Braid and guides

[Rumpig]

??? Just wondering what effect light braid would have on my stradic and rod, the guides are just normal fujis, nothing special. I have heard that braid might cut grooves into the rings, is this true?

Thanks
Mick

[Master_Jig_Builder]

G'day Mick

On light gear it won't produce problems. Only time that it may cause a drama is if your jigging in real deep water and hooking onto big fish with standard guides.

The friction on the end tip can produce cuts. I use a roller tip guide on the end under those conditions, so that puts a stop to any potential problem developing.

[Steve_Ooi]

I would not worry about braided lines cutting into the guides on your rod. For one braided lines are extremely slippery (low co-efficient of friction) and the materials the guides are made out of these days is extremely hard.

These superlines ( braided , gelspun, or fused ) are made of Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) . Polyethylene comes in many forms such as low density polyethylene like gladwrap or high density polyethylene such as plastic milk containers, drink bottles.
Polyethylene is very slippery, such as the surface of plastic cutting boards, in fact in America they even use polyethylene to make dry ice skating rinks. About the only material slicker than polyethylene is teflon.

Where as most guides on rods these days are made from Aluminium Oxide or Silicon Carbide.
These two materials are extremely hard and are used as cutting compounds and in the use of saw blades.
Aluminium oxide occurs naturally in the form of the gemstones, ruby’s and sapphires. Aluminium oxide has a hardness of 9, diamond being the hardest naturally occurring mineral is still four times harder and has a rating of 10.
One of the things that make aluminium oxide so hard is the triple ionic bonds and the partial covalent bond that exists between the aluminium and the oxygen. (I suppose it could be described a bit like if you glued two strong magnets together with super glue).

Silicon carbide is still harder that aluminium oxide and in it naturally occurring form known as Moissanite.(which was named after the fella that first discovered it in fragments of a meteorite)
Synthetic silicon carbide has a structure that is very similar to that of a diamond. In fact it can be used to make fake diamonds and is very hard to distinguish between the two.
Silicon carbide has a hardness of 9.25 (diamond 10)

I hope this helps dispel some of the myths associated with braided lines and guides.

Kind regards Steven Ooi

[Rumpig]

Cool, thanks for dispelling that myth, I might go and buy some now depending on finances

Mick