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Splicing Oplux

This is great stuff, thanks for taking the time to get the detail posted.

Have you ever done testing to see when a 'cross loaded carabiner' (https://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/examples-of-dangerous-carabiner-loading.2599/) would fail if used instead of the triangle quick link pictured?

Hope that makes sense.



A decent sized tree is very different than a hard rock ledge with a sharp angle. If I wasn't paranoid after reading so much about cross loading here, then I would use an aluminum screw lock carabiner to girth hitch (with a scaffold knot, castration band, etc to keep ropes roughly in place on 'biner). The video is pretty impressive. And the video is on a much smaller "tree" than anyone here would use to tether around. On a 1 or 2 foot diameter tree, I think the 'biner would experience relatively little side loading.
 
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A decent sized tree is very different than a hard rock ledge with a sharp angle. If I wasn't paranoid after reading so much about cross loading here, then I would use an aluminum screw lock carabiner to girth hitch (with a scaffold knot, castration band, etc to keep ropes roughly in place on 'biner). The video is pretty impressive. And the video is on a much smaller "tree" than anyone here would use to tether around. On a 1 or 2 foot diameter tree, I think the 'biner would experience relatively little side loading.
This is great info, thanks!
 
Class II double braid splices. This is what John at Knot & Rope Supply recommended.

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EDIT: As a side note, I had to remove the inner core for the entire length of the bury. If anyone wants to figure out how to do the bury with the inner core intact, feel free (and please let me know).
 
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Class II double braid splices. This is what John at Knot & Rope Supply recommended.

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I'm assuming you cut the yellow core out in order to do the class II? Or did you taper it and lock it in like the tachyon splice?
 
I'm assuming you cut the yellow core out in order to do the class II? Or did you taper it and lock it in like the tachyon splice?

I could not find a way to make the bury with the inner core in place. The inner core fibers get tangled around the core that is being buried and stop all progression. I had to cut/taper the inner core at Mark 3 of Samson's Class II splice instructions. I hope to get my whipping done and mail my splices off today. Hopefully I don't have to wait a month (again) for results.
 
As promised, here are pictures of my failed Tachyon-type splice. The splice simply pulled apart (slipped). There seems to be no evidence of slippage in the splice with the delta link on the other end of the rope. The force of the test was enough to distort my 8mm Petzl delta link to the point it can no longer be opened or closed by hand.

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As promised, here are pictures of my failed Tachyon-type splice. The splice simply pulled apart (slipped). There seems to be no evidence of slippage in the splice with the delta link on the other end of the rope. The force of the test was enough to distort my 8mm Petzl delta link to the point it can no longer be opened or closed by hand.

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Thanks for the update @CZMark interesting that only the one side slipped... curious to see how mine hold up, I did my whips a bit closer to the eye than what was called for in the splicing directions and wonder if that'll have any effect.
 
Just following up on this thread. I got a call from John at Knot & Rope today letting me know I had one splice fail at just under 3000lbs. A bit disappointing as thats only 54% of the ropes breaking strength. Im waiting to get the rope and documentation back in the mail and will post that info when I get it. Like @CZMark mentioned John suggested trying a class II splice, I asked him how to handle the 2nd inner core as the rope makeup is similar to tachyon, he said he does a taper and crossover with the additional core in a class II configuration even with tachyon. He also said he had tested a few other pieces of oplux today so Im hoping that was @CZMark 2nd set of splices that were sent in roughly at the same time.
 
I just got home from work. Knot & Rope did indeed do some splice testing today, and my results were fair.

The Class II Double Braid splice broke at 4,191 pounds, the Tachyon splice with the double-length bury broke at 4,155. That's just over 18.5 kn. If a knot tied in Oplux retains 80% strength, that would be 4,320 pounds.

All that time, work, and money to find out a knot is a better option (and far simpler). Very disappointing.

I will add that John at K & N seemed to think the results were good, I'm not so sure.
 
I just got home from work. Knot & Rope did indeed do some splice testing today, and my results were fair.

The Class II Double Braid splice broke at 4,191 pounds, the Tachyon splice with the double-length bury broke at 4,155. That's just over 18.5 kn. If a knot tied in Oplux retains 80% strength, that would be 4,320 pounds.

All that time, work, and money to find out a knot is a better option (and far simpler). Very disappointing.

