers on braid line. I found that in all the world there were at the time I researched this only 12 gel spinning factories in all the world. 7 of them are in China. 1 or 2 were in USA. The rest scattered across Europe and other.
U.S. made gel spun fibers as you can imagine are the most expensive in the world, and you can guess which brand it is over here that was making their own fibers for their outrageously expensive braid line products. I refuse to pay those prices. Today I spend about a 1/10 of what they want for basically the same thing.
So most of the brands we buy these days, more than likely most of those gel spun fibers are sourced from China.
*** Dyneema and Spectra brand of gel spun fibers are not made in all of the factories. There is a ton of gel spun fibers that are not Dyneema nor Spectra type or brand.
The next thing I took a look at was the patents on gel spinning itself. There is not just one process for creating gel spun fibers. There is actually an ongoing scientific process of improving and changing the process to achieve the best results through those 12 gel spin factories that is unique and proprietary to those making the fibers at different locations around the world. The Chinese are all over this process and have filed numerous patents for changes to the process bringing about some interesting advancements.
The process involves heat, chemicals, speed spinning and much more to take a melted form of plastic and basically make cotton candy out of it which is cooled and then sold in bulk as basically piles of cotton candy like material that is then woven, dyed, and sometimes lubricated.
The process as I understand it is basically this... imaging if you will a rubber band. we all know how pliable they are, but now stretch that rubber band as far as it will go before snapping and freeze it right there so it can not contract. That is basically what the gel spinning process is doing to plastic. creating fibers stretched out to their maximum molecular level before snapping and freezing it right there. It can not stretch any more without breaking.
And this is why braid has its unique no stretch characteristics.
But be assured, not all fibers are the same! Depending on who is doing the gel spinning process, some fibers might not be stretched out all the way. Some might be perfectly stretched. Some might be larger diameter than others who might have extremely thin fibers. No 2 gel spinning manufacturers use the same processes and reach the same results. Not possible. Each is trying to out do the other in the science, advancements, and results.
The problem us fishermen have is we have no way to know which brand is using which fibers from what factory and who's fibers are stronger or weaker or stiffer or more pliable. No way to know. On our end it is all trial and error to find the braid we like.
And there is presently no data available to show where Dyneema or Spectra brands of gel spun fibers compare to the other sources of gel spun fibers. For all I know an unbranded Chinese factory could actually be making superior fibers based on their newer technology. And another issue is, those who make Dyneema and Spectra can change their process at any time and none of us would ever know it has changed for better or for worse.
Based on my research I no longer use high priced brand name braid line. I now buy it in bulk from China and I prefer it dry with no lubrication on it at all. It wears off anyway so why bother with it? Just a sales gimmick really. None of the line I buy says it is Dyneema nor Spectra and is not an issue to me at all. And sometimes, Chinese will use these terms to sell their off brand lines even when the source of those gel spun fibers are not made from the same process or processes behind Dyneema and Spectra brands.
Another thing some brands try and do is provide the PE gel spun fibers with a UV protection chemical agent. The reason is clear. The PE plastic they make the braid line from is basically the same plastic they use to make milk jugs out of. And if you leave a milk jug in the sun for very long what happens to the plastic? It begins to break down and become brittle and breaks or cracks up easily.
The same holds true for braid since it is the same plastic. So keeping the line out of the sun as much as possible extends the life of the braid.
I have edited this comment to add more info... and this one is yet another one... let's take just one Chinese gel spinning factory. There is no evidence to suggest that all day long everyday of the week they are churning out just one type of gel spun fibers. That one factory could be the source for numerous foreign brands of braid line all over the world. Each one of those foreign companies might have or might not have their own patented forumla or process they want for their gel spun fibers. Some might just buy what that factory makes with their patented process. But on any given day that one factory can easily change the process for how they make those fibers. And they can be made on demand to specifications of various foreign brands. Who knows, but Dyneema and Spectra might be made at all 12 factories from time to time. No way to ever know this. And on other days those same factories can be using different processes to make the fibers. Slight changes in heat, chemicals, spinning times, etc, plastic composition changes can all make a different product. So all gel spun fibers are not the same. And they are certainly not all just 2 brands of gel spun fibers under the names of Dyneema or Spectra.
