Double braid splice problems

[Clyde Jenkins]

I've had the same problem and here are some suggestions to get you through.

1. Cheat. Move your butterfly knot 2-6 feet further away from the splice. This will give you some more slack cover to work with.

2. Hitch your butterfly knot to something sturdy. I have a bail attached to a stud in my garage. I use a carabiner to anchor the loop of the knot to the bail. You want to be able to put tension on the line when you milk the last bit of cover home.

3. Work in order. Massage, snap, massage, snap, (repeat several times). Then milk cover slack from the knot, put tension on the line pulling from the eye you're splicing (really lean on it), milk cover over the crossover. Repeat in this order. Brion says don't work up a sweat, but I do and I have.

4. Wear a glove on your milking hand. I use an old sailing glove.

5. Up until the point where you stitch the cover yarn the splice can be carefully disassembled. You're already taking care with the measurements. Take care that the crossover is very smooth. Use the core yarn stitching to flatten the section where the cover is inside the core.

Usually Sta-Set splices with few problems. I have come across samples that were very stubborn. Keep at it. Practice will yield results.

Clyde