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Splicing Spectra

Splicing is a rather nifty trick that takes advantage of the fact that
your lines have a hollow braid.  It's done with a tool that looks like a 
miniature latch hook, usually referred to as a 'fid'.  Short ones are
fairly common (I believe you can find them at sewing stores).  High Fly
also used to sell them, and you might be able to find one at another
kite store.  Premier Kites has just started making sleevers and fids
out of surgical steel, about 1' long,  These are probably the best such
tools currently on the market.  They blow away any other sleever/splicer
you've used.

In any event, the basic technique is:  insert the fid in through the side
of one piece of line an inch or two from the end, and guide the end of it out
through the cut end of line I.  Use the fid to pull the end of line II through
the core of I and out through the side.  At this point, the end of 
one cut line disappears into the center of the other cut line, and then
exits through the side.  Now reverse the procedure--insert the fid into
the side of line II (at a spot an inch or so before it enters line I, 
and then bring the fid _back_ out the side, right at the spot where II enters
I.  Use the fid to pull the loose end of I into the core of II and then
back out the side.  Smooth out the splice and then trim the loose ends
of line where the exit from the sides.  And that's it!  The beauty of
this splice is that the harder your kite is pulling, the tighter the 
braid becomes, and the tighter the spliced section grips itself.  I've
got a set of 150# spectra that I spliced just under 3 years ago; I've
flown a Tracer in 20mph winds on it, with nary a problem.  And as you
might expect, the splice is very smooth once the loose ends are trimmed,
so you don't have to worry much about your lines sliding through each other
when twisted.

As should be obvious, this is almost impossible to do with smaller diameter
lines simply because you can't get the fid to slide through the core.
Particularly if the line is already a bit old and stretched (with a tightened
braid).

Jeff

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