I was interested in the post about European engineers attempting to return objects from space using a “really big fishing reel” and a 30 kilometer tether. Scientists rarely have a sense of humor, so the tether only paying out 5 miles of line before getting stuck was an “inconclusive experiment.”

I call it the “90 Mile High Monstrous Backlash”, but they likely wouldn’t see the humor in that…

What was interesting is that they mentioned the “strongest fiber on Earth” was used to make a tether only 2/100’s of an inch thick. The fiber is called “Dyneema” – and I’m  wondering does it have a practical fishing application?

It appears a number of vendors make it already. “Dyneema” is a braided fishing line that may be suitable for fly line backing.

RAPTOR Line (Diameter) — Compared to — Monofilament Line

10 LB.         .003″                                                         2-4 LB.

20 LB.         .007″                                                         4-8 LB.

30 LB.         .009″                                                        6-12 LB.

50 LB.         .012″                                                     12-20 LB.

80 LB.         .025″                                                     30-50 LB.

130 LB.       .032″                                                     50-80 LB.

The above demonstrates how much thinner this round braided line is than monofilament, it may be capable of packing considerablly more yardage on a spool than Dacron. Due to the small diameter, it’ll likely slice you to ribbons if you aren’t careful, so you won’t want to grip it firmly if a large fish is in full flight.

 The Raptor line above was $6.95 per 100 yds, Berkeley makes it for $15.95 for 125 yds  – certainly bears looking into especially for smaller reels.

Technorati Tags: dyneema, world’s strongest fiber, fotino, backlash