Cheap Chinese braid (Spectra / Dyneema)

[maxpowers]

I only use mono here in the NE, but lately was tempted by the braid made in China and was going to give it a shot
Thanks for the information.
Some members have been using it and like it, I wonder if they changed their mind by now.
If I remember correctly, one of the members was Broschro ( Jamie), I know he really gave it a workout, maybe he'll chime in.
Sal

Sal,

Stay away from the Chinese braids.  The inconsistency will drive you crazy.  Just stick with brand name like sufix, powerpro, Jerry Brown, etc..They typically cost twice as much but you have a consistent products that should last years.  Btw, a lot of the San Diego long rangers are moving back to solid braid vs hollow braid for better performance.

[handi2]

I have purchased some 8 strand off brand braid that has been working well for me. The 8 strand is super slick and cast's great.

[maxpowers]

I have purchased some 8 strand off brand braid that has been working well for me. The 8 strand is super slick and cast's great.

The 8 strands does feel nice but for about 15-20% more you can get peace of mind buying brand name.  You can buy 1200 yards 65 lbs sufix for $100 vs 1000 meters 65 lbs 8 strands for $76.  The difference is too low to take a chance on the Chinese braid.

[trond_solem]

I have bought a chinese brand ShadowStrike 8 strands and it is sleek and strong. Haven't done any advanced testing of strength yet, but #60 is far stronger than the "known brand™" #60 I bought last year here in Norway.  It will perform well for the intended use. I have a spool of #100 of the same type that I will use for halibut fishing. Since I don't plan to hoist heavy fish out of the water by the line, I think it will be more than strong enough.
The price? About 1/5 of what I have to pay for that  "known brand™" with lower real life breaking strength.
That makes it an easy choice for me.

The 4 strands braid is more like a rope and of lower quality. Stay away from them.

The knot you use will have a big impact on total line strength.  Some braid lines with hard, thick fibres will break at low load due to small radius bends in the knot. Other braid will perform better with the same knot. I prefer to use the uni-knot It works well with both braid and mono.

[Nicko_Cairns]

I have bought a chinese brand ShadowStrike 8 strands and it is sleek and strong. Haven't done any advanced testing of strength yet, but #60 is far stronger than the "known brand™" #60 I bought last year here in Norway.  It will perform well for the intended use. I have a spool of #100 of the same type that I will use for halibut fishing. Since I don't plan to hoist heavy fish out of the water by the line, I think it will be more than strong enough.
The price? About 1/5 of what I have to pay for that  "known brand™" with lower real life breaking strength.
That makes it an easy choice for me.

The 4 strands braid is more like a rope and of lower quality. Stay away from them.

The knot you use will have a big impact on total line strength.  Some braid lines with hard, thick fibres will break at low load due to small radius bends in the knot. Other braid will perform better with the same knot. I prefer to use the uni-knot It works well with both braid and mono.

Can you photograph the spool so we know which one it is? Thanks.

[trond_solem]

I have bought a chinese brand ShadowStrike 8 strands and it is sleek and strong. Haven't done any advanced testing of strength yet, but #60 is far stronger than the "known brand™" #60 I bought last year here in Norway.  It will perform well for the intended use. I have a spool of #100 of the same type that I will use for halibut fishing. Since I don't plan to hoist heavy fish out of the water by the line, I think it will be more than strong enough.
The price? About 1/5 of what I have to pay for that  "known brand™" with lower real life breaking strength.
That makes it an easy choice for me.

The 4 strands braid is more like a rope and of lower quality. Stay away from them.

The knot you use will have a big impact on total line strength.  Some braid lines with hard, thick fibres will break at low load due to small radius bends in the knot. Other braid will perform better with the same knot. I prefer to use the uni-knot It works well with both braid and mono.

Can you photograph the spool so we know which one it is? Thanks.

I have bought several other spools from the same seller. Same stuff. He is marketing them under another name now, but get the 8 strands line. They are ok. The 4 strands are more like a rope and not so strong.
Photos tommorrow. It's late at night now. Almost morning.

[Three se7ens]

I think it could be like that ? I don't think there are that many factories that make fishinglines. And I hope there isn't a high/low quality button on the machine.

There isn't a high/low quality button, but not every part that comes off the line meets the first tier of quality control.  That's universal in any manufacturing environment, and those parts are either scrapped or sold off at a discounted rate as factory seconds.

That reminds me of a company that used to, and may still, import AK47's.  They were assembled in the USA from parts that failed quality control at a Russian manufacturer not once, but 2-3 times, on looser tolerances at every qc check.


Back to the topic of lines, here's my take of lines I have had and used:

Powerpro original:  inconsistent breaking strengths, and a stiff and very coarse braid.  I'd use it as backing on trolling reels, but for a primary line I think there are better choices, unless you are on a very tight budget.

Powerpro superslick 8:  my current favorite for light line and inshore.  The braid is smooth, the breaking strength is good for the diameter, and it's not too stiff.  I use 15 or 20 lb for artificials, and 30 lb for bait.

