Line on a spool: Flat, twisted, or braided?

[Couv]

For a DSMB, what is your choice of line on a finger spool: Flat, twisted, or braided?

My new spool came with high vis flat line. It looks advantageous in that it uses less of the spool's diameter. But, what have you guys found re it's ease of use and durability when compared to twisted or braided line? Hearing the advantages of flat vs twisted vs braided would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Couv

 

[rhwestfall]

@tbone1004

 

[ScubaBadger32]

i am personally looking at just regular braided line. Does what i need it to, and reeling it in isnt a pain. Also not super exspensive, like 30 bucks for a 100 foot/30.5 meter spool with double ended bolt snap.

 

[Couv]

@tbone1004

^^^ I should have thought of that. ^^^

 

[tbone1004]

For a DSMB, what is your choice of line on a finger spool: Flat, twisted, or braided?

My new spool came with high vis flat line. It looks advantageous in that it uses less of the spool's diameter. But, what have you guys found re it's ease of use and durability when compared to twisted or braided line? Hearing the advantages of flat vs twisted vs braided would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Couv

Practically speaking any line works just fine and the reason we use thicker stuff has more to do with abrasion resistance in wrecks and comfort on the hands vs. anything to do with strength of the line itself.

Twisted is not advantageous as you are constantly adding/removing twist to the line during use. It's cheap which is why a lot of the old exploration line in caves used twisted, but it's not something you should really be using.

Flat is a bit weird and because of the added/removed twist and how relatively annoying it is to wind up since you add one turn per rotation when you wind it up. I don't personally choose to use it, but I wouldn't replace from the get go just because it came on the spool.

Braided is the most dimensionally stable and has the added advantage of being able to deal with the twist a lot better than the other types of line and while it is a touch more expensive I find it to be the most comfortable to use.

 

[Akimbo]

For the vast majority of my recreational dives, I use 20'/6M of 1"/25mm Nylon webbing wrapped around the bag. It is enough for stops as deep as 20' and safety stops.

I'm not negative enough at the end of a dive to make it stand up so I don't worry that much about getting it fully inflated until I get to the surface. Somebody on the boat spots it 90+% of the time when it is horizontal anyway.

 

[pasley]

For the vast majority of my recreational dives, I use 20'/6M of 1"/25mm Nylon webbing wrapped around the bag. It is enough for stops as deep as 20' and safety stops.View attachment 707887

Akimbo, If I understand you correctly you have 20 feet (6 meters) of 1inch/25mm nylon wrapped around the DSMB. That implies that during the launch process of the DSMB you unwrap the line prior to the inflation of the DSMB. I would appreciate it if you would elaborate on your procedures for managing the webbing while you prepare and launch your DSMB. An important part of the launching of any DSMB is the line (or in this case webbing), management to maintain control and avoid having any loose line/webbing floating around trying to entangle you in its web. (pun intended).

 

[NothingClever]

I dislike flat line. It has the advantage of packing more on a spool only once - when machine wound at the factory. Once paid out on the first dive and every dive after, it develops the worst twists when wrapping the line and “fills up” the spool. Trying to flat wrap it at home is an annoying and unproductive exercise IMO. Braided line for me.

 

[Jcp2]

I thought flat line was a great idea until I got a spool with it on. I’m going to keep it where I keep my black SMB.

 

[Searcaigh]

I have been using a couple of Apeks spools for quite a few years now and they came with flat high vis orange line, which has worked well for me.

At the end of each line I attached another 6m of yellow braided line, which gives me an additional visual marker that I've reached my safety / deco stop.