Samson XLS Extra T - What Splice?

[Smitty519]

I'm using 3/8" Samson XLS Extra T to replace the halyards on my Cal 28-2. The splices in the Samson splicing guide and Brion's book (Working Rope Volume 5) and Brion's DVD (Spectra) seem to be quite different.

Which splice would be best for halyards? I do have the 3/8" splicing wand as well as the Samson fids.

What's the minimum safe eye size for these splices in this materail? Samson's guide leaves out a lot of stuff. It seems to imply that the minimum eye size would be 5-1/2" to 6" in circumference. That seems a little big for a halyard eye.

In the Samson guide, they seem to imply that mark 1 and mark 2 will somehow magically penetrate the cover and show up on the core. Otherwise, how would they just appear there?

I would really appreciate any help with this. I really don't want to lose a halyard in 20+ kts . I'm new to these more or less high tech lines and I don't want to screw this up. My wife told me to just pay Defender to do the splices, but I'd like to do them myself. I have no idea how well they'd do. But, I'd rather not give her the chance to say "I told you so ..." .

-Smitty