I consider the Bimini fundamental because it gives you a double line to work with. Clearly the strength of whatever knot you then tie increases considerably, thanks to two strands. Therefore, a great deal - often, everything - is riding on your Bimini twist. Past testing has shown that a well-tied Bimini should be just about as strong as the line itself for mono and may come close for braided lines. I wanted to see how true that is for all brands of line - and found some surprises.
Braids for which Biminis broke at more than 95 percent of the line's actual strength
? Cortland Spectron (104 percent)
? Berkley FireLine (99)
? PowerPro Superline (98)
? Western Filament TUF-Line (98)
Test Results
| Brand | Line |
% of Actual Strength |
Range of Actual Breaks |
Standard Deviation |
| Monofilament Lines | ||||
| Ande | Premium | 113 |
28.1 - 29.4
|
0.7 |
| Pradco | Silver Thread AN40 | 108 |
27.0 - 28.5
|
0.7 |
| Sufix | Elite | 107 |
28.4 - 1.0
|
1.4 |
| Hi-Seas | Black Widow | 104 |
21.1 - 21.9
|
0.4 |
| Pradco | Super Silver Thread | 104 |
28.3 - 28.8
|
0.3 |
| Yo-Zuri | Hybrid (Fluoro/Mono) | 104 |
32.2 - 23.3
|
0.1 |
| Berkley | Big Game | 103 |
28.8 - 30.8
|
1.1 |
| Berkley | Big Game Hi-Test | 103 |
30.6 - 32.5
|
1 |
| Penn | Premium | 103 |
24.5 - 24.6
|
0.1 |
| Shakespeare | Cajun Red Lightnin' | 103 |
23.0 - 23.2
|
0.1 |
| izorline | Platinum | 102 |
31.8 - 32.5
|
0.4 |
| Platypus | Classic | 102 |
23.7 - 26.0
|
1.2 |
| Platypus | Platinum | 102 |
23.8 - 24.7
|
0.4 |
| Bass Pro Shops | Bass Pro Shops Excel | 101 |
24.0 - 24.8
|
0.7 |
| Platypus | Pre-Test | 101 |
21.7 - 22.0
|
0.2 |
| Pradco | Silver Thread Salt Water | 101 |
27.7 - 28.5
|
0.4 |
| Shakespeare | Cajun Red Cast | 101 |
23.7 - 25.6
|
1 |
| Stren | DuraTuf | 101 |
31.7 - 32.0
|
0.2 |
| Sufix | Tritanium Plus | 101 |
28.9 - 30.0
|
0.7 |
| Berkley | Big Game IGFA | 100 |
18.4 - 18.8
|
0.2 |
| Offshore Angler | Tight Line | 100 |
22.9 - 23.1
|
0.1 |
| Triple Fish | Fluorocarbon | 100 |
20.4 - 21.9
|
0.8 |
| Mustad | Thor | 99 |
26.8 - 28.3
|
0.7 |
| Berkley | Trilene XT | 99 |
30.8 - 31.0
|
0.2 |
| Penn | Professional | 99 |
30.7 - 31.2
|
0.2 |
| Maxima | IGFA Class Line | 98 |
18.0 - 18.1
|
0.1 |
| Hi-Seas | Red Devil | 98 |
24.5 - 30.6
|
3.4 |
| izorline | First String | 98 |
31.5 - 31.8
|
0.2 |
| Sufix | Siege | 98 |
29.2 - 31.2
|
0.7 |
| Triple Fish | Armor Tough | 98 |
25.1 - 26.1
|
0.5 |
| Triple Fish | Ultra Viz Perlon | 98 |
24.3 - 25.1
|
0.4 |
| Pradco | Silver Thread Excalibur | 98 |
26.4 - 26.8
|
0.2 |
| Platypus | Super-100 | 98 |
16.9 - 20.7
|
2.2 |
| Berkley | Vanish Fluorocarbon | 97 |
23.2 - 23.6
|
0.7 |
| Berkley | Vanish Transition | 97 |
21.0 - 22.5
|
0.8 |
| Cortland | Endurance Super Premium | 97 |
26.4 - 26.9
|
0.2 |
| Maxima | Crystal Ivory | 97 |
21.3 - 22.5
|
0.7 |
| Sufix | Key Lime IGFA | 97 |
20.6 - 20.9
|
0.2 |
| Shakespeare | Cajun Advantage | 97 |
26.4 - 30.8
|
2.3 |
| Triple Fish | X-rated | 96 |
21.5 - 21.9
|
0.2 |
| Berkley | Trilene XL | 96 |
24.3 - 25.5
|
0.7 |
| Hi-Seas | Grand Slam | 96 |
26.5 - 27.5
|
0.5 |
| Hi-Seas | White Lightning | 96 |
20.0 - 21.0
|
0.5 |
| SpiderWire | Super Mono XXX | 96 |
