Rainy Days Splicing Part 2 - 8mm Bee Line

Yup, it's raining here again.

Looking into splicing Velocity is how I found this site back in April. About the same time I started climbing on a VT. I recently started with an XT (reverse the braids of a VT). I've been using tied ends on 8mm Bee Line and have tuned my perfect length to about 26-27" for use with Tachyon. I wanted to get rid of the bulk of the knots now that I'm done adjusting the length.

While Bee Line is technically a class 2 double braid, there is no way to do that kind of splice on a short eye-to-eye and still use it. It turns out that the way to splice these e2es is with a locking or Mobius Brummel splice with a 6" (actually 48 times the core diameter - about 5.4") tapered and buried tail. Then whip and stitch the outer braid at the base of the eyes. I found good directions here. The Mobius Brummel is used a lot by my sailing friends and works great in slippery, loose single braid like 12 strand. It's very secure, but perhaps not quite as strong as a full class 2 splice would be. From a strength POV I think the Brummel splice is comparable to knots, am still looking to verify though.

Anyhow, the pictures.... (sorry for the camera phone quality)

How do you like the XT? I plan on trying it out a little later today, after it cools off some. I'm burnt from working this morning. Tried to get out to beat the heat but it still got me. At least there is a breeze (more like gale force wind). Anyway, was reading about the XT on another site. Someone posted a pic. Looks like a slick knot.

I like the XT. Also seems to twist the rope a little less on the descent. But I'm not sure I'm convinced it's really that much better than the VT if your e2e is kept short.

I don't have much problems with my line twisting. I pull a fair lead over a limb quite often though and will often pull the complete line through a fork to keep it under me. My rope man is pretty attentive as well.