Most Expensive Fishing Knot Strength Machine Ever!!!
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
Want to know what knots and fishing lines are truly the strongest?
Of course, every brand claims their line is the strongest, and every angler thinks the knot he ties is the best.
But a lot of those claims aren’t based on facts — they’re just people repeating what they’ve heard, going off of their own experiences, or even just coming up with statements out of the blue.
Since one of our goals at Salt Strong is to find the truth about what knots and equipment is actually the best, we invested in a new fishing line/knot strength test machine.
Now there will be no more debating about which lines and knots are the best since we can finally get real data.
Listen in on this podcast as we test out a few popular knots against each other and see the results of PowerPro vs. J-Braid.
You can watch the video version of this podcast below, listen to the audio version by clicking the play button underneath it, or listen to it on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify.
P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify and leave us a review!
The Ultimate Line & Knot Tester [VIDEO]
Click here to join the Insider Club
The Ultimate Line & Knot Tester [PODCAST]
Note: Don’t forget to subscribe to the Salt Strong podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify and leave us a review!
Click here to join the Insider Club
Related Podcasts:
- THE GREAT FISHING LINE DEBATE (BRAID VS MONO VS FLUORO)
- IS YOUR LURE CHANGING COLOR UNDERWATER (AND SPOOKING FISH)?
Conclusion
Isn’t that awesome?!
I love knowing the truth about a brand or knot instead of just believing unfounded claims people toss around and I’m really excited for us to do more testing with this machine.
What are your thoughts on it?
Are there any knots or brands you’d like for us to test with it?
Let us know in the comments below!
And if you like learning the truth about products (and getting discounts!), then you’ll love the Insider Club.
We’re always doing tests like these and since we don’t accept sponsorships, we’re free to give our unbiased opinion.
As an Insider, you’ll also get our best fishing spots and tips.
Click here to learn more about the Insider Club.
Related articles:
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
If I send you instructions for a knot, would you test it. I thought it up, but given how many knots there are, I suppose it might already exist. It is a braid to leader knot system (really two knots), but easy to quickly tie, stays slim, and seems to have good strength.
I know a little about knots, I was a rappel master in my prior life and we learned a lot about knots (some times our learning process was not very scientific and how we did not kill ourselves in those early years is beyond me). Climbers are the actual experts and most local fire departments can offer a lot of knot info, eventually, we learned from them. On climbing ropes, knots always weaken the overall strength of the set up. Most common knots can weaken a line up to 60% or more when stressed. Other knots like the Figure Eight system retain up to 80% of the tensile strength. However, the only way to retain the entire tensile strength of the line is to use a “tensionless” system (mostly used for anchoring). In essence, you use an anchor point that is a round, smooth, pipe and wrap the line around it about 10 times. As the line is weighted, the wraps distribute the load evenly without a “load” or “breaking” point, which is where most knots fail. The FG Knot seems to benefit from that concept as there is no single load or breaking point. It’s interesting that you say the FG knot fails, it would make more sense that it would not break at the knot, so what may be failing is the line itself. Why it breaks immediately at the top of the knot is beyond my pay grade.
The break in the FG knot seems to happen about mid-way down in the coils. I think it’s just due to the fact that the line is getting constricted and bent as the coils tighten down which eventually creates a weak point… but given how gradual the constriction takes place given how efficiently the FG knot spreads the tension load, the breaking strength of its weak point is much higher than the weak points from other knots.
Bolt the tensile tester down to the table It will make it a lot easier to use. The numbers on the other side scale would be for the amount of stretch in the line
The only problem with bolting it down is that I use that table for various purposes.
My experience has been that when a knot fails it is often on the initial impact when the reel is going from a standstill to pulling drag as opposed to a gentle increase in pressure. Unless you are cupping the reel to stop a fish, the drag will keep the knot from failing if set properly. Can your new tool work where you replicate the strike and hook set? Thanks
I have done some quick tension tests as well as slow pull tests, and the winner has always won for them both. So I trust these results for both quick and slow pulls… if anything, the slow pull is what gets put to the test in the real world because it’s what tension load is applied when we’re trying to pull the lure/hook out of an underwater snag (a properly set drag should ensure that the line never breaks while fighting a fish).
Have you done six turn surgeons knot
Yes, it proved to be a very good knot for braid to leader… but still not as strong as the FG knot.
I’d like to see the comparisons to some off the cheapest bulk by the yard line, kastking or tampa bay fishing channels. tbfc makes an 8lb which hard to find from most of the major companies.
We’ll be testing a variety of lines, and these will be added to the list.
wow guys! I’m really enjoying how you guys come up some great ideas on new content! what a badass diesel tester! Next test should be on the my favorite knots the palomar knot vs. the uniknot but this time double the eye for top strength. guarantee the lines will break before the knot. this a great way to test the integrity of these companies trying to hype up lines as well. Thanks guys…can’t wait to see more future testing with the OBD-2 Automotive scanner! LOL it looks like one without the torture wheel.
Thanks so much for making time to leave the nice comment Franklin! I filmed a Palomar vs. Uni knot for braid line test last week, so the video should be ready this next week.
Thats awesome man! Really excited to see those results!
Luke, gonna try your suggestion of dropping from 20 wraps to 16 on my FG. Having issues cinching the coils on the water and have been trying an Alberto or Improved Albright knot. Would love to see how those two stack up as well as the GT knot. Have not learned that knot yet just the “hype”.
The “GT Knot” as hyped up within the last year as being the strongest knot while consisting of a uni on one side and a figure-8 style knot on the other side is not worth using… it’s weaker than the basic uni knot and it’s not even close to the FG (the real “GT Knot” that won a knot contest years ago consisted of first tying a Bimini Twist to double the braid before making some FG-like twists to connect the doubled line to the leader).
Agreed on the “figure eight”, while better than a granny knot, it will still lose 20% of the tensile strength of the line.
Joe and Luke, before I met you, the only way I learned about what was ‘best’ was by someone that was trying to sell me something (bait shop, magazine, tv show, etc.) or by a ‘well-intentioned’ friend that really didn’t know what he was talking about. You cut through the marketing and perceptions and tell it like it is. Your investment in this type of technology takes discovering the truth to a new level. We can now know more about line, knots, hooks, baits (elaztec vs. pvc, for example) and other things we haven’t even thought about yet. We benefit from your diligence. Thank you for doing this for us so we can make better decisions and catch more fish!
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment Dave!
Hi guys
Now that you have this awesome knot tester, could you do a test on the * Lazy Alberto* knot. I found the knot on Google.
I would like your opinion on its size and strength, especially vs. The FG knot.
I used it today for first time. and for me its small size going through the rod guides was a plus.
Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment Andrew! I just checked out the Lazy Alberto, and I’m confident that it will not be noticeably different than the Crazy Alberto knot because they are so similar… if anything, the Crazy Alberto should be slightly stronger because it’s coils do a better job at spreading the tension load (since they are made going up the line and then again coming back to the starting point).
Given that the FG knot proved to be ~30% stronger than the Crazy Alberto, the FG will surely be much stronger than the Lazy Alberto too.