Tippet sizes - X, Dia, Lbs, Kgs

[Michael]

Hi Guys

I suppose I could have posted this anywhere really, under trout too. It's just a handy little guide to know what "3X tippet" may mean...in terms of Diameter of line, pound and kg breaking strains, etc.

This is handy if you don't want to splash out on tippet spools...you can buy normal mono in 600 metre spools for much less. Just check the equivelant breaking strain and mono diameter.

To all: YES...it's GENERAL, not cast in stone...plus YES...I know different makes of tippet have different specs. This is just for newcomers or anyone who wants to have a general idea about what the "X" rating means, and the corresponding breaking strain and tippet diameter. This is also mono, not flourocarbon. (I have based this on Rio's Powerflex Tippet, which a lot of guys here use).

X: Pounds: Kgs: Line Dia: (mm)

0X - 15 - 6,80 - 0,279
1X - 13 - 5,90 - 0,254
2X - 10,0 - 4,54 - 0,229
3X - 8,2 - 3,72 - 0,203
4X - 6,4 - 2,90 - 0,178
5X - 4,9 - 2,22 - 0,152
6X - 3,2 - 1,45 - 0,127
7X - 2,4 - 1,09 - 0,102
8X - 1,5 - 0,68 - 0,076

OTHER:

LBS: KGS: Line Dia:
20 - 9,07 - 0,330
25 - 11,34 - 0,381
30 - 13,61 - 0,432
35 - 15,88 - 0,483
40 - 18,14 - 0,533
50 - 22,68 - 0,584
60 - 27,22 - 0,635

[srt007]

Thanks Michael,

This will definatly come handy for me, had a simmilar one saved on my pc but document got deleted by accident

cheers
shawn

[Michael]

Thanks Michael,

This will definatly come handy for me, had a simmilar one saved on my pc but document got deleted by accident

cheers
shawn

Hi Shawn

No probs...I find it handy to print out, then go browse the tackle shops for "alternative" tippet materials. I use Double X Platinum Plus for tippet. Just re-spool my old tippet spools when they run out. They come is 600m spools, and are normally under R150.00 per spool...which works out way less than buying tippet spools. Same diameter and breaking strains.

Mike

[srt007]

Hi Shawn

No probs...I find it handy to print out, then go browse the tackle shops for "alternative" tippet materials. I use Double X Platinum Plus for tippet. Just re-spool my old tippet spools when they run out. They come is 600m spools, and are normally under R150.00 per spool...which works out way less than buying tippet spools. Same diameter and breaking strains.

Mike

I will try the Double X PP as I'm still using the RIO powerflex, was wondering what line to use, thanks again

shawn

[Andre]

i'm still trying to figure out the difference between 0X and 1X.
The "X" reting, means the mono has been streached out to "X" times its origional length. So it the original lengh is 1, what is 0X??

[nicholas]

Hi Shawn

No probs...I find it handy to print out, then go browse the tackle shops for "alternative" tippet materials. I use Double X Platinum Plus for tippet. Just re-spool my old tippet spools when they run out. They come is 600m spools, and are normally under R150.00 per spool...which works out way less than buying tippet spools. Same diameter and breaking strains.

Mike

Hi Mike, so if all things are equal why do we spend so much money buying all the other branded tippets???

[ShaunF]

Mike, if I may ask, that 600m spool you're talking about, is that mono or flourocarbon ? If it's mono, what is the point of spending R150 on 600m to use for tippet when you're never going to get through even half of it before it goes vrot? It's always been my understanding that mono has a relatively short shelf life, and so using stuff that's a couple of years old is not really that clever.

[Michael]

Hi Mike, so if all things are equal why do we spend so much money buying all the other branded tippets???

Why do prawns cost R 400.00 in a 5-star restaurant, but you can get the same (or fresher??) at the market for R 200.00?

Same sort of thing...as soon as people sell them in 100m spools and say it's "tippet material" (as apposed to monofilament...which is all it really is) the price goes up.

Ever seen this scenario (I have)? : I went to buy normal Maxima Ultragreen, for building leaders with. In the fly fishing section, they were twice the price of the SAME product (exact same spool, etc) in the bait section!

Also, they used to sell little plastic flip-top boxes in the bait section, for about R4.00 each. Then someone *cough cough* made a suggestion that they are perfect for holding your fly tying hooks in...suddenly the same boxes were wrapped in plastic and sold for R20.00 each in the fly tying section...branded "fly hook storage boxes".

Supply and demand, that's all it is.

[Michael]

Mike, if I may ask, that 600m spool you're talking about, is that mono or flourocarbon ? If it's mono, what is the point of spending R150 on 600m to use for tippet when you're never going to get through even half of it before it goes vrot? It's always been my understanding that mono has a relatively short shelf life, and so using stuff that's a couple of years old is not really that clever.

Who told you that...a fly shop?

Mono's shelf life is a lot longer than what everyone thinks (or would tell you, because they need to sell more tippet spools ), unless you expose it to sunlight, etc all the time. I have spools that are about 5 years old now, and the tippet is still 100%. Each time I re-spool my tippet spools, I test the knot strength by steady pressure, and then by jerking it too. Never had a problem yet. Recently with trout I landed a 1.8kg fish on 5X mono, that was about 6 years old. I really wrestled the fish and the tippet held up.

[Byron]

Yip - I have mono on some of my deepsea reels that is pretty old and still as fresh as the day I bought it. So long as you cut off the first few yards every time your replace the leader you will be good. This is also assuming it is cleaned and stored correctly.