Daiwa saltiga boat braid:  very nice metered braid, it's smooth, slick and supple.  I use it for most of my offshore reels that do not see trolling duty.  It's not cheap, but not terribly expensive either.  It's very thin, and the breaking strength is very good.  Also, I see less abrasion after fishing the reefs than on most other braids, and the color doesn't bleed.   I use 55 lb and 80 lb.

Jerry brown solid:  good breaking strength for its diameter, but the 4 strand 50 lb braid I used was relatively coarse, and somewhat stiff.  Also, the color bled pretty badly.

Izorline:  the heavier lines are fantastic.  Very smooth and supple, and excellent strength for its diameter.  Light lines have a coarser braid, that's rather flat instead of round.  If the budget permits, this is my favorite line for backing on trolling reels, either hollow or solid.

Tasline hollow:  very expensive, and very good.  But for the money, I don't think its that much better than other quality lines.  The best thing about this line is the wide range of strengths, and that every batch is tested independent of the manufacturer.


http://www.paulusjustfishing.com/4linetesting.htm
That's an excellent site for comparing different braids.  I generally use it more as a comparison between different lines, instead of absolute numbers, since there are so many variables in the real world. 

[BMITCH]

Adam, thanks so much for the above link. Great info there on lines. Have you had any experience/opinion on the Momoi braid.....anyone.....

[trond_solem]

I have bought a chinese brand ShadowStrike 8 strands and it is sleek and strong. Haven't done any advanced testing of strength yet, but #60 is far stronger than the "known brand™" #60 I bought last year here in Norway.  It will perform well for the intended use. I have a spool of #100 of the same type that I will use for halibut fishing. Since I don't plan to hoist heavy fish out of the water by the line, I think it will be more than strong enough.
The price? About 1/5 of what I have to pay for that  "known brand™" with lower real life breaking strength.
That makes it an easy choice for me.

The 4 strands braid is more like a rope and of lower quality. Stay away from them.

The knot you use will have a big impact on total line strength.  Some braid lines with hard, thick fibres will break at low load due to small radius bends in the knot. Other braid will perform better with the same knot. I prefer to use the uni-knot It works well with both braid and mono.

Can you photograph the spool so we know which one it is? Thanks.

I have bought several other spools from the same seller. Same stuff. He is marketing them under another name now, but get the 8 strands line. They are ok. The 4 strands are more like a rope and not so strong.
Photos tommorrow. It's late at night now. Almost morning.

I promised some photos of the spools.
Here you are.

I can publish the link to the seller if I am allowed to do so.

[Nicko_Cairns]

Great thanks Trond.

[handi2]

That braid shown is good.

[steelfish]

Trom_solem.

now you have another believer of the chinese braid lines, I bought the same line few months ago and it worked just as good as my JB solid spectra.
knots are tight strong with no slippage as the coated Powerpro line.





8-strand multicolor 80lb saratoga is really similar to 60lb toro tamer multicolor braid, not knocking down toro-tamer but giving my props to saratoga/shadow strike line

[Normslanding]

I have been using this stuff for a long time. The 8 weave/strand is a great buy. It also handles and knots well. This company also makes a 12 or 16 strand hollow braid, from 20 to 200lb. test. I find that product to be 15% larger ( WxH/2 = D) than most brands. So you get less on a reel spool, but for the money along with the ease of splicing makes it a good product. If I am fishing large YFT I might use a name brand, for anything else there hollow is great.

[trond_solem]

Trom_solem.

now you have another believer of the chinese braid lines, I bought the same line few months ago and it worked just as good as my JB solid spectra.
knots are tight strong with no slippage as the coated Powerpro line.





8-strand multicolor 80lb saratoga is really similar to 60lb toro tamer multicolor braid, not knocking down toro-tamer but giving my props to saratoga/shadow strike line

I think they make this line for several brands. Anyway, if the breaking strength is 80 lbs, 90 lbs or even 70lbs for a braid marked as 80lbs, I wouldn't care less since I use a stronger line than I need anyway. The problem today with this strong braid lines is to fill the spool. Using a 50lbd braid line on a Penn 113HLW would require more than 1000 meters of line to fill the spool. Since I don't fish for sharks, there is no reason to have 1000 meters of line. 500 meters of 100lbs line is enough, both in length and strength. What if it breaks at 90 lbs? Doesn't matter since I won't be able to hold on to the pole anyway at that load.
I don't think it will break at 90lbs though.
If I was using 30lbs or 40lbs line, I would have been a bit more concerned about breaking strength.
A quick and not very accurate test showed that 80lbs broke at 60lbs in the uni-knot. Not surprising at all. I don't have any setup to test without knots.
For the intended use, this is more than enough.

[steelfish]

I wouldn't care less since I use a stronger line than I need anyway.

well, thats same case than me, normally I go with stronger braid line that the fishes I go for, because I fish on really rocky areas and like to go stronger for the abrasion resistance, I also use a top leader of mono.

If I would hunt for surface fishes I surely use lighter lines