Uncoated and hollow braids

[Jeri]

Hollow Braid Assessment
Been trying out some new variants of braids for the past few months, both as casting main line, and as casting leader. To date have only been testing out the 35lb hollow and uncoated, so there might be a step back from the assumptions if using 35lb hollow coated.
That said, had been using 35lb solid and uncoated prior, and found some improvements over 35lb solid coated. By skipping the coating process, the braid feels a lot softer and more flexible, and we were seeing a benefit in casting performance, probably only 2-3% on our long surf rods; but a gain is still a gain! The only comment that some might find as a drawback, is that the natural undyed fibre is off-white, so could be an issue for some.
Gave some to an avid Bass angler, and he really enjoyed it, as the colour helped him with line twitches, as he could see it better. He later tried some sinking 35lb, which here is looking for more options, as it transformed some aspects of his Bass angling in competitions.
Next to arrive from our supplier was a 75lb hollow coated, as we use this size as casting leader to take the impact loads when casting 6oz sinkers and bait, and for notional abrasion resistance when fish and sharks go round rocks and kelp. First impressions were that it was thinner and softer than normal solid coated 75lb, resulting in smaller knots at the junction with the main line. No significant improvements, but no drawbacks either. The fact that it was hollow meant that we could try and create a no knot joint to the mainline, which without the use of adhesives proved to be difficult to get something that was reliable – threading 35lb solid braid up inside was no trouble, but getting the hollow to grip onto treated or untreated braid proved very difficult. The practicality of using adhesives on the beach in a fishing situation would not be effective, though we did have some success with some UV activated adhesive, but not a 'beach friendly' product or process.
The latest tests evolved around a 35lb uncoated hollow braid, and that was equally as soft and flexible as the solid uncoated, but slightly thinner. However, as soon as we tried to slip the 75lb casting leader braid inside the 35lb hollow, we had a success – the braids were gripping each other, and produced an effective no knot situation. Casting performance did improve, over knotted leaders by about 3-4%.
All these assessments were carried out using the same rod and reel, just changing the spools on the reel to accord with the different braids. The assessments were all make over land, so accurate measurement could be gained. We did not actually measure the thickness of the braids, as it is doubtful that meaningful figures could be gathered, due to the woven nature of what we would be measuring, increased pressure on a Vernier or similar would just give false reading.
One thing that did come to the fore, was the total lack of any line wrap issues around guides, there is a popular theory down here that soft braids are the cause of this problem, well we have no problem with stiffer braids or softer braids on our rod set ups, even with them challenging conventional wisdom on size and placement of guides. Again a wide variety of conditions from windy and misty to scorching sun, never an issue.
The longevity of both hollow braids doesn't seem to have been compromised compared to the solid braid, issues like sand, silt or grit getting into the weave seem to be no existent. Tests were carried out over a number of months both 'field casting' and actual surf fishing and there appear to be few negative attributes to the hollow braids, except the fact of threading replacement leaders when a breakage occurred. Abrasion resistance was not an issue, though comparable tests were not carried out – just field and fishing.
So, at the end of the day, pretty impressed with the performance change, distance is increased by a few percent, nothing huge, but when that translates into an extra 10-15 metres further than before it is a worthwhile improvement, lots of small gains.
One aspect that did happen in the tackle shop, not very scientific; but folks seemed to like the idea of softer braids, as our first shipment of uncoated sold out very quickly. Whether that is just folks trying something new, or something else, but it was across a wide spectrum of buyers, beginners, social and competition anglers.
Hope all the above was of interest.

Cheers from sunny Africa

[jurelometer]

Interesting findings!  You are right about small performance gains.  For all but one of the performance endeavors that I have been involved in,  the best results came from combining multiple smaller gains, rather than hunting for that one big gain that may not exist.

I got a bit confused about the abrasion/grit comparison. It would make sense that removing the coating AND tighter weave typical with hollow might contribute to minimizing retention of grit.   I did not understand if solid was tested coated and uncoated.   

In terms of diameter, one idea  would be to  weigh 10 meter segments of hollow and solid uncoated.   This will tell you how much plastic per meter is in the lines relative to listed and/or tested breaking strength.   

Testing the actual breaking strength might be useful.   I would not be surprised if the hollow strength does not have to be as high over listed  due to less variability  ( tighter weave, more strands, better quality control). Or since listed strength is influenced by marketing, the manufacturer may simply have chosen different criteria to come up with a 35lb listing.

After filling a few spools, you should see if there is a substantial difference in capacity.    Combined with the weight per meter and breaking strength, you will know more reliably if you are getting an apples to apples comparison.

The final idea is that hollow vs solid will have different profiles and surface structures,   changing the amount of friction from the air on the line during the cast. At the speed the line is traveling, and with the amount of line involved, I could see how this might make a small scale difference.  Especially with any kind of cross wind.  I have no idea how to calculate this, so take this as conjecture

For a small gain in performance,  it will be a bit tough to convince that hollow vs solid makes a difference until you can be satisfied  that the compared lines are otherwise equivalent.

But as you have noted, there could be other compelling reasons to switch to hollow, and your performance tests indicate that at a minimum,  there is not a strong performance disadvantage in hollow.


Good stuff!

-J