finger spool line in 2 pieces?

[Krazytomdiver]

I discard several feet/meters of line on a new finger reel,this keeps the line from coming off the spool & tangling plus at 15'/3m I put a black mark so when I do my safety stop there's a easy reference. It's just one of those things that make a dive guide's life a little safer.

"living life without a hard bottom"

 

[captndale]

I'd be pulling hard on that entire length of line or replacing it. "Glueing" 2 ends together is cheezy, who knows if they did that someplace else but did a more discrete but equally weak job.

The spools of line I buy are continuous and much much longer than 50m (like 1200m)

It is more likely that the line was joined by the line manufacturer than the manufacturer of the spool. It is common practice to join line by welding or tying it when it breaks in the manufacturing process. When the spool manufacturer wound the line on the spool they probably did not notice that it had been joined in this fashion.

 

[DevonDiver]

Thanks for sharing that experience.

I regularly trust my life to a line when penetrating wrecks. Many other divers place simular faith in their lines in caves and wrecks. It is totally shocking that an irresponsible manufacturer is selling reels/lines that have faults like this. It's a potentially fatal problem.

This is a really serious issue, that should be addressed with the manufacturer. Where a fault has the potential for a fatal accident, the manufacturer should be obliged to publicize the fault. If they won't, then it should be advised within the scuba community.

Do you know the manufacturer of this reel? (packaging etc)

A good 'lesson learned' about this is that divers should physically check the integrity of their lines before placing any 'trust' in them for safety purposes.

 

[rjack321]

It is more likely that the line was joined by the line manufacturer than the manufacturer of the spool. It is common practice to join line by welding or tying it when it breaks in the manufacturing process. When the spool manufacturer wound the line on the spool they probably did not notice that it had been joined in this fashion.

I've bought my line from Memphis Net and Twine and they don't go "welding" bits and peices together, its one continuous piece on even the 4lb spools (1300m, ~4000ft). It may be "common practice" but they don't weld.
https://www.memphisnet.net/

 

[captndale]

I've bought my line from Memphis Net and Twine and they don't go "welding" bits and peices together, its one continuous piece on even the 4lb spools (1300m, ~4000ft). It may be "common practice" but they don't weld.
https://www.memphisnet.net/

One needs to be sure of the specifications of every component. The fact that a spool contains 4000 ft of line does not necessarily mean that it is a continuous piece. Unless specified that way it often is not. It is wrong, but easily understood how a reel manufacturer could make the mistake of assuming a piece of line is continuous when it may not be. Most small gauge line is not intended by the manufacturer to be life support equipment so they do not take the care such products would deserve. Look at larger rope and chain and note the differences between products for general applications and those designed and marketed for "critical applications" or "overhead loads." As divers, we have to take the responsibility of checking every aspect of every piece of gear that we use. The fact that a manufacturer erred will not be of much help to you in the aftermath of a fatal incident.

 

[jspeybro]

well, as I already said, I don't know which shop it was. it was somewhere in the back row at Boot Düsseldorf in Germany if that makes you feel more at ease if you're living in the US. (I think it was a German shop, but I could be wrong. They had a cute blond accepting the cash though )

The only thing I know about it is that the spool is black delrin or ABS, made in taiwan . It came in a little plastic bag with a sticker on it with this text: AC-92-2. no other references or logos. The line itself was the bright yellow type. It also came with a brass double ender which I was going to replace by a SS one anyway.
EDIT: I did a quick search on the sticker text and got this link: http://www.problue.com.tw/dvacc.htm => its the yellow 50m line spool that I bought.


to be honest, as some already mentioned, I think this is indeed something that the supplier of the finger spool+line overlooked. I think the line manufacturer just supplies long lines that are then cut to the right lengths. to get to the full length, they probably just fuse the lines together.

I will check the rest of the line for sure and just use the 35m if that part is OK. I will also recommend my friends to check their lines for such issues.
I hadn't thought about using lines in caves an wrecks when I posted this thread, but I know I will be checking every line that I buy from now on.

I just used the back of a chair, winding the line around it to avoid ending up with 1 huge not. at about 1m per round, that goes pretty fast.

Johan