Lab Test on Leader vs Non-Leader Material! (Must Read)

[Guest Fishing For Life]

Hi all,

 

Since I was so sick of wondering whether it is worthy it to get lines made of

"leader material" or not, I decided to the equipment in the company's lab to do some testing

 

Lines to be compared: all 6-lbs test

Maxima Perfection Leader Material

Maxima Regular Ultragreen

Stren Megathin

 

results shown here are averages of 10 tests.

 

Strength:

=================================

Maxima Perfection Leader Material broke @ 6.68-lbs

Maxima Regular Ultragreen broke @ 6.64-lbs

Stren Megathin broke @ 6.40-lbs

 

Diameter:

============================

Maxima Perfection Leader Material: 0.19mm

Maxima Regular Ultragreen: 0.24mm

Stren Megathin: 0.28mm

 

Cross-Section:

===================================

Maxima Perfection Leader Material: consistently round

Maxima Regular Ultragreen: consistently round

Stren Megathin: lotsa deformation, inconsistent

 

 

Final Comparison:

 

Price per yard (Using Megathin as the base unit)

=========================

Perfection Leader: 10.0x of Megathin

Regular Ultragreen: 2.5x of Megathin

 

Diameter (Using Megathin as the base unit)

============================

Perfection Leader: 0.7x of Megathin

Regular Ultragreen: 0.9x of Megathin

 

Strength per diameter (Using Megathin as the base unit)

===================================

Perfection Leader: 1.5x of Megathin

Regular Ultragreen: 1.2x of Megathin

 

In conclusion,

Perfection Leader is only slightly better than the other two lines

but the price is 5 to 10 times more ...

 

so, i got SKUNKed by buying it ...

 

Am I the only weirdo who does the test?

Coz' I have not seen such a report anywhere yet ..

 

Cheers ................. I got SKUNKED by "Leader material" .................................

[SlowPoke]

Interesting information. Short of a fish focus group, is there any way to test for visibility/invisibility?

-Brian

[Raf]

what about abrasian resistance??

[solopaddler]

I've used the Maxima perfection as tippet steelhead fishing and have found it to be NO WHERE near as durable or strong as Maxima Ultragreen. No comparison really...

 

As far as the other line goes, are you sure you don't mean Stren "Magnathin"?

I could quite easily be wrong, but I've never heard of Stren Megathin...

 

Anyhow, as far as the Magnathin goes, when I'm finesse fishing with light spinning tackle, 8lb Moss Green Magnathin is by far my favourite line, (if I can find it). Virtually no memory and quite durable...

[Terry]

Raf, totally posted the important question

 

 

and if I am going for a line record,,I want it to break at the lb stated on the box......

seems like an unnecessary study to me

Edited November 21, 2007 by Sheephead Terry

[ccmtcanada]

Not sure if this matters either, but does the temperature of the line at the time of testing make a difference? Most of my stream fishing is in waters that are pretty cold....most would think that the colder something is the more brittle it could become? Does the different manufacturing of these lines affect this?

 

It would be cool if this could be tested with more brands of line too.

 

You've done great work! More than most of us could accomplish. Hopefully some of these suggestions can make it into your next study.

[Spiel]

....Been using Maxima Ultragreen on my float reel for years and the same stuff (lighter test) for leaders. Guess I somehow knew it was the right choice.