And, these same limited number of gel spinning factories are also making other gel spun fibers for other products... There are patents registered in numerous countries around the world... they are even making surgical stitches out of this stuff and just about any and every product imaginable. Fishing line is just one of them.
[
patents.google.com]
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patentswarm.com]
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patents.google.com]
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182.160.97.198]
[
smartech.gatech.edu]
I could go on all day digging up patents from all over the world and different processes for making basically same thing everyone of them wanting to be the best and strongest and win out in sales game for profit.
Dyneema and Spectra are merely marketing names trying to carve out the largest market share possible through marketing hype. But in no way can any of us be certain which process is actually making the better fibers and where those fibers are going around the world or to whom. And what is interesting since this is an ever evolving process, what is today Dyneema and Spectra fibers may be very different from what was made when these brands were originally created. And this is why I no longer even care to bother with looking for those brand names when I search for braid line. And quite often when I do buy some line I have no way of knowing if the chinese are being honest with me when they say their line is Dyneema or Spectra. How will I ever know it is or it isn't?
So Spectra and Dyneema patented processes can more than likely be ordered from more than one of the factories at any given time based on availability. But not all braid lines are made from Spectra or Dyneema, and sometimes braid lines are marketed with those brand names even when the line itself might actually not be of that patented process and merely licensed out as a sales booster and nothing more.
With that being said, I use to work for a rod and reel warranty repair facility but quit when this pandemic occurred. Hopefully once this is over I can go back to it, but while working for a warranty repair facility for rods and reels I had to repair an endless supply of reels damaged from fishermen putting too heavy a line on a reel.
The brand considers this as abuse and it is not covered under warranty when new reels come into the shop with heavy braid line on them. Spinning reels are especially susceptible to this kind of damage because of how they are designed.
The spool is mounted on a steel shaft parallel to the rod blank, and the line wraps around the spool on it and the "pull" is directed 90 degrees sideways off axis to the steel shaft. A lot of fishermen like to lock down the drag as tight as possible and the tighter they do this, the more sideways pull the load on the end of the line will put on that steel shaft.
I can not tell you how many of them I have had to hammer straight again because replacements were not available for that reel. They make these shafts from a bendable steel, not a brittle steel usually. So we saw a lot of bent shafts all the time.
In the shop I was pretty good at hammering back straight a lot shafts. Other techs would have me straighten their shaft for them since I was pretty good at it.
So be aware if you use new reels under warranty and use too heavy a line not recommended by the brand and wind up damaging the reel it is usually not covered under warranty as it is considered as end user abuse.
Brands cover repairs if they or their product is at fault. But if a user puts too heavy of a line on a reel and tries asking that reel to deliver more performance than it was designed to give and is damaged, it is on the user to cover costs of repair. Rods also fall under this category. And let me tell you brands want to examine the reasons why their products are breaking before they make any decisions to cover under warranty or not. It is a big ordeal sometimes dealing with various brands over this issue on the phone usually.
While I was working there, every year at ICAST time we had numerous engineers come into our shop from all over the world from major brands, the men and women who design and build brand name equipment, and they came to our shop to spend time examining what we saw on a daily basis and take notes of issues and problems we encounter over and over. I have shown those engineers problems they said they would go back to Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and China and work to correct or improve on. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn't. I don't know. But it is cool to know our efforts here in central Florida were noticed by the big guys and maybe used to improve some fishing equipment. But making bigger shafts in spinning reels was not one of them.
That's my .02 cents... back to regular programming...
Edited 19 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2020 07:17AM by Kent Griffith.