I will add that John at K & N seemed to think the results were good, I'm not so sure.
Idk about a knot retaining 80% of the ropes strength... in my research thats on the absolute high side of knot strength most fall between 45-60% again depending on knot used and type of rope. Splicing is preferred because it is stronger retaining on avg 80-90% of the ropes breaking strength. This is of course when the correct splicing method for the rope is used. Since oplux is "unsplicable" my goal was anything greater than 75%. It appears both of your recent splices hit that, though I would agree it would be great to see 85-90% for the effort.

@CZMark I am curious to what splice you thought was easier, the double length bury tachyon or the modified class II? I would agree that knots are way quicker and require much less effort. For me, my rappel line is currently still attached to the triangle line with a double fisherman's knot, the reason I wanted to splice it was to save a little bulk in the knot, granted 1 fisherman's knot does not have much bulk compared to the 40' of line overall. Anyway it has been a fun experiment and I learned a new skill that I can apply to my boat for docking lines and if I venture into rock climbing etc.
 
@Jrybicki . I would say the double-bury Tachyon was easier, even though burring the core was more than twice as difficult as a normal Tachyon splice. I think the class II splice may be a better splice, BUT, it is necessary to pull the core through the jacket in two places (pulling the core is the hardest part for me), and the stitching method used is a pita. If I decide to use a splice, it will be the double-bury tachyon.
 
As promised, here is the official results, Over the phone I thought they had said it broke at 2979lbs but the paperwork shows 2279lbs... way less than ideal. The splice that failed was my first splice and appears it pulled out from the bury and the whipping method used on that side also mostly pulled out. The 2nd splice is still in tact however you can see where that whipping also started to fail and pull out so that end probably wouldn't have lasted much longer. Either way this splice only retained 41.4% of the ropes breaking strength though knot & rope did mark the test results as acceptable and yes may hold you fine in a static position, I would not trust this hanging 20+ feet as a potential life saving device. I am still curious about a double length bury as well as trying the class II splice with a tapered bury on the 2nd inner core with hopes of seeing closer to 80% of the ropes strength retained. For this season however, I will be sticking with the double fisherman's knot on my triangle link for the rappel line.
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I got my samples back today from Knot & Rope. The Tachyon- type splice with a double length bury pulled apart (slipped) like the original, except at 1,100 pounds greater force. This time the splice on the other end of the rope began to pull apart as well.
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The Class II Double Braid splice did not slip, the rope immediately behind the splice broke. I couldn't understand why Oplux broke at 4,191 pounds. Then I realized the inner (yellow) core ended there--I could not bury the core inside the core with the inner core inside as it got tangled. If someone can figure out a way to bury the core with the inner core intact, I think we have a winner.
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The Class II Double Braid splice did not slip, the rope immediately behind the splice broke. I couldn't understand why Oplux broke at 4,191 pounds. Then I realized the inner (yellow) core ended there--I could not bury the core inside the core with the inner core inside as it got tangled. If someone can figure out a way to bury the core with the inner core intact, I think we have a winner.
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Well it appears you were able to retain above 75% of the total breaking strength which is a big stepping stone in the right direction to breaking the code on oplux. The modified splices are for sure the way to go and I am much more impressed with the way the class II performed as it led to actual rope failure and not just the splice slipping. Though in a real world scenario I think I'd rather have slippage as you would hopefully notice it in time depending on the situation to allow you to secure yourself or brace whereas total failure you're sol. When I talked to John and explained how oplux had a double inner core like Tachyon and wasnt sure what to do with the 2nd inner core (yellow) to perform the class II, he mentioned that he splices his Tachyon exclusively with a class II and that he tapers the 2nd inner core so that its captured but said it was too difficult to explain how over the phone... but that when I recieved the rope back, it would make more sense. I think I understand what he means as we taper the inner core during the tachyon splice... but how to burry the class II without it snagging or tangling has me sort of lost. I may play around with my now trashed section until I can order some more rope to play with... wifey currently isn't happy with my pre season hunting spending (just dropped a couple grand on a self filming setup and am about to pull the trigger on an MR pop up 38 as well as an additional gopro) she also just learned that my splicing activities were for science and experiments and she finds it to be a waist of money... meh what does she know lmfao.
 
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