float lines

[jcjkspearfish]

hi im going to make a boey and float system and I was wondering which is better. Either the expensive vinyl material or just plain floatable rope/nylon. pros and cons?
thanks

[popolarbear]

i am also in need of the same advice. ive done some searching and am also confused. does the "FLOAT LINE" realy have to actualy float or is it a nick name that indicates its purpose. for instance i saw a thread about making a boggie board into a float device that ataches to either your spear line or a gun line. i would imagine that regardless of what type of simple nylon line you use, that this primitive set up would be more than functional( perhaps even if compared to some in the very expensive ones.).......

so basicaly thats my interest. also i notice that some manufacturers are selling nylon and gelspun polyethelyene(3m ,tuf line,super line) that is coated in either vinyl or polyurathane to increase the abrasion resistance, and the flotation quality. in the netting industry(which i am familar with) they comonly coat nylon or other synthetic lines in a simple latex ruber dip that is basicaly a cheep paint. for protection. i am wondering if anyone has mastered a cheep do-it yourself recipie for making nylon rope float. if not i might just be forced to pionerr this and do some web publishing of my research. ...

[jimy286]

The line needs to float otherwise it will just get snaged up and youll spend all day fighting rope not fish.

I know alot of people have a lot of sucsess with washing line cord!

A good float line will coast $26 us pluss shiping

regards

[blaiz]

If you are using a float line connected to your gun and float you definately want it to FLOAT! A sinking line will only get tangled in the coral or kelp and the worst part is that a sinking line will also scare fish.

There are many floatlines available on the market. Braided floatlines (yellow,blue) I recomend the blue as it is stronger and less visable underwater. The problem with braided floatlines is that they tangle and knot easily and due to the roughness of the rope its harder to get the tangles out and it always seems to get caught up on your snorkel or knife or limbs.

A vinyl tube float line works great. They are clear and almost invisible underwater, they are stiffer than braided lines and dont tangled as easy. Since they are nice and smoothe they dont get caught up on your gear as easily either. The vinyl tubing also holds up against rocks and coral really well.

I have made my own floatlines since I started diving. I have found that I can make up to a 100ft line for about 35$ I could buy an already made one for about $70. Use the search function and you will find numerous threads on this sight dedicated to homemade float lines. I highly suggest the black or clear mono (=or>250lb) through a 5/16 or 3/8 clear vinyl tubing.

Good luck

[Marwan]

i like both, the pros of regular rope is that you can wind it easily on a line winder and so its very protable, i find the vinyl ones to float maybe better then rope but have the disadvantage of portability..mine is 18m so i have a pretty big ugly linewinder for it..
probably vinyl will be more durable too as it wont get weaker as easily as rope when you snag it on the rocks, or by fish gills (in case you use a speed stringer)

[Farang Shao Ley]

I,ve tried different ways of making a float line (vinyl, pvc-tubing), but once you get them punctured on corals or rocks, time and money is wasted.
Much better is the simple way, polypropylen-rope with big strands, which you can find in every hardware-shop.
This 6mm rope was only 5,-Euro/30m and resists 90 Kg. It floats great and it will last for a few years.
Augspleiß – Wikipedia


When I enter the water or leave it, I simply wind the rope around my gun ;-)

[jcjkspearfish]

Thank You All!!!

[Mr. X]

I have tried some rope similar to the above (readily available in the UK from hardware outlets, usually light blue in colour and often used by truckers) but I found it rather floppy & tended to snag/knot more that I was comfortable with.

Rob Allen sell an inexpensive polyester rope (around7 or 8mm I think) in olive green or hi-viz orange, which is quite affordable (I think it was maybe £7/$14 for 20m with a spliced look at each end) and compact. Various lengths are available & it's easy to splice a new loop if you decide to cut one down. Olive green would be my suggestion. It's quite stiff too, which is good for this use I think. This is what I started with and have gone back to.

There is also a very cheap bright yellow braid that is readily available. It's a pity shiney/plasticky & stiff to use. It'd probably do the job but bright yellow is rather conspicuous.

Some washing lines float, some don't -- not a bad place to start.

The sealed aquarium air pipe seems quite popular (clear, stiff, floats, affordable if you shop around).

[fleshy]

I have worked in a couple aquarium stores, and own a ton of them myself, and the only thing I would be worried about is the fact that it isn't that hard to rip the material. Also how do you seal it off? Just some super glue or what?
Out of aquarium tubing, clothesline, and just the plastic rope, which one do you suggest the most.?

[jimy286]

If your gona shoot big/bigger fish then buy the proper stuff or buy a new gun to replace the one your about to loase.!!!

[fleshy]

The biggest fish I shoot would be carp, and some smaller Florida ocean fish. The carp have the potential to be gun stealers, but I'm not so worried about little groupers and hogs doing the same.

[blaiz]

Originally Posted by jimy286

If your gona shoot big/bigger fish then buy the proper stuff or buy a new gun to replace the one your about to loase.!!!

If you take the time a DIY float line will be more than enough to land a large fish. Usually failures happen at the connections (bad crimps, swivels, line clips etc.) Just because floatlines say fancy things like Riffe or Rob Allen doesnt mean that you or I couldnt build one with the same quality. True time = money so you have to determine whether or not its worth it to you, but I enjoy building my own gear. It really makes landing fish a personal feat.

As noted above that the line will tear or get holes in it I have had my float line for almost 2 years now, I dive in hawaii where the coral is very sharp, the access points at most our dive spots are LAVA rock, very sharp!, and furthermore I treat my gear like crap. I pull my float and line right over the rocks with total disregard, and I have never gotten a hole or tear in my float line.

As far as sealing it, I used a silicone sealer that I injected in both ends before I pluged them with a large barrel swivel. Havnt had a leak yet. I also bought my tubing at a hardware store so It may be a little heavier guage than what you might find at an aquarium store though this I dont know.

[blaiz]

Ive got a question for those with the braided lines. Do any of you know where I can find a diagram for splicing lines? and or making the braided loop at the ends?

Thanks

[Farang Shao Ley]

I have tried some rope similar to the above (readily available in the UK from hardware outlets, usually light blue in colour and often used by truckers) but I found it rather floppy & tended to snag/knot more that I was comfortable with

by Mr.X

Then you probably bought the wrong stuff, as I wrote, you have to get the cheaper stuff with the big strands,
look here:


Both have the same diameter, but the right rope has finer strands and resists 240kg, but will mess up all the time, cause it is not stiff enough. The left rope is the right rope, 3 main strands, easy to splice and 90 kg braking-strain is more then enough, if you not shooting record tuna above 100 kgs
An Australian friend using similar stuff, but only in 4 or 5 mm, good enough for fishes up to 10-20 kg he says.
He never lost a gun with this kind of rope .
greetz

[Bill McIntyre]

You are in San Diego. You would be much better off with a vinyl line since it has to slide easily through heavy kelp and there is no coral to cut it on anyway.

You didn't mention a float for the rear end, but you should realize that you won't be able to use one, or at least not one big enough to fight a fish. You will be diving under heavy kelp and coming up on the other side, and a float would be hopelessly tangled. Many CA diver use the float line with nothing at all on the end. I prefer to have a small float that simply serves as something to grab when all the line has been pulled through your hand.

Something like that thin net float in the first photo is best. Even those egg gloats will hang up in the kelp and have to be pulled free now and then.