Ken And speaking of the RPL, where did the notion come from that silk
Ken lines were the exclusive province of slow rods ? I put one of the
Ken modern silk lines from Phoenix in 5DT on the RPL and I think the
Ken lower profile silk line works very well on a relatively fast rod
Ken like the RPL, especially in the wind.

I assume that with lower profile you mean smaller diameter, right?
I've heard and read this about silk lines before, but I've never
understood it. ROFF is probably the best place to ask dumb question,
so please help me out.

Let's take two floating 5wt DT lines, one ordinary (plastic or
whatever), one silk. We know that their weight is the same for the
first 30'; let's cut the lines at 30', and let's denote the weight of
this 30' of line by the symbol m (don't worry, I'm not getting geared
up for a debate about adherence to the AFTM standards :-)).

So we have two pieces of line, each with weight m. Now let's assume
that these lines _float equally well_. This means that their densities
must be the same, right? So let's denote this (common) density by d.

Density is defined as the ratio of mass and volume, which we denote by
symbol V. That is d = m/V. Let's denote the volume of the ordinary
line (the 30' piece) by V1 and the volume of the silk line by V2. With
the assumptions that we had - both lines are 5wt and float equally
well - the volumes must be the same, since their masses and densities
are the same, and V1 = m/d = V2.

If the lines have the same volumes, their average diameters must be
equal. In fact, if they are both DT lines with similar tapers, then
they must have exactly the same profiles.

So, in my small mind it seems that in order for a 5wt silk line to
have a smaller diameter (lower profile) than an ordinary line, one of
the following must be true:

1. The silk line does not float as well as the ordinary line (because
it has a higher density).

2. The volume of the silk line is greater in water than in the
air. How would this be possible? Well, it just occurred to me that
air bubbles might attach themselves to the surface of the silk
line, thereby increasing its volume in water. Theoretically, that
is.

Or maybe it's really something completely different. You tell me.

--
Jarmo Hurri

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