26.5 - 28.2
|
0.9 |
| Triple Fish | Camo-Escent (Perlon) | 96 |
27.3 - 27.5
|
0.1 |
| Triple Fish | Rx Spinning | 96 |
22.5 - 24.8
|
1.2 |
| Berkley | Big Game Supreme | 95 |
29.3 - 37.8
|
4.9 |
| izorline | XXX Super Co-Polymer | 95 |
28.0 - 33.4
|
2.8 |
| Stren | Original | 95 |
24.6 - 27.2
|
1.3 |
| Hi-Seas | Quattro Plus | 94 |
24.9 - 25.8
|
0.5 |
| Stren | High Impact | 94 |
26.3 - 30.9
|
2.3 |
| Stren | Super Knot | 94 |
25.6 - 25.7
|
0.2 |
| Platypus | Lo-Stretch | 92 |
18.9 - 20.1
|
0.6 |
| Pradco | Silver Thread Fluorocarbon | 92 |
22.9 - 23.6
|
0.7 |
| Momoi | Hi-Catch | 88 |
30.6 - 32.7
|
1.1 |
| Braided Lines | ||||
| Cortland | Spectron | 104 |
33.9 - 36.3
|
1.2 |
| Berkley | FireLine (Crystal) | 99 |
45.0 - 49.2
|
2.2 |
| PowerPro | Superline | 98 |
34.3 - 36.1
|
0.9 |
| Western Filament | TUF-Line | 98 |
24.8 - 28.3
|
1.8 |
| Ande | Braid | 91 |
25.4 - 33.1
|
2.5 |
| Berkley | Big Game Braid | 90 |
32.4 - 35.1
|
1.4 |
| Platypus | Super-Braid | 89 |
32.2 - 34.5
|
1.2 |
| Stren | Sinking Braid | 88 |
18.2 - 20.7
|
1.3 |
| Triple Fish | Bully Braid | 88 |
40.8 - 45.4
|
2.5 |
| Offshore Angler | Magibraid | 86 |
23.5 - 24.0
|
0.3 |
| Shakespeare | Ugly Braid | 86 |
22.2 - 24.1
|
1.3 |
| izorline | Brutally Strong | 84 |
20.0 - 24.6
|
2.3 |
| SpiderWire | Stealth | 84 |
31.6 - 34.7
|
1.6 |
| SpiderWire | Ultracast | 83 |
37.7 - 48.7
|
4.3 |
| Daiwa | Saltiga Surf | 81 |
16.4 - 20.4
|
2.1 |
| Western Filament | TUF-Line XP | 81 |
15.6 - 18.6
|
1.5 |
| Sufix | Performance Braid | 79 |
21.1 - 29.2
|
4.1 |
| Stren | Super Braid | 72 |
22.3 - 26.3
|
1.4 |
Discussion
This is where I must quote The Who: I can't explain. For a number of monofilaments, it almost seemed as if somehow tying a Bimini twist had strengthened the line! The first time I saw a Bimini break at several pounds above the mean strength of the line - in Ande Premium - for example, I thought it had to be a mistake, an anomaly. But on the proverbial Bible stack, I can assure you that this happened repeatedly - not only over the five tests from knots I'd tied for this test, but subsequently. That is, still shaking my head, I quickly tied up another batch of identical Bimini twists in the Ande and tested these. The average was almost the same as the five I'd just tested. Then I did another round of three straight line-break tests to be sure I had that right. And there it was: The line alone was breaking consistently lower than the line-and-Bimini-knot sections. Ditto with several other brands.
If anyone has a reasonable explanation, I am, as they say, all ears. Meanwhile, the test did prove that a good Bimini twist should nearly always retain more than 90 percent of the monofilament's strength. And nearly half the monos offered 100 percent strength. (Recall that these are 12-turn knots; 20- or 25-turn Biminis would differ, though previous testing showed more turns to be weaker in most cases. Now, limited testing has shown a mere eight turns to be stronger still. Note also that in all but a few knots, standard deviation was very low - less than 1 percent - suggesting further that well-tied Biminis should be exceptionally reliable knots.
