FishyFish Tolman Alaskan Skiff and Boat Building Forums

Has anyone had any luck with theses el cheapo braid fishing lines they sell on Amazon. I want some backing for couple of my small TLD reels - in the past I have used Daiwa J braid 8 strand.

Anyways - I bought a spool of “Hercules” 4 strand 50lb (0.37mm) and have done quite a few “home”
Tests on it.

Pulling with a scale it breaks at about 22lbs - and usually not at the knot.

I have also tied it to 20lb mono and often the braid breaks before the mono…

So … I sent it back and ordered Spectra Extreme Braid 50lb 4 strand and am having very similar experiences.

My “line test” involves tying a loop with a Bimini twist to one end, putting it round and a door handle and doing the same to the other and pulling on a scale…

Is my test wrong or is it just crap line?

I use miles of that cheap chinese braid and have for years.  For light/ultralight tackle (less than 10lb test) I do buy the name-brand stuff, but for main lines on heavier rods and as backing for fly reels I have no complaints over several different brands of the cheap imports.  I do buy the "8-strand" varieties generally, worth the price upgrade I think.

Do I necessarily trust the stated breaking strength and diameter?  No probably not, but they work great for my use case at 20% of the cost of the name-brand equivalent.